The means-tested scheme is replacing several benefits, with all claimants to be switched over by 2024. Each person will be notified ahead of when they will need to start claiming Universal Credit.
People currently on Housing Benefit, Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance will be moved to the new system.
Those who currently receive these benefits will receive a migration notice letter from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
This letter will include details about when the existing benefits or tax credits will be ending, and the date the person must claim Universal Credit by.
After this, the person will have three months to claim Universal Credit from the date of their Migration Notice letter.
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More than one million Britons are missing out on Universal Credit despite being eligible, according to figures from the DWP.
Universal Credit claimants and people with legacy benefits are set to get a cost of living payment of £650 this year.
The money will be tax-free and will not count towards the benefit cap.
It will also not have any impact on existing benefits and will be available to claimants across the UK.
In April, benefit payments were hiked 3.1 percent in line with last year’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate of inflation.
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