Universal Credit migration is taking people on six legacy benefits like tax credits and moving them onto the new system. These migrants will be able to get transitional protection if they follow the steps they should receive in a vital DWP letter.
This transitional protection is to ensure they will not be worse off on Universal Credit than they were on their original benefits even if they do not meet certain requirements to be receiving that level of state income. However, the DWP has now revealed two circumstances could end this protection, and potentially even take away their entire Universal Credit earnings.
Once you have fully moved over to Universal Credit, your transitional protection could be in jeopardy if:
- Your relationship status changes
- Your earnings or savings change
In the first situation, this will mainly take into account if a partner moves in or out of your household. This will drastically affect your eligibility for benefits in general depending on their income and benefits.
It is worth noting that transitional protection is only available to people making qualified claims for Universal Credit through the DWP migration process to ensure no one is worse off through the move, for example, if an eligible person claims £800 through tax credits but is only eligible for £600 in Universal Credit, their transitional protection will be worth £200 to ensure they still get the same amount in the new system.
The second set of circumstances is a bit more intricate as it also has the potential to completely end your benefits claim too. Essentially, if your earnings increase too muchm you could lose both. If it decreases too much, your transitional protection could be cut.
The DWP explained that if your earnings increase to the point where your Universal Credit is reduced to zero for four assessment periods in a row, your transitional protection will end. If your earnings then decreasem making you eligible againm you will only be able to reapply for Universal Credit and will not receive transitional protection.
If your earnings drop below your administrative earnings threshold for more than three assessment periods in a row, your transitional protection will end. For individual claimants, this threshold is usually £892 per assessment period, while couples usually have a combined threshold of £1,437 per assessment period.
Another transitional protection some Universal Credit migrants will be eligible for is the transitional capital disregard. This allows any savings an applicant has above the £16,000 mark, which would otherwise make them ineligible for Universal Credit, is not counted on their claim.
However, if your savings and investments drop below £16,000 after receiving this protection, your disregard will end. You will still be eligible for Universal Credit so it will not immediately affect your benefits but you will then be held to the £16,000 cap and will not be able to go over it without affecting your Universal Credit.
Other changes of circumstances that could decrease your transitional protection include having a child, worsening health conditions or changes to government benefit rates. However, this usually will not affect your actual benefits income.
For example, if an eligible person receives £600 Universal Credit entitlement and £200 transitional protection, a total of £800, and they have a second child, this will increase their Universal Credit claim by £50. Their transitional protection will decrease equally by £50 so, in total, they still get £800 from benefits, but the split is now £650 from Universal Credit and £150 from transitional protection.
More information can be found on Gov.uk