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I wonder if anyone can help me understand a couple of issues am having with the Managed Migration from ESA to UC?

Firstly my assessment period was 2nd May to 1st June 2025 and so far I struggling the following:

1. ESA have come back and said that rather than a full migration to UC they are maintaining part of my ESA award but it is has been changed from Income Related ESA to Contribution Related ESA in order to maintain if I understood correctly the NI Contributions towards my State Pension (am 54yrs old). They are paying me the following components of my previous long standing award: Living Expenses and LCWA Support Group Elements which make up just over half my previous award.

2. My understanding is that this leaves the other two components namely: Extra Money for being Severely Disabled and the Disability Income Guarantee to be paid by UC, however its now a fortnight later than my Assessment Period and to date I have received nothing from them as my Claim has "yet to complete due to items which still need verification". despite many requests they cannot tell me what these unverified elements are or when it is likely to be resolved stating only that it has been marked urgent with the Team handling my case.

3. Because it hasn't completed I am unable to provide the full award breakdown to the Council so that I can get my Council Tax Reduction and they have underpaid my Landlord to the Housing Benefit Element (Paid Directly) despite being in receipt of both components of PIP ( Also running 4 month behind with my Reassessment with documents submitted back in Feb but still not Reviewed)

Is their a regulating body that I can approach with a complaint for my Journal entries are being pretty much ignored or at best hastily replied to but without answering the question asked?

Hi plampard1st

You will carry on getting the Contributions Based ESA if you ignore the Migration letter.
The DWP are allowed to change it over to New Style ESA but I don't think this is actually happening at the moment. Though there is nothing to worry about as New Style ESA is the same as the old Contributions Based ESA.
The government intend to stop people on the old Contributions Based ESA having a right to claim means tested Income Based ESA which they currently do.

David

Hello

I just received a letter from the dwp saying I will be invited to the job centre to change to 'new style' contribution based ESA.

Recently I had been receiving income related ESA which was migrated to Universal Credit (slowly but successfully) with transitional protection.

My main questions are can I refuse to claim new style ESA and just keep my successfully claimed UC without any sort of penalty or sanction as I don't see any benefit as I believe new style ESA is deducted from UC? Also would I lose any transitional protection on my UC if I claim new style ESA?

Finally I don't understand why the dwp would think I would be entitled to new style ESA as I've not paid any job related national insurance contributions in the last 11 years!

Sorry, anything like this worsens my condition and if anyone could answer my questions I will be very grateful.

Are you in the ESA Support Group? if so, your ESA will most likely have been a mixture of contributions based ESA and income related ESA top up.

Also, do you get a £10 Christmas Bonus every year paid with ESA? If so, you definitely have been receiving contributions based ESA as well as an income related ESA top up.

ESA letters are notoriously confusing. usually badly worded and sometimes contradictory. The only way you would have been moved from contributions ESA to your ESA being wholly income related is if you were in the Work Related Activity Group, as from 2014 the contributory based ESA has been restricted to 12 months. However, even then, if you were moved (back) to the Support Group your contributions based ESA would have started to be paid once again.

Hi Marie

PAYE details are communicated to the DWP via the RTE IT system ( Real Time Earnings ) in the same feed that goes to the HMRC. Your UC is calculated on your net pay regardless of the amounts of employer's/employees pension contributions. So as long as your employer's payroll staff collate your salary details correctly there is no deduction for salary sacrifice.
As long as the photo of your expired passport is recognisable it can be used for a Face to Face ID verification in the Jobcentre but not for the online verification.

David

I still don't understand.

I haven[t been in receipt of contributions based for some years. My initial claim was, but I had a letter some years ago saying I had been switched to income related.

Also the post below isn't relevant to my question.

Hi Ms.Basset

These figures are correct
Standard all. £400.14
Limited cap £423.27
Money deducted for contributions based is - £609.05

I cannot calculate your Transitional Protection without knowing your Total Legacy Amount and your UC Indicative Amount.
You say you have deductions for savings over £6000.

Also you will need to inform Council Tax that you have moved to UC.

David

I was on income related ESA.
Standard all. £400.14
Limited cap £423.27
Trans protect. £236.74

Money deducted for contributions based is - £609.05
Savings. £. 17.40
I’m struggling to work this out as not had any correspondence fence from ESA to state their payments as I thought it was all ended as per letter telling this.

Hi Ms.Basset

The evidence points to the fact that you were previously in receipt of Contributions Based ESA which is now converted to New Style ESA. The ESA will be paid fortnightly but you will not overall be better off as the amount of ESA will be deducted from the UC you receive monthly.
Four days before you get your UC payment you can go into your UC account and your payment statement should be there showing the calculation of your Benefit.

Let me know how you get on.
David

Hi Linda

You will get a 2 week run on of Income Based ESA. Only if you have been getting Contributions Based ESA will you carry on getting fortnightly payments of New Style ESA.

David

Hi Wasnot

It is because you like the majority of Forum members have been receiving Contributions Based ESA with an Income Based ESA top up without realising it. It is in your advantage if in the future the governement makes cuts too Means Tested Benefits as New Style ESA is Contributions Based. Here is the story of another Forum member I received his morning--
"Hi, had my telephone appointment. It had been rescheduled and the letter emailed to me about the new appointment was a bit more 'personal' . It stated 'We have arranged a telephone interview with a work coach. At this interview you will need to agree and accept your claimant commitment. The claimant commitment is your record of the actions that you need to take to continue getting New Style ESA. It will not include any work-related activities' It also describes it as New Style ESA New Joiner (Migrated Claim as UC Claim). Why on earth was I so worried, there was literally nothing asked. The coach/advisor simply stated why the call is needed, it was to update the claim as I had migrated. Then went through basic security questions (the only questions asked!). I was then told they need to know I am aware to report any changes. This is done by them simply telling you. Thats it. They will email you or post a letter for your records. I was also told that if I needed any help or had any problems with payment to contact said person who would raise it in head office in Belfast where the payments are done. I could use the UC journal for the case manager but if no joy for ESA related matters contact them. THere was absolutely no prying or tricks. It literally, if you dont ask any questions, be over in 3 mins. The letter calls it an interview that will last 30 mins, and we will ask you about your health. They know I was in support group, but in the call it was not mentioned only stated I just need to inform them of any changes like others have said. Hope this puts peoples mind at rest."

David

Hi Jasmine3234

Most people in this Forum have a mixture of Contributions Based ESA and Income Based ESA and move to New Style ESA on Managed Migration. The move to New Style ESA is straightforward and won't trigger a WCA medical earlier than otherwise. Here is feedback from a Forum member on the New Style ESA claim this morning--

"Hi, had my telephone appointment. It had been rescheduled and the letter emailed to me about the new appointment was a bit more 'personal' . It stated 'We have arranged a telephone interview with a work coach. At this interview you will need to agree and accept your claimant commitment. The claimant commitment is your record of the actions that you need to take to continue getting New Style ESA. It will not include any work-related activities' It also describes it as New Style ESA New Joiner (Migrated Claim as UC Claim). Why on earth was I so worried, there was literally nothing asked. The coach/advisor simply stated why the call is needed, it was to update the claim as I had migrated. Then went through basic security questions (the only questions asked!). I was then told they need to know I am aware to report any changes. This is done by them simply telling you. Thats it. They will email you or post a letter for your records. I was also told that if I needed any help or had any problems with payment to contact said person who would raise it in head office in Belfast where the payments are done. I could use the UC journal for the case manager but if no joy for ESA related matters contact them. THere was absolutely no prying or tricks. It literally, if you dont ask any questions, be over in 3 mins. The letter calls it an interview that will last 30 mins, and we will ask you about your health. They know I was in support group, but in the call it was not mentioned only stated I just need to inform them of any changes like others have said. Hope this puts peoples mind at rest."

David

Hi Leilani68

If you receive Contributions Based ESA you should get a P60 sent to you annually by the DWP.
Most people get a top up as well of Income Based ESA. So I think this is the situation in your case. It is the top up of IB ESA which means that you qualify for UC Managed Migration.
Do you rent or have another housing situation ?

David

Hi Leilani68

If you get a P60 it indicates that you have been in receipt of Contributions Based ESA.

David

Hi Susie27

Yes you will get fortnightly payments of Contributions Based ESA and a top up of UC monthly. Your ESA will be called New Style ESA. It is basically the same thing but you will have to accept a basic claimant commitment over the phone.

David

Hi Spud

It is because some time in the past he would have met the conditions for Contributions Based ESA. It is worth his while taking the call as it should only last 10 minutes and then he will get fortnightly payments of New Style ESA.

David

Hi Gary, Thanks for the reply, I've never heard of that organisation so I will try and contact them.

On Friday I contacted CAB who said I needed to find out for certain what my original award was from DWP. DWP confirmed it was only ever IR ESA previously, but the UC migration application had triggered them to check my NI contributions and they then decided to swap me to CB ESA first, which turns into New-Style ESA with a top up of UC, instead of transitioning all my IR ESA over to UC as expected.

They said because I was now no longer on IR ESA I wasn't entitled to protection from WCA type stuff happening to me as a result of migration, and it's up to the Job Centre to decide how to handle it. They also said JC might require me to complete a full UC50 form and go through the whole assessment process.

CAB Help to Claim said they had never come across this before but it sounded legit, and told me to simply contact my local CAB for support in re-applying.

I'm pretty horrified by this outcome as I read all the brilliant B&W info about IR ESA to UC Migration, and believed I was going into a protected migration. It just goes to show DWP really can just go rogue.

Incidentally partner checked my old P60 from 2023 (I can't find later ones atm) which showed a taxable amount from my ESA, and he thinks this indicates I was on a combined award at least at that time, and maybe DWP person on Friday was wrog about my single IR ESA award.

Some clarity on my rights in either scenario would be hugely appreciated, if anyone ca help with this, and I'm not certain I was give accurate info on Friday from CAB either.


In the meantime I was thinking of sending the following to my case manager via my journal, on the assumption that DWP gave me correct info:

"I am in a managed migration from irESA Support Group to UC.

Under UC Transitional Provisions Regulation 19 my ESA Group should transfer automatically from day 1 of my claim without question.

Instead, now that my assessment period has finished I have had a letter in the post saying I'm being transferred from CB ESA and am now on New-Style ESA, and my UC statement shows that this is being deducted from my UC provision. The postal letter also says I will have to attend an interview answering questions about my health conditions and their effect on my ability to work, which Transitional Provisions Regulation 19 state I am legally protected from in managed migration.

As this has happened against my legal right to transitional protections, I would like a manager to review this immediately, and let me know how the issue will be resolved.

Many thanks."

Hi

I haven't submitted my form yet (deadline 11th July). A lot of people are only just realising when they transfer from ESA to UC that they were previously on both contributory (now called New Style) ESA and Income Related ESA.

I haven't worked for many years but I still get NI Contributions paid on my behalf from the DWP, you can actually check on Gov.Uk website.

I suspect that I will also be transferred to New Style ESA with a UC income related top up.

There are quite a few posts on here about this, you could maybe try using the search option at the top right hand corner?

It's all so confusing isn't it?

Good Luck

Hi Minx18

You can tell if you're getting Contributions Based ESA from your UC statement which is released 4 days before your UC payment. The New Style ESA is deducted £ for £ from your UC.

One of the good things about UC is that Social Landlords can communicate online with the UC Case Manager. So changes such as direct rent payments can be requested by your landlord.

David

Hi there - apologies if the answer to my query is on here somewhere I have been chasing my tail for a while now!

I have been in receipt of Income based ESA (Support group) and started the managed migration to UC last month. I am due to get a decision this week and first UC payment early next week. I have managed to budget for bills and food to cover the gap and had the last (2 week run-on) payment of ESA as expected.

Last Friday I noticed an additional payment of ESA had gone into my bank - different from my previous amount, I wasn't expecting it as had been notified that ESA and HB would stop due to UC claim.

Today a letter has arrived saying I am now in receipt of contribution based ESA (less that Income related) and have made numerous calls to chase this up without resolution. I couldn't get through to Help to Claim at all and have navigated the process so far just using the guide on this marvellous site.

I have not paid NI contributions from work for years and do not meet the criteria for CB ESA as far as I am aware.

How do I proceed? Is there any other way to contact ESA as they don't answer their helpline?

I have left messages on the UC journal.

Will this newly announced lower amount affect my transitional protection?

I requested to continue fortnightly payments, and have rent paid direct to the housing association.
They just replied (4 weeks after I asked) stating I have to ask the HA to apply for it via their portal; as yet no response from the Housing Officer about that and I don't know where I stand in terms of going into arrears while they organise themselves.

Sorry this isn't very concise but any suggestions and input at this point would be most gratefully received.

many thanks and best wishes to everyone facing this unsettling process.