Managed Migration is the process of moving working age legacy benefit claimants (income -related ESA, income-related JSA, Income Support, Tax Credits and Housing Benefit (in most circumstances) to Universal Credit. If a client is in temporary or Supported Exempt Accommodation (SEA), their rent remains being paid by Housing Benefit.
SEA is housing provided by a landlord and offers care, support or supervision, so observationally rental charge is usually much higher than generic accommodation.
For those clients who will be worse off on Universal Credit than legacy benefits, they will have an additional payment called Transitional Protection. When Universal Credit rates rise (in April each year, unless frozen), the transitional protection will reduce by the same amount.
A client will receive a Managed Migration notice inviting to apply for Universal Credit, and they have three months from the deadline to make an application. All clients should now have received their Migration Notices as these should have been issued by December 2025, as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) plans to finish Managed Migration by the end of March 2026.
Personal Injury monies are disregarded for Universal Credit purposes if held under Court of Protection (COP) or in a Personal Injury Trust (PIT). Within the application process, it asks about savings, investments and income. There is a box in there called compensation payments. My recommendation is to total all monies and just input into compensation payments, then put a journal note advising that it is personal injury settlement held under COP or PIT and is to be disregarded as per Universal Credit Regulations 2013, Regulation 75, then paragraph 4 for PIT, or 5 for COP (administered by the court).
Universal Credit claims are made and managed online using an online journal. If you encounter any difficulties during the process, please do email me at adam.booth@chasedevere.co.uk and I am more than happy to assist you.
Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
The DWP is converting contribution-based ESA to New Style ESA. While conditionality is the same, claimants are unable to have income-related components added to a New Style ESA claim. Clients will receive letters advising of this change, and I’d presume many clients may have already received letters advising of this.
From December 1st, 2025, income-related ESA can no longer be added to an existing New Style ESA claim. Previously, if somebody fell below £16,000.00 in non-disregard savings, the Deputy could request income-related components be added to the claim. Instead, these claimants will now have to claim Universal Credit.
Many Universal Credit claimants will still receive New Style ESA, and it is deducted from the Universal Credit claim as it is an unearned income. While it is not financially beneficial to have both payments in payment together, should the client receive a lumpsum of capital (i.e inheritance), that takes them above £16,000.00, the Universal Credit will end but the New Style ESA will remain in payment.
Changes to limited capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA) element
There are some considerable upcoming changes to the LCWRA element. Firstly, from April 2026 the LCWRA is being rebranded as the health element by the DWP as part of a restructuring of support for disabled claimants.
Currently, a claimant receives LCWRA payment of £423.27 per month on Universal Credit. However, from April 2026, this is subject to change for some claimants, and they will instead be entitled to the reduced element of £217.26 per month.
Claimants are only automatically entitled to the higher rate if they are already in receipt of the LCWRA, are terminally ill with less than twelve months prognosis, or meet Severe Conditions Criteria (SCC).
For new claimants, the LCWRA is payable from three clear months after the condition has been reported. For example, somebody has a monthly assessment period (MAP) from 5th of one month, to 4th of next. They report their condition on 20th of January, the remainder of the MAP that 20th January falls into, plus three clear MAPs after this, the LCWRA is not payable, so the first MAP of which would be payable is 5th May to 4th June.
A fit note will be required to trigger a Work Capability Assessment (WCA). WCA is an initial capability for work questionnaire and is sometimes followed by an assessment with a healthcare professional. It can take some time for the DWP to process the WCA so they will backdate to the relevant date. Fit notes will need to be required until a decision has been made.
TIP: If you have reported a condition already during or before the MAP that ends on or before 5th January and it has triggered a WCA, for the client to automatically be entitled to the higher rate of the health element, you must ensure there are no gaps in the fit notes being submitted. If there are gaps, the DWP may start the LCWRA from the date of the latest fit note without a gap and this could mean that they do not receive the higher rate automatically. For many claimant’s, this date would have been in December 2025.
Severe Conditions Criteria (SCC)
The SCC have been in place for over a decade but have never been something that we as professionals have had to consider. The SCC will ensure the higher rate of the health element is maintained for new recipients from April 2026.
The criteria are:
- The claimant is assessed (via WCA) as having LCWRA, meeting at least one of the LCWRA descriptors.
- Lifelong condition once diagnosed
- No realistic prospect of recovery of function; and
- Unambiguous diagnosis, so fully investigated and confirmed
Some claimants may pay privately for a diagnosis. Therefore, for the diagnosis to be recognised by the DWP, the client may require a supporting letter from a GP or other NHS professional to confirm that they accept the diagnosis, as DWP guidance emphasises NHS corroboration when private diagnosis is used.
There has not been a list of conditions that are considered to meet SCC, but conditions such as severe ABI, Parkinson’s Disease and all forms of Dementia are expected to be accepted conditions for the SCC.
When completing the capability for work questionnaire, I suggest ensuring that certain buzz words and phrases are used, such as lifelong, unlikely to improve and permanent limitations.
If somebody meets the SCC, they will essentially have this consideration for the rest of their life and are not expected to complete a further WCA. While few clients currently do not have re-assessments, it is part of the DWPs future plans to assess those clients more regularly, similar to PIP. Please note that some existing LCWRA claimants may already meet SCC rules whereby not re-assessed, but this is not something we would previously have seen in decisions.
There is likely to be future case law surrounding SCC, so if you receive a decision in the future for a client and you believe they meet the SCC but have not been awarded the higher rate, please do contact me on adam.booth@chasedevere.co.uk