THOUSANDS of people on the state pension need to keep an eye out for a letter on doormats arriving any time soon.
Everyone under the state pension age will be asked to claim Universal Credit.
But those claiming tax credits who are over the state pension age will be asked to claim pension credit instead.
In total 15,800 people will be asked to move from a legacy benefit to pension credit, and 13,200 couples – where one person is of state pension age – will be asked to claim universal credit.
If you refuse to do so, you could miss out on £1,000s worth of cash to help with essential bills and the general cost of living.
Pension credit is a tax-free benefit designed to help with living costs if you are over the state pension age (66) and on a low income.
Eligible households will be contacted via letters in the post which tell them how to make the move from tax credits to pension credit.
It’s vital that households apply for pension credit within three months of receiving their managed migration letter.
Failing to do this can result in your benefits being stopped.
Pension Credit is a ‘qualifying benefit’ which can also allow you to claim various other perks, such as a free TV Licence, Warm Home Discount and Council Tax reductions of up to 100 percent.
If you claim tax credits as a couple and one of you is below the state pension age, you’ll be asked to claim Universal Credit instead.
Those moving to Universal Credit will begin to receive notices on Monday, September 1.
The government has warned this could lead to council tax bill rises for pensioners, as the Council Tax Reduction Schemes Regulations 2012 specifically excludes people who receive Universal Credit from receiving pension age council tax reduction.
Those affected can apply for a local council working age scheme which “may provide a smaller reduction”.
Since March 2024, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has sent nearly 824,050 migration notices.
However, according to the DWP’s latest figures, 184,120 individuals lost their benefits after failing to act on migration notices received between July 2022 and March 2024.
Some 400,940 individuals have since made successful claims for Universal Credit, and another 238,990 are still in the process of transitioning.
UNIVERSAL Credit is replacing six benefits under the old welfare system, commonly called legacy benefits. They are:
If you’re on any of these benefits now, you can choose to move over – but you might not be better off.
You should consider carefully what moving over means for your money, as you can’t move back once you’re on Universal Credit.
Using an online benefits calculator can help you compare and are free and easy to use from charities such as Turn2Us and EntitledTo, and it’s also worth asking them for advice.
You may be moved over to Universal Credit if you have a change in circumstances, like moving home, a change in working hours or a have a baby.
But eventually everyone will be moved over to Universal Credit.
This is known as “managed migration” .
In January, the government announced the number of migration notices it plans to send out in the coming financial year.
Before this date, the focus was sending migration notices to households claiming tax credits-only.
However, 110,000 income support claimants and a further 120,000 claiming tax credits with housing benefit started receiving their letters in April.
Over 100,000 housing benefit-only claimants started being contacted in June.
More than 90,000 people claiming employment and support allowance (ESA) and child tax credits will be asked to switch from July.
Meanwhile, 20,000 claimants on jobseekers allowance (JSA) will be contacted from September.
The Sun previously reported that, from August, those claiming tax credits who are over state pension age will be asked to apply for either Universal Credit or pension credit.
It was originally planned that those claiming income-related ESA alone would not be moved until 2028.
However, the DWP brought forward plans to move these households to Universal Credit by the end of 2025.
From September 2024, 800,000 households will begin to receive letters explaining how to move from ESA to Universal Credit.
