2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Matthew Senior, Richard Guttridge)
People who claim certain DWP benefits are being warned that their payments will stop before Christmas (Image: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images) Sign up to our free email newsletter to receive the latest breaking news and daily roundups More Newsletters Subscribe Please enter a valid email Something went wrong, please try again later. More Newsletters We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you.
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More info × Group 28 Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show Me No thanks, close See our Privacy Notice People who claim certain Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) benefits have been told they need to act fast to avoid losing their payments. Benefits including Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and income-based Jobseekers Allowance will be scrapped before Christmas . They are the latest benefits being phased out and replaced with Universal Credit (UC) .
However, it is not an automatic process and people must apply for UC, reports BirminghamLive . Hundreds of thousands have had their benefits stopped after missing the three-month deadline to apply after receiving their migration notice in the post. The latest claimants are now being urged to ensure they get themselves sorted in time and their payments continue without interruption.
Read more: DWP urges state pensioners born before 1953 or 1951 to collect up to £685 before Christmas Read more: DWP urges Universal Credit claimants to check if they qualify for £1,200 bonus When someone receives their migration notice, it means they have three months to be signed up to Universal Credit. Otherwise their benefit payments will be stopped and they will be left without any support. For those who received notices in September it would come at the worst possible time; during December just before Christmas.
Those benefits are: Tax credits (if you are state pension age) Income-based Jobseekers Allowance Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) only Employment and Support Allowance with Housing Benefit Claimants are being moved over to UC gradually. By the end of next year it's hoped almost everyone will be on the new benefit, but concerns have been raised about the process after figures showed hundreds of thousands had fallen off the benefit roll after failing to apply for UC - possibly because they didn't know how to do it. Sir Stephen Timms, Minister for Social Security and Disability, issued a message to those who receive a migration notice: "Having three months to make a move may feel like a long time but life can often distract you elsewhere.
For the best chance to secure your benefit entitlement don't delay with responding to your migration notice. "We are committed to ensuring a smooth transition and customers will have the full support of DWP staff to help manage this change." Story Saved You can find this story in My Bookmarks.
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