17,000 employment and support allowance (ESA) claimants have, so far, had their legacy benefits claim ended after failing to migrate to universal credit (UC), according to official statistics released by the DWP. That figure is set to rise to over 26,00 by the time the process is complete.
Overall 17% of individuals have failed to migrate from all legacy benefits to UC and had their claims stopped. But, as the DWP predicted, the failure rate for ESA has been much lower, at 3% up to the end of May 2025.
Whilst it is very good news that the failure rate is so much lower for ESA than it has been for other legacy benefits such a tax credits, it is still 17,000 people who may not have lost their benefit if the move to UC had been automatic, instead of obliging claimants to make a fresh claim.
That’s the equivalent of a small town or city, such as Ripon.
And, from June to September 2025, another 310,00 ESA claimants have been issued with migration notices, meaning that almost all ESA claimants have now received one. The same failure rate will result in another 9,300 claimants having their claims ended, bringing the total to over 26,000.
The DWP have provided no information on the reason why these claimants failed to migrate.
But one possibility is that some of these people are the most vulnerable claimants, who were least able to manage the move and who will be the least able to take effective action when their claim ends and they are unable to support themselves.
Help is available to people being migrated, but figures from the DWP show that the vast majority of ESA claimants who got help relied on family and friends, a resource not available to the most isolated claimants:
- Charity 5%
- Citizens Advice 7%
- Council 5%
- Family or friend 57%
- Jobcentre 1%
- Support worker 5%
- UC helpline 24%
ESA claimants who have not made a claim for 11 weeks after receiving the migration notice are placed on the enhanced support journey, which involves telephone calls and, in some cases home visits.
39% of ESA claimants, a total of 223,424 people, were placed on the enhanced support journey.
14% of those claimants were referred to a home visit, though the DWP say that in 49% of cases a visit was not, in the end, required.
In total, 46,539 ESA claimants were referred to the complex case coach team for additional support.
Concerningly, the DWP say that:
“Overall, the feedback from staff is that they do feel that the enhanced support journey is effective in supporting customers. However, there continues to be awareness that some individuals with complex or multiple barriers may still not be able to engage with the process.”
The big unanswered question then, is how many of the 26,000 people who are destined to have their claim ended chose not to continue because they did not need the money and how many have lost their award because they were unable to make the move, even with the offer of help.
You can read the latest ESA to UC migration statistics here
