Have you been through the universal credit (UC) managed migration process or are you going through it right now?

Could you share your experiences with other readers?

You may have had a very straightforward migration and your positive result will be encouraging for others waiting to be moved.

Or you may have encountered difficulties which it would be helpful for readers to know about in advance, so that they can be prepared for them.

We have a growing number of resources for members being migrated from employment and support allowance (ESA) to UC on our ESA/UC guides page.  But we know that there is no substitute for  hearing from people who are further along the route than you are.

So, please do share your story in the comments section below – it may make a real difference to your  fellow claimants.

In your comment, any of the following details will help us to try to find a pattern to who is being migrated first:

  • details of which benefit(s) you were migrated from,
  • whether you were in the ESA support group or LCW group,
  • roughly when it happened, or whether it is still happening now,
  • roughly what area of the country you live in,
  • the first letter of your surname

Please only comment on this article if you are sharing your experience of migrating or asking a question from someone who has shared - other comments won't be published here.

More general comments can be posted at ESA to UC managed migration has begun

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  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 months ago
    ’m currently being migrated from income-based ESA, Support Group, to UC. In Southampton, Hampshire. Surname beginning G.
    Although it seems that my ESA will not be incorporated in my UC, but rather separately as New Style ESA. All very odd. It seems like my wife will be potentially getting her own NS-ESA, rather than being part of my award as before with ESA. She was immediately asked to a job centre interview re looking for work, which she’s had. She’s to have a work health assessment. I wasn’t troubled by them at first but have been now. I had been working part-time Permitted Work. Now it seems my part-time work might not be enough. A phone interview is pending. We’re feeling pressured that we might be pushed into working more than we’re able. Maybe I’ll have to quit my work altogether. All is to play for at the moment.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 19 days ago
      @Southampton ESA migration Regulation 19 states no fit notes needed as in support group

      2. and mention Regulation 44, which gives you transitional protection and no need to attend a work interview.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 21 days ago
      @j112009
      1. Reg 19 states no fit notes needed as in support group

      2. and mention Regulation 44, which gives you transitional protection and no need to attend a work interview.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 months ago
      @HRH
      sorry, i have correct info. Not Reg 44

      1. if in support group before migration to UC, then regulation 27(3) of the Universal Credit Regulations [2013] does not apply

      2. then Regulation 19 comes into effect

      3.if entitled to old-style ESA on the date of the claim for UC and (in LCWRA cases) had LCWRA, they are (as per 19(4)(a) and (b)) to be treated as having LCWRA without a new work capability assessment or fit note
      🙏
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 months ago
      @j112009 i have never dont this myself but would assume you would tick the unemployed box.

      this is my summary from others posts
      1. 
      2. Send messages to the Case Manager.

      3. When you have typed your message in the drop down menu choose " payment " so then your message will be routed to the Case Manager who should have had the training in Regulation 19. 

      4. Reg 19 states no fit notes needed as in support group

      5. and mention Regulation 44, which gives you transitional protection and no need to attend a work interview.

      Good luck

    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 months ago
      @HRH No disrespect, but I hope your analysis is wrong for purely selfish reasons since my surname starts with K.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 months ago
    Just received the migration notice letter. Living in London and surname starting with P.
    Does anyone has a copy/download of the migration IC form?
    All the best wishes to all.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 months ago
    Moved over to u  in June and wasn’t given transition protection had to leave notes on my journal which were ignored or they didn’t know why and weren’t helpful phoned the helpline and explained I was meant to have protection and it hadn’t been added all I got told was well we will message your work coach and get them to chase it up waited again still no reply eventually took 7 weeks to sort out when it should have been done automatically since i migrated over no apology no reason why was ever given had to keep at them to get it done. During all this had to do there health assessment which to be fair was straightforward did have to do assessment but Iv ended up worse off on uc 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 months ago
      @Dee How long did it take to get first UC payment?
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 months ago
    I got my letter to move yesterday 8th Oct. Dated the 3rd October.
    Got till 4th Jan ( 3 months) to claim or stop receiving financial support.
    I'm on housing benefit and income based ESA in support group.
    I live in Reading.
    Not looking forward to this as the comments here aren't painting a pretty picture.
    Good luck to everyone.



  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 months ago
    Migrated fron IS to UC . self and partner on PIP plus 2 x CA.   Given an award of £0 . I knew from using benefits calcultors (turn2us and entitledto) that this was incorrect. Phoned up and told I needed to communicate via the online journal. I stated on the journal that they had failed to include the Carers element (even though they had deducted Carers Allowance) . I specifically stated how much we should be getting paid ,including the transtional protection amount. They responded within a few hours and ammended the payment to the figures i gave them.
    Did they orginally make an honest error in their calculation or where they playing dumb about the Carers element and not including it unless you questioned it ?
    My advice would be to make sure you know exactly what you should be getting before applying(or during) using Benefits Calcultors , info on here (benefits and work) and any other accurate information online. If the amount they give you doesn't match then pursue it. If it becomes too much contact CAB for help and support through the process.
    Best wishes.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 months ago
    Hi
    It has been awful. Really awful. There is no training or support for ppl on the support group. They put me straight into the intensive work search group and terrified me in the process.  There is no advocate or help to ease through the extensive questions on the phone and I was forced to speak in the phone
     Even though ESA are fully aware of my situation. False information regarding benefits would roll on for an extra 2 weeks was given and the advance payment àka loan was the only option given in random to support for new D my three children all of us have additional needs....

    I'm still not there yet. I have another three weeks of food banks and watching every penny of the  DLA that my child gets


    If you haven't been through this yet... Save money. And be careful. Get paid up what you can before hand, cue water phone freeze food... Call bills and explain situation. Octopus energy are amazing and have been so kind and helpful

    Read up on your rights. The UC man didn't seem to know anything about managed migration when in support group.

    Good luck x
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 months ago
    I was moved on to UC as husband going on pension he has dementia and I have long term mental health and physical disability  I was started on the process on the 1 July I have had two payments and I now my payment is 0 due to husband having ESA ????? That stopped in August as you can not have two state benefits I was on income support stopped in July have been having lots of help from the people who answered the phone and and they have expedited it to work coach who will ring by 6 that day I am now on my fourth day with no reply or phone call who actually works for uc as the poor people on the phone are no wiser than me don’t need this as life is stressful enough so thank you UC head team still no reply 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 months ago
    I have just received my migration letter (surname P, Scottish Highlands). It says that it will be completed by 26th December. What a lovely Christmas present.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 months ago
    Yeah , I've had my letter. I was distraught. Move by Dec 13th or loose your benefits. 
    Amazing timing by dwp again - let the disabled go without cash for 5 weeks , in winter , leading up to Xmas 🙃

    I went to my job centre and have worked out with them when I need to claim by to ensure I get cash by 1st Dec. 
    So 28th Oct I'll be going back over to job centre so they can sit with me while I fill it all in. 
    That way , it shouldn't go wrong haha and if it does , I can blame them and get them to fix it
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 months ago
    My husband gets Cont based esa and is in the support group, and I receive IS.  The CAB helpline is fantastic, they were very thorough explained everything very clearly, that his support group status should migrate with him and there will  be no expectation to attend interviews or medicals.  They were able to give us a calculation for how much we could expect.  

    Then you have to open an online account, not so straightforward (I'm pretty tech savvy but I didn't find it easy so feel incredibly sorry for those who struggle with technology).  Beware of them getting things wrong which can trigger incredible anxiety...so my husband was told immediately that he needed to attend an interview, queue huge panic!  I filled in the journal on his behalf to explain that he would likely be too ill to attend at which point they responded saying 'oops sorry you are in the support group so you do not have to attend'!  Then he got a message saying he had to provide a fitnote and may have to attend an assessment!  Again, when I queried it they said 'oops no he doesn't need to'!  This causes me massive stress dealing with it on his behalf, as I have adhd and anxiety and depression myself, but it makes my husband ill, it's like being on a yo-yo!!!  Not actually had any money yet, and there was also a massive mix up about my carers allowance, despite me registering a change twice via the internet and then once over the telephone. 

    My experience is that because it is all internet based it makes it so much more open to errors, someone ticks the wrong box or you don't answer a question in quite the right way and suddenly you are being asked to attend interviews / assessments that maybe you don't eventually need to but it still triggers massive anxiety/stress.  Not particularly impressed so far but it is the way everything is going now...and will all be ok until there is a massive power/or internet outage and then everything will grind to a halt. 

    Best wishes to everyone dealing with the horrible benefit system :-)
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 months ago
    I am in the process of helping several claimants to move from ESA to UC.  All suffer with poor mental health issues.  I have spoken to the migration team on a couple of occasions and have to say, I found them to be very helpful.  We needed an extension on the date of migration to sort a matter with the ESA for one lady, this was granted without any fuss but we were told we may not be given a further extension, if it proved necessary.  So, if ESA did not move quick enough this lady may not receive her ESA entitlement before having to migrate.
    One big thing I would stress to anyone being asked to migrate and on legacy benefits, PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOU HAVE AN UP TO DATE CLAIM WITH ESA BEFORE YOU MIGRATE.
    I have had to contact ESA on several occasions to have a claim for Severe Disability payment reinstated on the claimants ESA claim.  UC do not pay another benefit in place of this and had we not had this reinstated the claimant would have lost the right to claim that element once she migrated.  I was also informed that had we migrated whilst the decision was being made with ESA, it would cease on the date of migration.  So it is essential to have any decision with ESA completed before you migrate as there is no way of picking this up at a later date.
    I did find it to be very baffling how when I spoke to ESA about UC they had no idea about how UC works and when I spoke to UC about ESA, they also had no idea about ESA.  Neither benefit would discuss what the other benefit would do in certain circumstances.  For claimants trying to get all of their "ducks in a row" before migration occurs, this lack of information is not very helpful.  
    In one call to ESA I had to inform them that UC do not pay an equivalent payment for severe disability.  I was insistently told by ESA that all of the claimant's benefits would remain the same and that she wouldn't lose anything.   It took a lot of effort on my part to get the lady to understand that only the benefits being received from ESA on the date of migration would be paid by UC on legacy benefits.  Had I taken her information as being correct, we would have migrated and lost the right to make a claim for severe disability.  
    I strongly believe this approach of being unhelpful and ill informed is leaving many claimants migrating without sufficient information to hand, which then could mean losing an element of their claims. 
    The waiting time of over 1 hour for ESA to accept a call is not something many claimants with mental health can manage.  
    Overall, it is not surprising that so many individuals are not reapplying for their benefits or chasing up matters with their benefits as it all becomes too much for them to deal with.
    It would be very helpful for claimants to have a point of contact to receive the correct information on their benefits, ongoing and future claims.  
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 months ago
    I was migrated from working tax credits into UC in April 24. I had more than £16k savings due to a recent inheritance, which hadn’t affected my wtc and which I was intending to use to buy a house. I am also in receipt of PIP and I get a grant from access to work to pay a support worker to help me continue my self employment. The first month my UC payment was £0. I reminded them of the rule that savings over £16k should not be counted in the first year as I was migrating from a legacy award. I also reminded them that the minimum income floor did not apply for the first year as it counted as a new business being my first claim of UC. They then awarded me £643. Since then, this first award has been recalculated to 0 around 6 times, and each time I have had to get an MR to get it reinstated. I have also had a repayment registered against that first award which has been taken from subsequent awards twice, and although it has been overturned it has not yet been repaid to me. It is very tiring to have to continually contest them and ask them to apply their own rules correctly. I will no longer be eligible for UC after the first year as my savings are still over £16k ( earmarked for major repair works on new house). Luckily I will get my pension in July 25 so will no longer care. 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 months ago
    We switched over last month after getting the migration notice in the summer. I was dreading it but the process was pretty straightforward, filled the form out online with our details and then we had to go to the job centre to show id we got our first payment last week. After all this time worrying over it im just glad its done now 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 months ago
    I was on contribution based esa since my husband died, having been on income related esa before. I got my migration notice on the 20th July and followed all the guidelines, or so I thought. My first payment was £500 and an apa was sent by my landlords. I now owe a month's rent to my landlord, with my uc set as £95 from this month's. In the meantime, my mental health has been pushed to its limit with unfortunate feelings that were suicidal, just because noone seemed to give a damn and that they different sections at different times, meaning things can change in a minute with change after change on your journal without notifying you. It proved by the end of it I am never going to get back to the workforce.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 months ago
    I was given a notice to move to UC - along with my own health issues, not least being diagnosed with cancer I also care for my son who is autistic. 
    I timed the application to ensure I got my last payments to tide me over until the UC payment comes through, as soon as you apply they cut everything off and I did not want to take thier advance because it would leave me worse off in the long term. Everything is done on line with a tick in a box so nowhere to explain any mitigating circumstances - the whole migration thing is a con as if you are already on legacy benefits as they call it, then they already have all the information on you - so why they cannot just move you over I have no idea. They are already messing up the transition - I received a notice from them that the council informed them I have a 1 bed place when it is a 2 - called council they had no idea why they had this information as it is clear on record I live in a 2 bed. Then despite them already having all my medical information via PIP awards I now have to produce a "fit" note - what the hell for I do not understand. Then I get another notice the details between them and the council are still wrong and I am supposed to fix it - do I need this stress umm no I don't think so! How am I supposed to fix the property details when the council are saying they sent the right information and the UC say they did not???? from reading other posts on here this is likely to just get worse - I'm now dreading the mess up they are going to make over the council tax from what I have read here and being dragged into a job centre to be told by some 12 year old what I should and should not be doing - being half blind from cancer I can not wait to see what job they expect me to take and while I am out working do they expect me to chain my son to a radiator for his safety??? This whole system makes me so angry, they waste billions every year the cost of MPs salaries and expenses are eye watering alone - who wouldn't like free 2grand tickets to Taylor Swift - but no those of us on the very bottom of the ladder are the ones causing the financial issues - when the billionaires and millionaires are using every loophole they can - it is the disabled community that is bringing the country to financial collapse - one thing I will be doing is looking up the Legislation 19 that was mentioned in a comment to use to get them to leave me the hell alone. The whole system is a farce there are days where I wonder if it is worth waking up anymore.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 months ago
    When I left work through illness 7 year ago I never claimed esa I could have I was entitled to, but didn’t as we got tax credits and I did get pip. Back in February this year we had to migrate over to UC it was a night mare. My partner is self employed they needed him to go to job centre for 15 mins. Even though he was working 100 mile away and needed the job finishing, they made me go and get a sick note even though I wasn’t on the sick I had just had my pip review which They had all the medical evidence of. I had to go to job centre and they just kept going on about partner and I kept telling them he’s at work what part did they not understand. They say the migration to UC is easy and your entitlement won’t change. Mine did I told them to close my claim it was to stressful even though we needed the money as my partner has health issues as even though he works They just make things as difficult as possible, it’s just as well we had my partners redundancy money which isn’t a lot but we kept it for a rainy day. I feel for those who have nothing else waiting 6 weeks not knowing how they are going to live and pay rent it’s wrong.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 months ago
      @Joanne They need both of you to provide ID and you had to get fitnotes as getting PIP does not mean you are unfit to work and the medical evidence is not the same
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 months ago
    I have now fully migrated and the process was extremely easy. I became very anxious when I initially received the notice but looking back there was no cause for any concern.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 months ago
      @Karen Karen, were you in the support group for ESA? Also on the earnings question did you answer that you were unemployed? I am struggling with the form and it would be helpful to know how this question. Thanks.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 months ago
      @Karen we're you in esa support group did they mess up and ask for fit note did you receive correct transitional protection?
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 months ago
    In terms of timing I support someone who has autism, has been on DLA for years and ESA who received her notice for migration a fortnight ago. 
    It has knocked her sideways and, despite extensive emails and letters to CAB, MP, disability and autism support voluntary sector organisations she has been offered no understandable written advice about what she actually needs to do and what evidence she needs to provide. 
    I have printed off the part of your guide which gives this but it seems there is no accessible information generally available and offered to those undergoing this process.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 months ago
    I’ve just migrated over from esa support group literally unless you apply for a advance you don’t get a penny the day you fill in form for uc you only get one weeks money after that it takes them 6 weeks to sort with no money unless you get a advance payment you also have to apply for council tax benefits again as this isn’t don’t automatic I’m still waiting to be pain on the 11 th Oct and changed over on the 5 th sept working out what I get payed I’m about 200 pound worse off a month 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 months ago
      @Del your supposed to get transitional protection. call them
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 months ago
      @Del AREN'T you supposed to get transitional payment protection going from esa support group to UC?.it says so on the Gov.uk website & others too. You should be getting exactly the same as you was getting on esa support group. 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 months ago
    I received the form for migration to UC for housing benefit . 
    They sent a message to say I had an appointment for the next day so I explained that I was unable to go to it as I am housebound . They told me that I will be having a home visit. Now they are telling me I need to send in fit notes !!!  I have been retired since 2015 so not required to have fit notes . I only have my small pension and PIP so I   said to them why can’t they just look at my housing benefit  previous payments to see this !!! So let’s see what they say next 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 months ago
      @Christine Hartley  you may have retired from your work but you will not be medically retired form all work so therefore you need to have a health assessment and for that you send in fitnotes

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