Overview
- DWP minister Sir Stephen Timms confirmed that no assessment has been made to extend transitional protection to couples who form a new household after moving onto Universal Credit.
- Transitional protection automatically tops up payments for legacy benefit recipients when their past entitlement exceeds their initial Universal Credit award, provided they claim by the deadline after receiving a Migration Notice.
- The Department for Work and Pensions has no current plans to amend the 2019 regulations governing transitional protection, which restrict its scope to households unchanged since entering Universal Credit.
- MPs’ recent reforms will raise the standard Universal Credit allowance above inflation for the next four years and cap health-related top-up payments at £50 per week for new claimants.
- Claimants undergoing major changes of circumstance, such as newly formed partnerships making fresh claims, remain excluded from transitional protection under existing rules.