PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Universal Credit (25 June 2019)

Currently people only move to Universal Credit because they have had a significant change in their circumstances which would previously have led them to make a new claim to a legacy benefit.

Claimant circumstances within the legacy system are diverse and interact with a range of benefits in different ways. Eligibility for Universal Credit is dependent on individuals’ circumstances, the specific nature of the change and rules for access to legacy benefits.

Therefore, it is not possible to give a definitive list as each will depend on the individual circumstances of the claimants involved and the specific nature of the change.

However, some specific examples of changes which would cause a claimant to move on to Universal Credit are:

• A single Jobseeker’s Allowance claimant starts working for more than 16 hours per week;
• A Housing Benefit claimant moves to new rented accommodation in a different local authority area;
• An Income Support claimant wishes to claim support for their first child;
• A Working Tax Credits claimant’s only employment ends and they wish to claim support because they have insufficient income (whether during or at the end of the WTC run-on period);
• The child (or youngest child) of an Income Support claimant reaches the age of five (and the claimant does not belong to any other prescribed category for continuing to receive Income Support);
• A Child Tax Credit claimant moves to new accommodation, and they need support with rent costs for the first time.