DWP stopping £414 monthly payments from June 30 | Personal Finance | Finance

The DWP has confirmed it will end payments for a key benefit from June 30 as part of a move to Universal Credit. Universal Credit is, as the name suggests, intended to be the catch-all benefit for those claiming for various reasons and over the past few years, the Department for Work and Pensions has been slowly ‘migrating’ various benefits over to Universal Credit instead.

This June, the DWP has confirmed it will end Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and ‘applicable Housing Benefit’ payments on June 30. Currently, ESA is for those who are under state pension age and have a disability or condition affecting their ability to work.

For under 25s, it pays up to £75.65 per week and for over 25s, it pays up to £95.55 per week.

Across a year, that averages out to £414.05 per month.

Those currently claiming the payments will be ‘migrated’ to Universal Credit instead, but only if they respond to a letter from the DWP informing them of the change within three months.

Those who fail to reply to the letter will have those benefits payments stopped completely.

Citizens Advice explains: “If you get one of these legacy benefits, you’ll need to move to Universal Credit if you get a letter telling you to claim by a certain date. This is called a ‘migration notice’.

“You should claim Universal Credit by the date on the letter to keep getting financial support.

“Most people claiming these benefits should have got a migration notice by now. This is because legacy benefits will end for most people in July 2026.

“If the letter gives a deadline for you to claim Universal Credit, it’s a ‘migration notice’. The deadline on your letter is your ‘deadline day’.”

The DWP has confirmed to the Express that the migration of these benefits is going ahead as planned.

Minister of State for the DWP Sir Stephen Timms issued a written statement which clarified the latest on the ending of the two benefits.

He said: “On 31st March 2026, we completed the transition of customers receiving Income Support and income-based Jobseekers Allowance to Universal Credit, allowing the Department to close these outdated systems. In addition, I am setting out my intention to close income related Employment and Support Allowance and applicable Housing Benefit on 30th June 2026. Giving sufficient notice and support to some of our most vulnerable customers was important in enabling everyone who wanted to transition to Universal Credit the time needed to make the move.

“On 31st March 2026, we completed the transition of customers receiving Income Support and income-based Jobseekers Allowance to Universal Credit, allowing the Department to close these outdated systems. In addition, I am setting out my intention to close income related Employment and Support Allowance and applicable Housing Benefit on 30th June 2026. Giving sufficient notice and support to some of our most vulnerable customers was important in enabling everyone who wanted to transition to Universal Credit the time needed to make the move.”

He added: “DWP will pro-actively engage with customers and their representatives to support them in making the move to Universal Credit.

The Department’s Move to UC official statistics, published in February 2026, show that (as of 31st December 2025) 2.4 million individuals across 1.8 million households have been notified of the need to make the transition to Universal Credit across all legacy benefits, with over 1.5 million households going on to make a claim to UC.”