Many disabled people are “suffering intensely” and face the threat of destitution because they cannot meet the government’s deadline for moving onto universal credit from their existing “legacy” benefits, campaigners have warned a minister.
Disabled people’s organisations and allies have written to Sir Stephen Timms, the minister for social security and disability, to warn him that safeguards “are not being followed” as the migration process from employment and support allowance (ESA) to universal credit nears its end.
They are particularly concerned about ESA claimants who are unable to start their universal credit claim by phone or online.
Many of these claimants are too unwell, experiencing domestic violence, or face other access barriers.
Some claimants report being left panicked by DWP staff who leave incomplete messages on their phone, or by receiving reminder calls despite telling DWP they are receiving medical treatment.
The letter (PDF) appeals to Sir Stephen to re-open the cases of the many thousands of former ESA claimants who are believed to have failed to make a universal credit claim and were “unable to engage in the migration process due to being in hospital or unable to cope in other ways”.
It also calls on him to take action to protect claimants in vulnerable situations through the migration process, and to scrap any deadlines imposed on disabled people who still need to migrate from ESA to universal credit (UC).
Among those behind the letter are WinVisible, Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People, Disability Rights UK, Disability Poverty Campaign Group, Disabled People Against Cuts, Fightback4Justice and Inclusion London.
In the letter, the disabled women’s organisation WinVisible tells Sir Stephen about a disabled woman it is supporting who is terminally ill with cancer.
WinVisible says staff from DWP’s Move to Universal Credit complex cases team have been harassing the woman and have labelled her “uncooperative” even though she is now too ill to complete a claim for universal credit.
WinVisible says she is only being granted 15-day extensions to her deadline for completing the claim process, despite her MP intervening in the case with DWP.
In another case, the welfare rights advocacy organisation Fightback4Justice is supporting a man who has been sectioned dozens of times and frequently refuses entry to his home to professionals, but has been told his new universal credit claim will be closed because DWP cannot complete the identity check process with a home visit.
The letter stresses the “devastating” impact that cutting off a disabled person’s benefits can have, pointing to deaths such as those of Tamara Logan, Errol Graham and Jodey Whiting.
It says the failure to safeguard claimants through the migration process is “systematic” and “a recurrent factor that stops people making a successful UC claim”.
And it points to the complicated and stressful nature of completing a UC claim, and how advice and advocacy organisations have been “overwhelmed” by the number of requests for help and “aren’t able to give the level of support required to everyone needing to migrate who requires support”.
Even those who successfully migrate to universal credit later face other problems, due to the complexity and flaws of the system.
DWP told Disability News Service yesterday (Wednesday) that a response to the letter would be sent in due course.
It has developed what it calls an “enhanced support journey” for ESA and income support claimants moving onto universal credit, and it said that it remained confident that this provided effective support for its most vulnerable customers.
A DWP spokesperson said: “The department has been migrating people from legacy benefits to universal credit since 2022, and most have now moved.
“We understand there are certain difficulties people can face when moving over, and we urge those to speak to our dedicated helpline or speak to Citizens Advice.
“Help is at hand for those making the move to universal credit, including our dedicated helpline, guidance on gov.uk, and Citizens Advice’s free and independent Help to Claim service.
“All legacy benefit claimants who have received a migration notice continue to receive their legacy benefit up until the point they move over to universal credit, or the deadline passes.”
Despite that statement, DWP has extended the deadline for all means-tested ESA claimants to be migrated onto universal credit beyond the end of this month.
The migration, which ends the roll-out of universal credit that began under work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith in 2013, had been due to end on 31 March, and that deadline is set to remain in place for claimants of income support and jobseeker’s allowance.
But the lengthy rollout now looks set to continue because of the complexity of many of the remaining ESA cases.
In its regular bulletin for local authority welfare teams, first reported by the social welfare legal advice and information charity RightsNet, DWP said ministers have now “granted a brief extension to allow the department to focus on a safe transfer of the remaining Employment and Support Allowance cases, many of which are complex”.