Legacy benefits end as managed migration completes

Legacy benefits ended on 31 March 2026 following the completion of the managed migration process, according to Turn2us¹. Under managed migration, people who were getting legacy benefits had their claims closed and were invited to make a claim for Universal Credit¹.

The process applied to claimants of the older benefits that Universal Credit replaces. Turn2us states that legacy benefits ended on 31 March 2026 following the completion of managed migration¹. It does not set out which individual legacy benefits are covered, or how many people were moved across.

Some people received transitional protection when they moved to Universal Credit, so that they were not financially worse off¹. This protection was only available to people who had received a Migration Notice and claimed Universal Credit by the deadline date on their notice letter¹.

Transitional protection is not necessarily permanent. Turn2us says the transitional protection payment can be affected by changes in circumstances, or it will stop over time¹. No figures have been reported for the amounts involved, the number of households receiving protection, or the dates on which payments stop.

Why it matters for households

For anyone who was still on a legacy benefit, the practical position is that those claims have now closed and Universal Credit is the benefit in payment¹. The route into Universal Credit was a Migration Notice, which set a deadline by which a claim had to be made¹. Transitional protection, which was intended to stop people being financially worse off at the point of moving, depended on receiving that notice and claiming by the deadline on it¹.

That means the terms of an individual notice letter matter for whether protection applied. It also means protection can change after the move: Turn2us says the payment can be affected by changes in circumstances, or stop over time¹. Households whose circumstances change, or who are some way past their move, may therefore see the amount they receive differ from the amount at the point of migration. It has not been reported how many people missed a deadline, what happens to those who did, or the value of protection currently in payment.

What happens next

No further stages of managed migration have been reported, the process having been described as complete as of 31 March 2026¹. Turn2us directs people to its Find an Adviser tool to locate a local advice organisation¹. Its guidance on moving to Universal Credit from legacy benefits and on what to do if you get a Migration Notice covers the mechanics of the move, and the benefits hub sets out the wider system.