Overview
- The Department for Work and Pensions has paid most of the £452 million owed to about 57,000 disabled claimants who lost the Severe Disability Premium when they moved from legacy benefits to Universal Credit.
- Roughly 13,000 complex cases remain outstanding, and the DWP aims to resolve them by September on a case-by-case basis.
- Leigh Day lawyers, led by Ryan Bradshaw, have formally demanded publication of the lawful calculation method for individual back payments.
- Solicitors have highlighted instances where compensation notices could legally be incorrect or push claimants’ bank balances above thresholds that trigger cuts to other means-tested benefits.
- The compensation scheme was set up in response to High Court rulings and covers fixed monthly rates for lost disability premiums from each claimant’s transition until new income protection rules took effect in February 2024.