Overview

• The DWP is dispatching final managed‑migration letters to remaining legacy benefit claimants, giving three months to move to Universal Credit before payments stop, with migration scheduled to finish by March 2026.
• The department has issued guidance for people who believe they were missed by previous cost‑of‑living payments and reiterated there will be no further one‑off payouts in 2025.
• Millions receiving disability and pension‑age benefits will get a one‑off £10 bonus later this year, a sum critics say falls far short of rising living costs.
• Policy in Practice estimates about £24 billion a year is unclaimed across the welfare system, citing lack of awareness, complexity and stigma, and calculates roughly 761,000 pensioner households are not taking up Pension Credit.
• Pension Credit typically adds about £4,300 a year and unlocks wider help such as Housing Benefit and free TV licences, while separate concerns from MPs warn UC health‑element changes from April 2026 could push around 50,000 newly disabled people into poverty.