UK halves universal credit health element to £50 for new claimants
→Benefits-assessment teams must verify 'severe and lifelong' status to award higher rate
Change
UK will cut and freeze the universal credit health element for new claimants at £50 a week from April 2026, reserving any higher rate only for people assessed as terminal or as having severe and lifelong conditions with no prospect of improvement.
Why it matters
Charities warn that a broad set of debilitating conditions — including multiple sclerosis, learning disabilities, bipolar disorder, Parkinson's disease, myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) and long Covid — may not meet the strict 'severe and lifelong' eligibility test despite leaving people unable to work. Government data estimates that by 2029–30 roughly 730,000 future universal credit recipients will miss out on the higher health element.
Implications
- — Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) benefits-assessment teams must apply the new 'severe and lifelong' eligibility test to every new universal credit health-element claim from April 2026 — claims processed without that certification must be paid at the £50 rate and corrected, creating an operational requirement to reclassify and adjust payments.
- — DWP policy and compliance teams must publish and enforce updated decision guidance and training before April 2026 — failing to issue and enforce revised guidance will leave case decisions without the documented basis required for audits and internal review, forcing immediate remediation work.
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Source
View on The Guardian