If you used to get Income Support

Income Support has ended for everyone. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) should have sent you a letter asking you to claim Universal Credit. This is called a ‘migration notice’.

If you got a migration notice and claimed Universal Credit by 1 month after the deadline, you might have got a 'transitional element'. This is an extra payment to make sure you don’t get less money on Universal Credit than you did on Income Support.

If you used to get Income Support, there might still be things you can do. This includes:

• checking you were getting the right amount of Income Support

• challenging an Income Support decision

• dealing with an overpayment

• getting disability premiums you might have missed

Who could claim Income Support

You might have got Income Support to help with your living costs if you:

• had no income or a low income

• had no more than £16,000 in savings

• weren't in full-time paid work 

• were aged between 16 years old and State Pension age - check your State Pension on GOV.UK

You also needed to be in certain groups. For example, you might have been a carer, or a single parent looking after a child under 5 years old.

Check you were getting the right amount of Income Support 

If you got Income Support you might have been entitled to extra money on top of your standard monthly payment. Depending on your circumstances, you might have been able to get 1 or more of the following:

• the disability premium

• the enhanced disability premium (EDP) 

• the severe disability premium (SDP) 

Check if you should have got the disability premium

You should have received the disability premium if you or your partner got any of the following qualifying benefits:

• Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

• Disability Living Allowance (DLA)

• Attendance Allowance

• Adult Disability Payment

• Armed Forces Independence Payment

• Working Tax Credit with a disability element

• Constant Attendance Allowance

• War Pensioners Mobility Supplement

• Severe Disablement Allowance

• Incapacity Benefit

The amount of disability premium you would have received would have gone up for each tax year you were getting Income Support.

For the 2025 to 2026 tax year, you would have been entitled to:

• £43.20 a week - if you didn't live with a partner

• £61.65 a week - if you lived with a partner 

Check if you should have got the enhanced disability premium (EDP)

You should have received the EDP if you or your partner got any of the following qualifying benefits:

• the enhanced rate of the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

• the highest rate of the care component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) 

• Armed Forces Independence Payment

• the enhanced rate of the daily living component of Adult Disability Payment

• the highest rate of the care component of Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance

You could also get the EDP if your partner got the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) support component.

If your partner had reached State Pension age, you wouldn’t have received the EDP. You can check your partner’s State Pension age on GOV.UK.

The amount of EDP you would have received would have gone up for each tax year you were getting Income Support.

For the 2025 to 2026 tax year, you would have been entitled to:

• £21.20 a week - if you didn't live with a partner

• £30.25 a week - if you lived with a partner 

Check if you should have got the severe disability premium (SDP)

You might have been entitled to the SDP if you got any of the following qualifying benefits:

• the standard or enhanced rate of the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

• the middle or highest rate of the care component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA)

• Armed Forces Independence Payment, Attendance Allowance or Pension Age Disability Payment

• Constant Attendance Allowance

• the standard or enhanced rate of the daily living component of Adult Disability Payment

• the middle or highest rate of the care component of Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance

If someone got Carer’s Allowance, Carer Support Payment or the carer element of Universal Credit for looking after you, you wouldn't have got the SDP.

If you lived with a partner or anyone aged 18 or over, you could usually only get the SDP if they either:

• got a qualifying benefit

• were certified blind or severely sight impaired

The amount of SDP you would have received would have gone up for each tax year you were getting Income Support.

For the 2024 to 2025 tax year, you would have been entitled to:

• £82.90 a week - if only you were eligible for the SDP

• £165.80 a week - if you lived with a partner and you both qualified for the SDP

Ask the DWP to add a premium to an old Income Support claim

If you should have been getting a premium but didn't, the DWP might have underpaid your Income Support.

If you think you should have got a premium, you can ask the DWP to add it to your old Income Support claim. You can:

• write to the address on one of your old Income Support letters

• call Jobcentre Plus

If you started a claim for disability benefits before your Income Support ended

You might be able to get a disability premium, an enhanced disability premium, or a severe disability premium added to your Income Support if either of the following applies:

• you or your partner is awarded a disability benefit for the time you were on Income Support

• the amount of disability benefit you got changed while you were on Income Support

Disability benefits include:

• Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

• Attendance Allowance

• Disability Living Allowance (DLA)

• Adult Disability Payment

• Pension Age Disability Payment

• Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance

You should tell the DWP as soon as possible, so you get the extra money you’re entitled to. 

If you do this, the DWP should pay you a lump sum for the Income Support you missed while you were waiting for a decision on your disability benefit claim. They should do this even though your Income Support has ended. 

You can report your successful claim by phoning Jobcentre Plus.

Challenging an Income Support decision

If you used to get Income Support, you might still be able to challenge or appeal a decision about your benefit - for example, if:

• the amount you got wasn’t correct

• your Income Support stopped when it shouldn’t have

You can check our advice about challenging a decision now Income Support has ended.

Paying back an Income Support overpayment

If you've been paid too much Income Support you'll usually have to pay the money back to the DWP. You can still challenge this if you think it was the DWP's mistake - it doesn't matter that Income Support has ended.

You can check what to do about an overpayment now Income Support has ended.

Check you’re claiming all the benefits you’re entitled to

You can check what benefits and extra help you could get.