Switch to Universal Credit is robbing thousands of ‘most vulnerable people’

Shared from the Camden New Journal with thanks

by Tom Foot, 9 April 2026

Disabled people are being robbed of benefits due to overhaul of the system designed to “scrape” some of the most vulnerable people off the welfare budget, campaigners warned this week.

WinVisible has written to Sir Stephen Timms, the minister for social security and disability, warning promised safeguards have failed to protect thousands of vulnerable people who have been forced to negotiate a complicated switch over to Universal Credit. 

The government started the process in 2022 but it has stretched on for years due to the complexity — before a final deadline was fixed for the end of March.

New figures show that more than 30,000 people nationwide are yet to complete the process and are feared to be facing destitution due to the new deadline.

Liz Johnston, a long-term disabled woman with severe mental health diagnoses who lives in West Hampstead, told the New Journal: “They know who we are but they have chosen to force all of us to go through this process.

“It seems to me me an opportunity to scrape several thousands of people off the welfare budget; the most vulnerable, the least able to speak for themselves.

“People with disability are easy to attack. We are really easy to dismiss and undermine — and also to cut money from.”

The 62-year-old said: “It’s difficult to get across how disruptive this kind of process is for me.  What the government doesn’t take into account is the severity of the fallout from these processes on the illnesses. In-patient care is a direct response to these changes.

“I am an extremely organised person. When it comes to filing and things like that I knew where all the information was.  I am very fortunate that I live in council housing because that gives me a sense of security and support.

“But although I had all the paperwork I found myself struggling to set up an online account.  I found the communication confusing and inconsistent.”

She said one of the main stumbling points was failing to “verify my identity” in a “computer-says-no” moment that automatically forced her to have to attend a job centre in person.  “This filled me with terror,” she said.  “There aren’t any job centres round here so I had to go to Harlesden. I was practically non-verbal by the time I was called.”

Ms Johnston said she had been pushed into rent debt due to the chaotic process and that changes from fortnightly to monthly payments under the new system had also caused other problems.

She said she was particularly angry that reassuring statements made by the DWP minister Sir Stephen Timms to a select committee last year ended up ringing hollow.

“He basically said, we are going to find everyone — past, present and future — who has lost the severe disablement payment.  He made me believe that.”

Ms Johnston praised WinVisible saying that they had “been saving my life for the last 25 years”, adding: “They have always been there for me.  They sent me get well cards when I become an in-patient.  They’ve been on the end of the phone.  It is unbelievable support that hasn’t changed despite all the services that have been thinned.”

Claire Glasman, from the group that is based in Kentish Town, told the New Journal of another case of a woman with terminal illness who was labelled “unco-operative” despite being too ill to complete a claim for Universal Credit.  

She was given just a 15-day extension to her deadline for completing the claim process, despite her MP intervening on her case with the DWP. 

A DWP spokesperson said: “The department has been migrating people from legacy benefits to Universal Credit since 2022 and most have now moved.

“We understand there are certain difficulties people can face when moving over, and we urge those to speak to our dedicated helpline or speak to Citizens Advice. 

“Help is at hand for those making the move to Universal Credit, including our dedicated helpline, Citizens Advice’s free and independent Help to Claim service.

“All legacy benefit claimants who have received a migration notice continue to receive their legacy benefit up until the point they move over to Universal Credit, or the deadline passes.”