How much Universal Credit you get will depend on your personal circumstances.
Benefit calculators
You can get an estimate of how much your Universal Credit payment will be with an online benefit calculator. Please be aware, these are only estimates and may not include the financial protection that you may be eligible for.
Financial Protection
If the amount you are entitled to on Universal Credit is less than your previous benefits or tax credits, then financial protection may be available to you when you move to Universal Credit.
This additional amount is known as ‘transitional protection’.
To be eligible for ‘transitional protection’:
- you must only apply for Universal Credit once you have received your letter
- you must apply before the deadline date in your letter
- there must be no changes in your circumstances
If you are eligible, financial protection will be automatically added to your payment. Transitional protection is not a loan or a debt and you will not be asked to repay it.
To help show how transitional protection works, here is an example.
Example
Sarah is entitled to £700 on her existing benefits or tax credits.
Her Universal Credit entitlement is £600.
This mean’s Sarah’s transitional protection will be £100.
Her total Universal Credit entitlement is now £700.
Transitional protection is not permanent. As your Universal Credit entitlement increases, your transitional protection payments will fall, until:
- your Universal Credit entitlement is the same or more than your previous benefits or tax credits
- you have a certain changes to your circumstances
Find out more about the changes that can affect your transitional protection.
Viewing your payments
Your Universal Credit payments are shown in your online account. Your online journal will show you a detailed breakdown of your payments. If you apply for Universal Credit by phone, you will receive your statement in the post.
How payments are made
Universal Credit is paid monthly on the same date of every month. However, if you cannot manage you can ask for more frequent payments, like twice a month.
Most people usually receive their first Universal Credit payment about 5 weeks after their claim has been processed.
The day of your payment will depend on when you made your claim.
You’ll keep getting your current benefit paid for 2 more weeks if you’re getting:
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Income Support
- Housing Benefit
If you’re concerned about managing your money there is support and independent advice available to you.
Tax credit customers who have been overpaid
If you were claiming tax credits before your Universal Credit claim, you could have been overpaid by HMRC. If this affects you, you’ll receive a letter from HMRC explaining what you owe and how to repay the money. Find out more about tax credit overpayments.