The law (regulation 44 and 45) provides for a 3 month period in which the claimant must claim UC. The day by which a claim must be made for UC(otherwise legacy benefits will stop) is called the deadline day. The Secretary of State can extend the deadline day on their own initiative or
if a notified person requests such a change before the deadline day and there was good reason to do so.
The government confirms ‘Support available includes:
a dedicated phoneline, delivered by a dedicated Service Centre which has been over- staffed compared to typical Service Centres to provide more intensive support guidance on GOV.UK which will also signpost to further independent support from Citizens Advice Help to Claim service; and
specially trained staff in JCP’s and service centres. ‘
‘For the first groups of claimants in this initial phase of discovery, I have decided the department will not terminate any benefits if the claimant fails to claim within the three-month period given. Instead, if these claimants have failed to engage with the department, DWP will make a minimum of a 1-month extension to the deadline outlined in their notice. In this time, we will undertake proactive engagement with the claimant to understand why they have not claimed.'
The managed migration process is covered in our course- Universal Credit – the Tricky Parts 2022