Universal Credit is undergoing major reforms that will cut support for many sick and disabled people from April 2026, mainly by reducing the health‑related “top‑up” for new claimants while slightly increasing the standard allowance.
What is changing in Universal Credit in 2026?
From April 2026, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will sharply reduce the health element paid on top of Universal Credit for most new claimants whose illness or disability limits their ability to work. The reform is part of a wider package aimed at reshaping sickness and disability benefits and encouraging more people into work.
Under the current system, people who are found to have “limited capability for work and work‑related activity” (LCWRA) receive a substantial extra monthly payment. This LCWRA amount is being replaced, for new cases, by a lower “UC health” rate.
How much money is being cut from Universal Credit from April 2026?
Government rate tables for 2026/27 show the LCWRA/UC health amount for new claimants will fall from £423.27 a month to £217.26 a month, virtually halving the top‑up.
In weekly terms, official documents and supporting analysis describe this as a reduction from about £97 per week to around £50 per week for new health‑related claims.
At the same time, the core Universal Credit standard allowance will go up slightly, for example from £400.14 to £417.53 a month for a single adult over 25. That increase, worth roughly £17 a month, is far smaller than the loss of around £206 a month in the health‑related element for those affected.
For example: a new claimant in 2025/26 with serious health limits might receive roughly £92 basic UC plus £97 top‑up per week, but a similar claimant starting after April 2026 would see the top‑up fall to about £50, leaving them more than £40 a week worse off.
Who will be affected by these changes in Universal Credit?
The cuts mainly hit people who become sick or disabled in the future and then claim Universal Credit, rather than those already on the higher health‑related amount. Existing claimants who already receive the LCWRA or UC health element are expected to see that amount frozen in cash terms, rather than cut, until the end of the decade.
Parliamentary analysis indicates that from next April around 50,000 people who newly develop a health condition or become disabled and their family members are projected to be pushed into poverty by 2030 because of the reduced health support.
Charities warn that disabled young adults and those out of work, education or training (often described as NEET) are particularly exposed to recent and planned changes to disability‑related support.
Think tanks and disability organisations have also found that a single person unable to work due to disability can already be roughly £2,800 a year worse off under Universal Credit compared with the old benefits system, and that further cuts to health‑related elements will deepen these losses.
Why the change in Universal Credit
Ministers argue that the current system creates “perverse incentives” by paying a much higher rate once people are classed as having limited capability for work, which can discourage attempts to work or increase hours. The reform aims to “rebalance” support by shrinking the health‑related top‑up and instead raising the standard allowance for everyone over time.
The Government frames these changes as part of a broader “back to work” drive to boost employment and tackle what it calls a broken sickness and disability benefit system. Spending on disability‑related benefits has risen sharply since the pandemic, and ministers say the new structure is designed to be financially sustainable while still providing help to those most in need.
MPs on cross‑party committees and anti‑poverty groups have warned that, despite some concessions on the wider Universal Credit and PIP reform bill, the reduction in the UC health premium will still leave thousands worse off and drive more households into poverty.