Move to UC final numbers landed today. 360,030 lost their legacy benefits. Did anyone you know miss the deadline?

[UknownM]

The DWP published the final Move to Universal Credit statistics today (data to end-March 2026). The numbers are sharper than I expected.

Of the 2,353,319 individuals sent Migration Notices over the programme: 1,992,161 successfully claimed Universal Credit; 814,703 households got Transitional Protection; 360,030 individuals didn't claim by their deadline and had their legacy benefit or tax credit claims closed. 1,131 are still in the process.
The 360,030 figure is the one that catches the eye. That's around 15 per cent of everyone who got a Migration Notice. Anyone here helped a relative through the migration who missed the deadline, or know how the late-claim grace period actually played out?

Found this clear: https://trendingsheet.com/article/360030-people-lost-legacy-benefits-move-to-universal-credit-final-dwp-numbers-2026

What percentage of the 360,030 didn't meet the UC criteria with regards to savings? My understanding is that with tax credits, savings weren't taken into consideration, that's not the case with UC is it?

I have experience of this with UC BTW.

Transitional protection for savings were given to those migrating. You were able to claim UC with more than 16k in savings. However your claim would close after 1 year if you still had more than 16k.

Good question. The DWP's final statistics don't break down the 360,030 by reason for not claiming. They only report the outcome (legacy benefit closed), not the cause (savings disqualification vs not engaging with the notice vs choosing not to claim for personal reasons).
On the savings point, you're right that Tax Credits don't take savings into account and UC does. The Tax Credits-to-UC migration cohort specifically had a transitional savings disregard built in. Claimants with savings over £16,000 could still claim UC and be eligible for Transitional Protection. Burningbud1981 has it below: the protection ran for 12 months and the claim closed if savings stayed above £16k at that point.
If a meaningful share of the 360,030 hit the savings issue at the end of the 12-month window, that'd be useful to know. The DWP hasn't published a breakdown that I've found.

That's right on the transitional savings disregard, and it's a useful detail the DWP rules cover but the headline numbers don't. The 12-month clock plus the £16k threshold combination caught some Tax Credit migrators who didn't realise the savings protection was time-limited.
The DWP guidance on this is in their Move to Universal Credit transitional protection regulations. Has anyone here actually seen a relative or friend hit the 12-month mark and lose their UC claim because savings stayed above the threshold?