The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced yet another major shake-up to the benefits system – and this time, it’s disabled and sick people who will pay the price. From 2025, the health element of Universal Credit will be scrapped, and replaced with a new system that links extra support to whether or not you qualify for Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
Let’s be blunt: this is not reform. This is a cost-cutting exercise disguised as “simplification.” And it risks leaving tens of thousands of people worse off, right in the middle of a cost of living crisis.
What Exactly Is Changing?
Right now, if you’re too ill or disabled to work, you may qualify for something called Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity (LCWRA). This gives you an extra payment on top of Universal Credit, recognising that your health stops you from holding down a regular job.
But under the new system, the LCWRA element will be scrapped. Instead, extra money will only be available if you already receive PIP. If you don’t, you’ll get nothing.
On paper, the DWP is trying to merge assessments and reduce bureaucracy. In reality, this means one thing: people who can’t pass the notoriously strict PIP tests will lose hundreds of pounds every single month.
Why This Matters
This isn’t just a technical policy change buried in government paperwork. This is about whether sick and disabled people can afford to heat their homes, eat properly, and live with dignity.
We all know how brutal the PIP system already is. People with chronic illnesses and serious conditions are regularly denied support because assessors claim they can walk 20 metres, or manage basic daily tasks with “aids.” Appeals take months, sometimes years, and in the meantime, people are left destitute.
Now, imagine your Universal Credit is tied to this same broken system. Fail to get PIP? Tough luck. You don’t just lose PIP – you also lose the extra Universal Credit support that kept you afloat.
The Human Impact
Let’s talk real numbers. The LCWRA element currently adds over £390 a month to a Universal Credit claim. That’s nearly £5,000 a year. Scrapping it will hit the poorest and most vulnerable people in society – those who are too unwell to work but don’t meet the narrow, tick-box criteria of PIP.
We’re talking about people with cancer. People with mental health problems. People with fluctuating conditions like multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, or long Covid. Under the new system, if they don’t qualify for PIP, they’ll be treated as if they’re perfectly fit and able to cope without extra help.
This isn’t just heartless – it’s dangerous. Poverty makes people sicker. Cutting support will only drive up NHS costs, increase homelessness, and push more people into crisis.
Government Spin vs. Reality
Of course, ministers will dress this up as “simplification” and “fairness.” They’ll claim the system will be easier to navigate, and that people who need support will still get it. But let’s not be fooled.
This government has a long track record of targeting disabled people under the banner of “reform.” Remember the bedroom tax? Remember the Work Capability Assessments that forced people back into jobs they physically couldn’t do? Remember the UN accusing the UK of “grave and systematic violations” of disabled people’s rights?
This is more of the same. Less about fairness, more about saving money. Disabled people are once again being asked to pay the price for economic failure.
What You Need to Do
If you or someone you love claims Universal Credit and has a health condition, you need to know what’s coming. This overhaul could hit from 2025, with full rollout in the following years. That means now is the time to prepare, to challenge, and to raise your voice.
Check your PIP eligibility. If you aren’t claiming it already, find out whether you could qualify.
Get advice. Speak to Citizens Advice or a welfare rights service about how these changes could affect you.
Spread the word. Most people have no idea this is happening – until it hits them directly. Share this news.
Hold politicians accountable. Ask your MP where they stand. Challenge them on why disabled people are being punished.
Final Thoughts
The DWP scrapping the health benefit in 2025 is not just a “policy tweak.” It’s an attack on some of the most vulnerable people in our society. It strips away security from those already living on the edge.
Universal Credit was supposed to be a safety net. Instead, it’s becoming a trap – a system designed not to protect people, but to cut costs at their expense.
So let’s call this what it is: a cruel, calculated decision to save money by making disabled and sick people poorer.
The question now is simple: will we stay silent while the government dismantles yet another layer of support – or will we stand up and say enough is enough?
Because if they can get away with this, no benefit is safe.
