UK Benefits changes in April 2026

The Gov and DWP have announced the changes to be made to the UKs benefits system.

Last year they had to U turn almost all the proposed changes due to backlash and idiocy, now they have as per usual cleverly pushed through a fair amount via back doors.

They proposed a 4 point PIP rule, which did not impact the mobility part, but the daily living and activities part, which looks at not what you are diagnosed with, but how diagnosis impact your daily life, using a point scoring system. If you did not score 4 points or more in at least of the 10 activities, you would not be given the daily living element of PIP, which drastically would reduce down the amount awarded. This was also a sneaky way of reducing down how many people with mental health issues only would get PIP.

Many other aspects were dropped and watered down, after many MPs back lashed, and in order to get at least something of the benefits reform bill through, they put through bits and bobs, simply so after a time, they could still get what they wanted through, sneakily.

The Gov and DWP have used an act which dates back to 1911, which is relating to a money based act, and these normally cannot be challenged or amended once through. And they have not been able to do this for PIP benefits which they had wanted, so instead they've essentially shoved this onto UC - Universal credit, instead. It may impact all in receipt of UC.

UC - has levels of criteria - LCWRA, Limited Capability for Work/Work-Related Activity, and LWC - Limited work capability. Amounts given for each depend on if you are single, have children and more.

Anyone on the higher level getting more funds to help due to whatever disability or reason, at next evaluation, may find themselves being dropped down a level, which may halve the amount you receive of funds.

To remain on the higher level - LCWRA - You need to have at least one health condition from which your symptoms are CONSTANT and do not FLUCTUATE WHATSOEVER. So even if you have lets say - Parkinson;s - at times the symptoms from this can still fluctuate, and as they intend to use AI for this, there could be mistakes made, or even when speaking with a real person, if they dont see enough grounds that show your conditions are constant, you could be moved down a level either way.

You may want to type up a list of your conditions, noting if they are lifelong, degenerative, how often your symptoms flare up and if this is this daily and constant.

The other main aspect is bank checks. They can now ask for bank statements from you, to see your bank balance, and if it is over £6000, for every £250 over this threshold, they will deduct £4.35 from your award amount. Anything over £16,000 your UC will be stopped or not given for new applicants. If you go over £6000 this can also trigger them looking into things in more depth on top of this reduction.

As well, they can now look at bank statements to assess your lifestyle, looking for things like if you use your bank card out and about a lot, and investigate if this goes against a health condition stated which was deemed means you cannot walk far or at all, this is just one example. Bank statements can say a lot about a person and the type of life they lead.

And finally, if anyone is suspected of fraud, they can check your bank and speak with your bank, without telling you anything. And if you were ever over paid at any time, they can take this back from your bank automatically without telling you.

And for PIP - They are slightly increasing amounts, doing more face to face assessments, giving longer award time frames so people are not having assessments all the time, and more is to be announced later in the year in the Timms report.

This YouTube channel is very good at laying out the facts, with the host been an ex staff member of the DWP themselves. See this video for more details.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKUIhFG3uqY