UC health element split: £97 vs £50

The Universal Credit and PIP Act 2025 split the UC health element by claim date. Existing LCWRA claimants and those with severe lifelong conditions retain the legacy weekly rate (about £97.00). New claims after commencement receive the lower rate (about £50.00). PIP itself is wholly unaffected by this change.

All figures on this page are taken from Benefit and pension rates 2026 to 2027 (DWP, published April 2026) and the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Act 2025. Author: Oliver Wakefield-Smith. Last full review: 22 June 2026. Next scheduled review: April 2027 (post-uprating). See the full sources register.
Policy change · 22 July 2025Locked in by claim date
The legacy rate is preserved for everyone with an LCWRA award in place at commencement. New claims for limited capability for work-related activity from the commencement date onwards receive the lower rate.

The two rates at a glance

CohortWeeklyMonthly equivalent
Existing LCWRA (legacy)£97.00£421.47
New claim post-commencement£50.00£217.25

The severe-lifelong-conditions exemption

The Act provided for an exemption preserving the legacy rate for new claims where the claimant has a severe lifelong condition. The Department has published a draft list (terminal illness, certain cancers, advanced neurological conditions, profound learning disability). The list may be refined via the Timms Review.

How this interacts with PIP

The UC health element and PIP are paid separately. Receiving PIP does not automatically trigger the UC health element; you must have a separate Work Capability Assessment outcome of LCWRA. PIP receipt is treated as strong evidence in the LCWRA assessment.

If your LCWRA award is reconsidered

Reconsideration of an existing LCWRA award does not, in itself, move you to the new lower rate. The lower rate applies to genuinely new claims after commencement. Get a welfare-rights review before agreeing to anything that could be read as a fresh claim.

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