A potential windfall awaits thousands of Universal Credit recipients as Leigh Day solicitors champion a legal battle for 275 claimants who lost their Severe Disability Premium (SDP) during the switch to the new benefit system.
According to an update on Leigh Day’s website, up to 13,000 individuals could be entitled to compensation from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), with possible payouts “in excess of £5,000”.
The law firm’s site discloses that settlements between £200 and £3,000 have already been awarded to over 200 claimants for income lost after transitioning to Universal Credit before January 2019.
These individuals had forfeited their SDP before the DWP introduced the ‘SDP Gateway scheme’, aimed at safeguarding against such losses—akin to the Transitional Protection payments now available to those moving from legacy benefits to Universal Credit.
Moreover, the website points out that some claimants also missed out on the ‘Enhanced Disability Premium’ (EDP), leading to a monthly income drop of as much as £180. This substantial loss was challenged in the High Court by two benefit recipients, known as TP and AR, represented by Leigh Day, reports the Daily Record.
Their victorious lawsuit resulted in the creation of the SDP Gateway.
In the wake of a landmark High Court verdict backing claimants TP and AR, Leigh Day’s human rights squad, led by partner attorney Ryan Bradshaw, has taken up the mantle for 275 claimants facing similar financial woes amid their move to Universal Credit. Bradshaw skilfully negotiated the non-pecuniary terms, prompting the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to offer redress for the “stress and injury to feelings they had suffered”.
Details on Leigh Day’s website reveal: “The DWP have agreed to an August 2025 deadline to set up a lawful compensation scheme to repay his clients for the loss of income, which Ryan Bradshaw estimates could be worth in excess of £5,000 per person.”
With suspicion looming large, Mr. Bradshaw surmises that around 15,000 additional benefits recipients may qualify for monetary restitution from the DWP. He expressed satisfaction with the outcome for his clients but acknowledged a wider issue, stating: “I am glad to have settled this claim on behalf of my clients. However, there are thousands of others who have been similarly affected who have not been in a position to bring a claim like this.”
His statement carried an underlying worry for those unrepresented: “They too will have experienced the loss of £180 a month after they were moved from legacy benefits onto universal credit in the years before January 2019. They too will have suffered unnecessary stress.”
Asserting the imperative need for a broader solution, Bradshaw strongly advocated: “A suitable scheme, compensating all the people who have endured discrimination at the hands of the DWP, ought to be urgently put in place. The mistakes made here should never be repeated.”
Those who think they may have been affected by the switch to Universal Credit are advised to seek independent help and advice from a non-profit organisation such as Citizens Advice. The full details of the story can be accessed on the Leigh Day website here.
