Universal Credit: Death
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people receiving Universal Credit assessed as having Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity died (a) in total and (b) under the Special Rules for Terminal Illness in the last year for which information is available.
Answered by Sir Stephen Timms
The Department supports people nearing the end of life through special benefit rules – called the Special Rules for End of Life (SREL). These enable people who are nearing the end of their lives to get faster, easier access to certain benefits, without needing to attend a medical assessment, serve waiting periods and in most cases, receive the highest rate of benefit.
This table shows the total number of Universal Credit claimants who had a Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) award during 2024 broken down by the number with a LCWRA award under SREL and the number who died during the year.
| LCWRA claimants in 2024 | LCWRA claimants in 2024 under SREL |
Total number | 1,858,800 | 17,400 |
Number who died in 2024 | 24,100 | 5,900 |
Percentage who died in 2024 | 1.3% | 34% |
Notes:
Numbers are rounded to 100.
Data is taken from Universal Credit analytical systems but results have not been quality assured to Official Statistics publication standard and are subject to retrospective change.
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