Cost of living support package

Cost of living support package

Update January 2024 – next dates for Cost of Living payments

The latest cost of living payment for people on low income benefits will be made between 6th and 22nd of February.

The amount is £299 and it should be paid automatically if you are eligible.
 

Who is eligible?

The qualifying benefits for this payment are:

• Universal Credit
• Income-based JSA
• Income-based ESA
• Income Support
• Pension Credit
• Tax credits

Even if you are receiving both tax credits and a low income benefit, you will only get one cost of living payment.
 

Qualifying dates

You are eligible for the Cost of Living Payment of £299 if you were entitled to one of the benefits above for any day in the period from 13th November 2023 to 12th December 2023. Or if you were later found to be entitled at that time.

If you were entitled, but didn’t receive any money, because your award was 9p or less, you will still be eligible for the £299 payment.

The payment may be made later if you are found to be eligible subsequently. It should still happen automatically.
 

If you don’t receive your payment…

You can report a missing payment from 23 February. You will need your National Insurance number.

Before reporting a missing payment, check your bank, building society or credit union account, or your Payment Exception Service voucher receipt. The payment will be made separately from your benefit.

Do not report the same missing payment more than once.

You can report it on this page of the gov.uk website (external link will open in a new browser tab or window)

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Update September 2023 – autumn dates for Cost of Living Payments

The government has confirmed the dates for the next £300 cost of living payment, which will be received by households on means-tested benefits.

This is the second of three payments, and it will be paid automatically to those who are eligible, between 31st October and 19th November.
 

Three payments totalling up to £900

The three payments for 2023 – 2024 total up to £900. Eligible pensioner households will also receive a further £150 or £300 payment later this year as an addition to the Winter Fuel Payment.

If you are eligible, the payment will be sent out automatically and directly to you. You do not need to apply, contact the Government, or take any action to receive it. This includes tax credits-only customers who will receive the payment from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) between 10th and 19th November.

The payment reference for bank accounts will be the recipient’s National Insurance Number followed by DWP COL or HMRC COLS.
 

Who is eligible?

You need to receive at least one of the following means-tested benefits:

Universal Credit
Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
Income Support
Working Tax Credit
Child Tax Credit
Pension Credit

To be eligible for the Cost of Living Payment from DWP, you need to have been entitled to a payment for a qualifying benefit between 18th August 2023 and 17th September 2023, or payment for an assessment period, ending between these dates.

From HMRC, you need to have received a payment of tax credits for any day in the period between 18th August 2023 and 17th September 2023.
 

Some eight million households to benefit

In total, just under eight million households will receive this cost of living payment. It is important to understand that the eligibility rules apply separately to each payment. So just because you received the last payment doesn’t necessarily mean that you are eligible for this one.

People who need further cost of living support are encouraged to visit their council website to find out what extra help is available at a local level. Councils in England are continuing to offer various forms of support to cover the cost of essentials thanks to DWP’s £842 million extension to the Household Support Fund this year.

If you don’t receive your payment, you will be able to report it missing from 20 November 2023.
 

Low income pensioners missing out

Many low-income pensioners are not claiming the Pension Credit they are entitled to. It is important to check eligibility, as thanks to Pension Credit backdating rules, you could still qualify for both the current Cost of Living Payment and the third payment, which is due in Spring 2024.
 

No additional payment for disabled people

Over the summer, some six million disabled people received a one-off £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment. There is no additional support this autumn for disabled people who aren’t receiving one of the benefits above.
 

Beware of scams

Beware of scams targeting Cost of Living Payments. If someone contacts you about this payment saying they are from DWP or HMRC, it might be a scam. Check advice on spotting scams by visiting GOV.UK and searching ‘phishing and scams’ (external link will open in a new browser tab or window).

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Update May 2023 – Dates for Disability Cost of Living Payment

More than six million disabled people in the UK will receive their one-off £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment from 20 June.

This follows the £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment that was paid last September.

Those being paid a disability benefit that qualifies them for the payment will receive it automatically during a two-week window starting on 20 June and finishing on 4 July.

A small proportion of payments will be made after this date, where claimants were still awaiting confirmation of their eligibility or entitlement to disability benefits on 1 April.

There will also be further payments of £300 for pensioners due later this year, meaning some of the most vulnerable households can receive up to £1,350 in direct Cost of Living Payments.
 

The full list of qualifying benefits:

• Disability Living Allowance
• Personal Independence Payment
• Attendance Allowance
• Scottish Disability Benefits (Adult Disability Payment and Child Disability Payment)
• Armed Forces Independence Payment
• Constant Attendance Allowance
• War Pension Mobility Supplement

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Update January 2023

This Spring more than eight million people who claim means-tested benefits will start receiving a further cost of living payment to help with increased costs. Payments totalling £900 will be made in three instalments over the course of the financial year.

There will also be a separate £150 for over six million disabled people and £300 for over eight million pensioners on top of their Winter Fuel Payments.

This comes at a time when the Resolution Foundation think-tank suggests that households could be left £2,100 worse off by the end of the next financial year, as the worst impact of falling living standards is yet to hit.
 

More specific dates will be known later

The payments are spread across a longer period to help provide more consistent support throughout the year. They will be broadly as follows:

£301 paid between 25 April 2023 and 17 May 2023 for most people on DWP benefits

£301 paid between 2 and 9 May 2023 for most people on tax credits and no other low income benefits

£150 – Disability Payment – during Summer 2023

£300 – Second Cost of Living Payment – during Autumn 2023

£300 – Pensioner Payment – during Winter 2023/4

£299 – Third Cost of Living Payment – during Spring 2024

If people are eligible they will be paid automatically, and there is no need to apply. Claimants who are eligible for any of the Cost of Living Payments and receive tax credits, and no other means-tested benefits, will receive payment from HMRC shortly after the DWP payments are issued.

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Update September 2022

If you receive disability benefits and haven’t yet had the £150 cost of living support payment that was due to be paid automatically from 20th September, you are not alone.

The DWP has admitted that “operational issues” have led to delays, but still expect payments to have been made before the end of October. The cost of living payments are being issued automatically and you don’t need to apply. However, if you don’t receive your payment by the end of October, you should contact the DWP.

The DWP said those who had confirmed payment of their disability benefit for 25 May 2022 – those who were already receiving or had successfully applied by then – were expected to be paid shortly after September 20. For those still waiting for confirmation of their disability benefits on 25 May 2022, or who are waiting to be assessed for eligibility to receive disability benefits, the process may take longer.

Payments will be made to people who get a qualifying disability from DWP before payments to people who get a qualifying benefit from the Ministry of Defence.
 

These are the qualifying benefits:

• Attendance Allowance
• Constant Attendance Allowance
• Disability Living Allowance for adults
• Disability Living Allowance for children
• Personal Independence Payment
• Adult Disability Payment (in Scotland)
• Child Disability Payment (in Scotland)
• Armed Forces Independence Payment
• War Pension Mobility Supplement

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May 2022 – Cost of living support package

Sadly, once again family carers miss out on targeted cost of living support. The one-off payment of £650 to help benefit claimants with living costs goes to people who get universal credit, tax credits and income support, but not those receiving carer’s allowance.

Like other benefits, CA has gone up by just 3.1% (last September’s inflation rate) leaving carers with an estimated real-terms drop in income of £200 price increases far exceed this rate.
 

Details of financial support package

Government support for the cost of living now amounts to more than £37 billion this year. Almost all of the eight million most vulnerable households will receive £1,200 of one-off support. All domestic electricity customers will get at least £400, all of which is now a grant rather than a loan which has to be paid back.
 

Energy Bills Support Scheme

Households will get £400 of support with their energy bills through an expansion of the Energy Bills Support Scheme. This is a doubling of the £200 announced earlier in the year.

The support will be provided through energy suppliers, over a six month period from October. Direct debit and credit customers will have the money credited to their account, while customers with pre-payment meters will either have the money applied to their meter or be paid with a voucher.

Households in England, Scotland and Wales will all get the payment, with equivalent support also provided to people in Northern Ireland.
 

Council tax – Cost of living support

In addition, there is the £150 Council Tax rebate for households in Council Tax bands A-D, which was announced in February. This is a devolved matter, and governments in Scotland and Wales are making similar arrangements. In fact, it isn’t technically a rebate, as money is paid into the bill payer’s account as a lump sum, it isn’t taken off the monthly payments. This was done so that it could be processed more quickly.

Millions of households will have already received the payment, but those who don’t pay by direct debit will be waiting longer. People who don’t pay council tax but live in a property in bands A-D will also get the payment. In Wales, they will get it whatever band their property is in.

Payments will be completed by the end of September.
 

Cost of living payment for people on benefits

If you receive means-tested benefits, you will receive a £650 one-off Cost of Living Payment, made in two instalments.

The qualifying benefits are:
• Universal Credit
• Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Income Support
• Working Tax Credit
• Child Tax Credit
• Pension Credit

DWP will make the payment in two lump sums – the first from July, the second in the autumn. Payments from HMRC for those on tax credits only will follow shortly after each to avoid duplicate payments.

You will also be eligible for the first lump sum payment if you have begun a claim which is later successful, as of 25th May 2022. The government will announce the eligibility date for the second instalment in due course.

This payment will be tax-free, will not count towards the benefit cap, and will not have any impact on existing benefit awards.
 

£300 Cost of Living payment for pensioners

Pensioner households will receive an extra £300 to help them cover the rising cost of energy this winter.

This one-off payment will go to the households across the UK who receive the Winter Fuel Payment and will be paid on top of any other one-off support they are entitled to, for example where they are on pension credit or receive disability benefits.

Eligible households currently receive between £200 – £300, so the payment will represent at least double the support for this winter.

The Winter Fuel Payment (including the extra Pensioner Cost of Living Payment) is not taxable and does not affect eligibility for other benefits.

All pensioner households will get the one-off Pensioner Cost of Living Payment as a top-up to their annual Winter Fuel Payment in November/December. For most pensioner households, this will be paid by direct debit.

People will be eligible for this payment if they are over State Pension age (aged 66 or above) between 19 – 25 September 2022.
 

£150 Disability Cost of Living Payment

People across the UK who receive the following disability benefits will receive a one-off payment of £150 in September:

• Disability Living Allowance
• Personal Independence Payment
• Attendance Allowance
• Scottish Disability Benefits
• Armed Forces Independence Payment
• Constant Attendance Allowance
• War Pension Mobility Supplement

Claimants must be in receipt of, or have begun an eventually successful claim for, one of these benefits as of 25th May 2022 to be eligible for this additional payment.

For the many disability benefit recipients who receive means tested benefits, this £150 will come on top of the £650 they will receive separately.

These payments will be exempt from tax, will not count towards the benefit cap, and will not have any impact on existing benefit awards.

The government will make these payments directly to eligible people across the UK.
 

£500m increase and extension of Household Support Fund

Local councils are getting an extra £500 million via the Household Support Fund, which will be extended from this October to March 2023.

This fund helps those in most need with payments towards the rising cost of food, energy, and water bills. The government will issue additional guidance to Local Authorities to ensure support is targeted towards those most in need of support, including people who aren’t eligible for the Cost of Living Payments.

This brings the total amount provided through the Household Support Fund to £1.5 billion since October 2021.

The fund is administered by local councils in England, and they decide who is eligible in their area.

The Barnett formula allocates money to the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland so they can choose how to provide support.
 

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Further reading and resources

We have more about carer and disability benefits here

Use the ONS inflation tracker to understand how your expenditure is being affected by the cost of living crisis.

Mitigating cost of living impacts

Read more about DWP ignoring the cost of living advice

Some money saving tips

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