551,000 people who claim Universal Credit were not given a £326 cost of living payment this summer because of a technicality, the Department for Work and Pensions has said. The money was the first half of a £650 handout being given to everyone on Universal Creidt and other benefits his year to help with rising energy bills.
But ministers admit 551,000 Universal Credit claimants missed out because they earned too much from work. The Labour Party believes some of them had two paydays fall in the same 30-day qualifying period because their wages come every four weeks.
This technicality meant their income was temporarily too high to get a cost-of-living payment - even though usually it is much lower. A further 6,600 Universal Credit claimants were refused the £326 payment because they got a benefit sanction, reports The Mirror.
