Check if you are due £324 cost of living payment from…

Check if you are due £324 cost of living payment from DWP next week

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) recently confirmed that the payments for the second part of the £650 means-tested cost of living support will be made to more than 8 million households from November 8 to 23. The one-off lump sum is for £324 and will be paid to those on certain DWP benefits only.

People claiming Working Tax Credits or Child Tax Credits - with no other means-tested benefit - will receive the money between November 23 and 30. Nobody needs to apply for these payments as they will be made automatically if you are eligible and meet the requirements of the qualifying period.

More than six million people claiming disability benefits received a one-off payment for £150 in September, however, DWP has confirmed that some - along with payments for the first cost of living payment of £326 - are outstanding. You can report a missing payment on the GOV.UK website here.

Below is everything you need to know about the second cost of living payment due between November 8-23.

Eligible benefits for November £324 payment from DWP

You may get a payment of £324 if you are currently claiming any of the following:

Universal Credit
income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
Income Support
Pension Credit
Tax Credits - must be claimed alongside one other DWP benefit in this list, otherwise payment will be made later from HMRC

The payment will be made separately from your benefit.

If you have a joint claim with a partner, you will get one payment of £324 for your joint claim, if you’re entitled. The easiest way to think of this is one payment per claim, so two individuals living in a house with two separate claims will get two separate payments.

Benefits that do not qualify for £324 cost of living payment

You will not get a payment if you get New Style Employment and Support Allowance, contributory Employment and Support Allowance, or New Style Jobseeker’s Allowance, unless you get Universal Credit.

Qualifying period

Universal Credit

You will be eligible for the second Cost of Living Payment of £324 if you were entitled to a payment (or later found to be entitled to a payment) of Universal Credit for an assessment period that ended in the period August 26 2022 to September 25 2022.

Universal Credit ‘nil awards’

DWP guidance states that you will not be eligible for the second cost of living payment if your earnings reduced your Universal Credit to £0 for the qualifying assessment period - this is sometimes called a ‘nil award’.

If money has also been taken off for other reasons, such as payments of rent to your landlord or for money that you owe, you might still be eligible.

Income-based JSA, income-based ESA, Income Support and Pension Credit

You will be eligible for the second Cost of Living Payment of £324 if you were entitled to a payment, or later found to be entitled to a payment, of income-based JSA, income-related ESA, Income Support or Pension Credit for any day in the period August 26 2022 to September 25 2022.

New claims for Pension Credit

People of State Pension age making a new claim for Pension Credit, worth on average £3,300 each year, will still qualify for the second payment as long as their application is received by December 18, 2022.

Pension Credit is a retrospective benefit, which means it can be backdated to three months - falling within the September 25 cut-off qualifying period.

Find out more about claiming Pension Credit here.

Full details of the second payment and all cost of living support can be found on GOV.UK here.

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