The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has clarified the rules around eligibility for means-tested cost of living payments made during 2022. And, as new guidance on the dedicated page on 2023 for the 2023/24 payments contains similar criteria, especially around exemptions, it could be useful for people trying to work out if they will be due the first part of the £900 payments, which is worth £301.
It’s important to stress that no qualifying period or exact payment dates have been announced. All we know for sure is that the £301 will land automatically in over eight million bank accounts sometime this Spring and that the payment window will be confirmed once the final date of the qualifying period has passed.
Labour MP Seema Malhotra asked DWP whether it would consider “upgrading its systems to ensure that individuals with a nil payment in a qualifying month receive any cost of living payments”.
