When the Autumn Statement was published in November, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt promised a new series of cost of living payments to support millions of UK households.
This announcement was to provide help during the increasing cost of living crisis, as inflation balloons and energy bills sky-rocket, reports the Daily Record. The newest support package is worth £26 billion, and will include payments for people on disability benefits, pensioner households and those on means-tested benefits.
These payments will be delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Tax Credits from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Disability benefit claimants will receive £150, pensioners £300, and those on means-tested benefits will get £900.
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More than eight million UK households will receive the means-tested benefit addition, and the DWP has already given an indication on who will not receive the money. The £900 is expected to be paid in two instalments.
Last week, Jonathan Ashworth MP, asked the DWP if they will take steps to ensure that the £900 cost of living payment will not exclude benefit claimants whose Universal Credit payments have been reduced to a nil award as a result of a sanction.
In a written response on December 2, DWP Minister Mims Davies MP said: "Claimants who were sanctioned but still had an entitlement to a Universal Credit payment of at least 1p for an assessment period ending during the qualifying periods would have been eligible to receive a 2022/23 cost of living payment.”
She also added that benefit sanctions are calculated with reference to the basic Universal Credit allowance only. The Minister continued: "We recognise many of the most vulnerable are those entitled to other elements in Universal Credit, such as housing or child costs. If a sanction is applied, claimants continue to receive these other elements and would remain eligible for cost of living payments.”
The DWP Minister also explained that those who were determined to have a nil award for Universal Credit during the qualifying assessment period could be eligible for a 2022/23 cost of living payment retrospectively. They will only be eligible if the sanction is successfully appealed, or if they are awarded a Hardship payment in the qualifying period.
Ms Davies said: "Some 98.9 per cent of sanctions are for failing to attend a mandatory appointment at a Jobcentre, and can often be resolved quickly by claimants getting in touch with the Jobcentre and attending their next appointment.
“Hardship payments are available as a safeguard to claimants who demonstrate that they cannot meet their immediate and most essential needs - including accommodation, heating, food and hygiene - as a result of their sanction.”
£900 cost of living payment in 2022/23 - who will qualify?
The qualifying period for the £900 payment has still to be announced, but eligible means-tested benefits are listed below. These include the following:
- Universal Credit
- Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Income Support
- Pension Credit
- Working Tax Credit
- Child Tax Credit
As previously stated, those receiving just Tax Credits will be paid by the HMRC separately. Anyone receiving Tax Credits along with a qualifying benefit from DWP will be paid by DWP only.
The cost of living payment will again be tax-free and will not count towards the benefit cap. It also won't have any impact on existing benefit awards.
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