Millions are in line for additional financial support from the Government in 2023/24, with support packages of £900 to be paid to millions. The first instalment is due to drop into bank accounts in Spring 2023.
However, not all benefit claimants will be eligible, with a government minister confirming details when pressed recently. The extra cash will go to more than eight million people in the UK who are on eligible means-tested benefits.
The first £301 instalment of the money is expected to arrive in the bank accounts of those who qualify in the spring of this year. This will be followed by another £300 in the autumn and another £299 in the spring of next year, with exact dates to be disclosed later.
Those receiving contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) will be excluded, a benefit claimed by more than 1.7 million people last year, according to DWP figures. In response to individuals who will not receive the payment, Labour MP Dame Angela Eagle questioned why those receiving contribution-based ESA but not Universal Credit are not eligible for cost of living support," Somerset Live reports.
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People who are presently receiving Universal Credit, Pension Credit, or Tax Credits will be eligible for all three payments of cost of living assistance. However, this will not apply to everyone receiving assistance; instead, it will only apply to those whose payments are means-tested,
Conservative MP Mims Davies, the minister for social mobility, youth and progression was asked to explain the reasoning behind the decision in a written query from Dame Eagle, to which Ms Davies said: "The Cost of Living payment is being targeted at low income households who are in receipt of a means-tested income replacement benefit.
"Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance is a non-means-tested benefit. Non-means-tested benefits are not qualifying benefits for the Cost of Living payment in their own right because people receiving these benefits may have other financial resources available to them."
The first official date of Spring is March 20, which means payments could land from that date onwards, according to the Government's timetable.
Who is eligible for the cash
Brits claiming these benefits are listed as being eligible for the £900 total cash - money will be paid in three instalments.
These include:
- Universal Credit
- Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Income Support
- Working Tax Credit
- Child Tax Credit
- Pension Credit
How the amounts be paid to those eligible
The total amount of £900 will be split into three payments and delivered and intervals during 2023 and 2024. DWP previously said that the amounts will be split as £301, £300, £299), this will make it easier to check if someone has received the correct payments. Universal Credit claimants may be able to qualify for one or more of the payments, especially if they do not always get a ‘nil award’.
Cost of living payment schedule 2023/24
People who are eligible for any of the cost of living payments and receive Tax Credits, and no other means-tested benefits, will receive their payment from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) shortly after DWP payments have been issued.
Exact payment windows will be announced closer to the time they are due to be made, along with qualifying dates.
£900 means-tested cost of living payment
- £301 - first payment to be made during Spring 2023
- £300 – second payment to be made during Autumn 2023
- £299 - third payment to be made during Spring 2024
This will be paid to eligible households receiving the following benefits:
- Universal Credit
- Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Income Support
- Pension Credit
- Working Tax Credit - paid by HMRC if no other DWP means-tested benefit is also claimed
- Child Tax Credit - paid by HMRC if no other DWP means-tested benefit is also claimed
This payment will be tax-free, will not count towards the benefit cap, and will not have any impact on existing benefit awards.
£150 disability cost of living payment
- £150 - this one-off payment will be made during Summer 2023
This will be paid to eligible claimants receiving the following benefits:
- Disability Living Allowance
- Personal Independence Payment
- Adult Disability Payment
- Child Disability Payment
- Attendance Allowance
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- Constant Attendance Allowance
- War Pension Mobility Supplement
This payment will be tax-free and will not have any impact on existing benefit awards.
£300 Pensioner Payment
- £300 - this will be added to annual Winter Fuel Payments during Winter 2023/24
Older people also in receipt of Pension Credit will also qualify for the £900 means-tested cost of living payment and the £150 payment if they are receiving support through one of the listed disability benefits.
In total, pensioner households could get an income boost of £1,350 during 2023/24.
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