People on low incomes are due to receive some cash help from the Government next year - and Martin Lewis has predicted when the £900 cost of living payment could be made.
The cash boost was announced by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt as part of his Autumn Statement. It will be available to those on means-tested benefits and paid in more than one instalment.
This year, the Government gave out a £650 payment to those in receipt of certain benefits to help them through the financial crisis. The first instalment was paid in July and the second in October and November.
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The Government has not yet revealed when next year's payments will land in people's accounts. However consumer expert Martin Lewis, founder of website MoneySavingExpert, posted a video online where he predicted it would happen next autumn, reports The Mirror.
He said: "As for exactly when they'll be paid, I don't know yet. My guess - and it's only a guess - is they will be put in place in time for next winter. So those payments will come some time probably around October/September, and the cost of living payment will probably come in two tranches as it did this year."
After Mr Hunt delivered his Autumn Statement, Martin said: "I am very pleased that both benefits and the state pension are being increased by the 10.1% September inflation rate. It only happens from next April, and it will still be hard for many, but if it was less than this it would've been devastating."
He later said he feared for the "squeezed middle" - those on middle incomes - who would not be eligible for the £900 payment. "They won't get any help apart from the Energy Price Guarantee," he told the World at One show on BBC Radio 4.
The Energy Price Guarantee - a state subsidy applied to all energy bills - will run until the end of March 2024, Hunt announced.
Who will be eligible for the £900 payment?
Claimants of the following benefits will be eligible for the Government’s £900 cost of living support:
- Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Income Support
- Universal Credit
- Working Tax Credit
- Child Tax Credit
For the previous payments, you had to be entitled, or later found to be entitled to one of these benefits by a certain date. The Government has yet to reveal the eligibility date for the £900 payment.
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