More than 550,000 people on Universal Credit have been denied the cost of living payment according to an exclusive by Nottinghamshire Live parent publication, the Mirror. The "staggering" figures, totalling over half a million, are said to have been caused by a technicality.
The £326 payment, which arrived in the bank accounts of eligible recipients in the summer, was designed to help tackle the rising cost of living as Brits witnessed rising fuel, energy and food bills. The total amount payable will be £650, payable in two parts with the second amount of £324 being rolled out from November 8.
Ministers are now saying that 551,000 Universal Credit claimants missed out because they earned too much from work. Labour believe some of them had two paydays fall in the same 30-day qualifying period because their wages come every four weeks. This meant their income was temporarily too high to get the payment - even though usually it is much lower. A further 6,600 Universal Credit claimants were refused the £326 payment because they got a benefit sanction, according to the publication.
