Eight million pensioner households will get a £300 Cost of Living payment in late 2023.
The £300 payment will be made on top of Winter Fuel payments, which in late 2022 were made to nearly every pensioner who turned 66 born before September 26, 2022. In winter 2023/2024, the Winter Fuel and Cost of Living Payments are expected to be made to those who reach the state pension age before September 25, 2023.
That means most people born before September 25, 1957 will get Winter Fuel Payments plus an extra £300. The amount paid in Winter Fuel Payments can vary depending on who the person lives with, their age and if they claim any benefits other than a pension, but the £300 Cost of Living Payment is the same for everybody who qualifies.
Read more: £900 Cost of Living Payments for households on benefits in 2023/2024
The £300 Cost of Living Payment will be made to nearly every pensioner household that receives a Winter Fuel Payment. It follows a similar payment made in November 2022.
Who gets the £300 Pensioner Cost of Living Payment
The £300 payment will be made to almost every pensioner household in the UK. The DWP says more than eight million will get £300 "on top of their Winter Fuel Payments".
Households due the Winter Fuel Payment will qualify for the Cost of Living Payment. To be eligible, a person must be at the State Pension Age (currently 66) by the Sunday after the third Monday in September.
In late 2022, Winter Fuel Payments were made to people born before September 26, 1956. In late 2023, Winter Fuel payments - and the £300 Cost of Living Payment on top of that - are expected to be made to people born before September 25, 1957, as they will be of State Pension Age (66) at the time of the qualifying period.
Those who may not get Winter Fuel Payments - and therefore the Cost of Living payment - include people who have spent the last year entirely in hospital and people in prison during the qualifying period.
When will pensioners get the £300 Cost of Living Payment?
The DWP's Cost of Living Payment schedule states the £300 pensioner payment will be made in "during Winter 2023/24". "Exact payment windows will be announced closer to the time", the DWP says, but the 2022/2023 payments were made from November, so expect a similar timescale in Winter 2023/2024.
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