Nearly a quarter of households across Scotland and the UK will receive £326 in their bank accounts starting on Thursday.
The payment is the first instalment of the £650 sum delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to help families struggling with rising energy bills. The second £324 instalment will be paid in the autumn.
Pensioners and people with a disability will also receive payments of £300 and £150 respectively later this year. It is part of the UK Government's £37 billion support package to help people mitigate the effects of the cost of living crisis.
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Working Tax Credits and Child Tax Credits claimants who also claim a qualifying DWP benefit will also get the money starting today. For people who only receive either of those income top-ups from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the money will not be sent this month but rather in the autumn.
More than 8 million households across the UK who are on means-tested benefits will get the first instalment automatically. When combined with other aid, it means millions of households on a low income will receive more than £1,200 from the UK Government this year to help with the cost of living crisis.
Additionally, around 10 per cent of people will receive the disability payment in the autumn, while more than 8 million pensioners could receive an extra £300 on top of their Winter Fuel Payments later in the year.
As reported by the Daily Record, all domestic energy customers across the UK will also be given a £400 rebate to help offset the cost of rising energy bills. Meanwhile, people in Council Tax bands A-D will get an extra £150.
Work and Pensions Secretary Thérèse Coffey commented: “Our help for households will begin landing in bank accounts today as we make sure those on the lowest incomes get the support they need in the face of rising costs.
“This first instalment of £326 should reach all eligible low-income households by the end of July.”
Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi stated: “It’s great that millions of the families who are most in need are starting to receive their Cost of Living Payments, which I know will be a massive help for people who are struggling.”
Am I eligible for a cost of living support payment?
You may be eligible for up to three different payments, dependent on your circumstances:
- £650 Cost of Living Payment - if you receive a qualifying means-tested benefit or Tax Credits
- £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment - if you claim a qualifying disability benefit
- £300 Pensioner Cost of Living Payment - if you qualify to a Winter Fuel Payment for winter 2022 to 2023
Who does not qualify for the £650 payment?
You will not qualify for the cost of living payment if you claim New Style Employment and Support Allowance, Contributory Employment and Support Allowance or New Style Jobseeker’s Allowance, unless you also receive Universal Credit.
Qualifying low income benefits and Tax Credits
You may qualify for the £650 cost of living payment if you claim any of the following:
- Universal Credit
- income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
- income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Income Support
- Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit
- Working Tax Credit
Universal Credit
In order to receive the first £326 payment, you must have been entitled to at least 1p of Universal Credit for an assessment period between April 26 and May 25.
The money will be paid separately from your usual Universal Credit payment and will come up in your bank, building society or credit union account, or on your Payment Exception Service voucher receipt, as ‘DWP Cost of Living’.
Income-based JSA, Income-based ESA, Income Support and Pension Credit
In order to receive the first £326 payment, you need to have been eligible for Income-based JSA, Income-related ESA, Income Support or Pension Credit between April 26, 2022 and May 25, 2022.
Tax Credits
In order to receive the first £326 payment, need to have received either a payment of Tax Credits or an annual award of at least £26 of Tax Credits between April 26, 2022 to May 25, 2022.
If you receive both Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit, you will get the Cost of Living Payment for just the Child Tax Credit.
If you receive Tax Credits through HMRC as well as a qualifying benefit from the DWP, you will receive a cost of living payment from only the latter starting from July 14.
If you just get Tax Credits, you will receive the first £326 instalment in autumn 2022, and the second in the winter.
What’s the maximum someone could get this year?
This is entirely dependent on your individual circumstances.
For example, somebody who is under the State Pension age and who receives both Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) could get up to £800 — £650 from the cost of living payment and £150 from the disability payment.
If you receive multiple benefits, you can get in touch with the DWP or Citizens Advice to find out more about how much you will get.
£150 if you get certain disability benefits
You may be eligible for a one-off sum of £150 if you claim any of the following:
- Attendance Allowance
- Constant Attendance Allowance
- Disability Living Allowance for adults
- Disability Living Allowance for children
- Personal Independence Payment
- Adult Disability Payment
- Child Disability Payment
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- War Pension Mobility Supplement
£400 energy bill rebate
The UK Government will pay this straight to energy suppliers, who will then reduce the bill of every household with a domestic electricity account over six months from October.
Direct debit and credit customers will have the money credited to their account, while customers with pre-payment meters will have the money applied to their meter or paid via a voucher - this will depend on whether they have a smart meter or not.
Who qualifies for the £400 energy bill grant:
- Domestic energy users in Scotland, England and Wales - equivalent support will be delivered to people in Northern Ireland
Other key points about the payment:
- The £400 does not need to be repaid
- This support is on top of the £150 Council Tax rebate for households in bands A-D (and with a reduction in Scotland), which was announced in February, and which millions of households have already received
You can read detailed examples of how the additional support packages will affect different types of households on he GOV.UK website here.
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