Millions of Brits are struggling with the burden of the current cost of living crisis and next month a number of payments from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will land in bank accounts.
Earlier this month (May) 900,000 households claiming tax credits received cost-of-living payments worth about £300 million in total. The payments of £301 were made by HMRC between May 2 and 9, in its first round of cost-of-living payments for 2023/24.
As reported by Lancs Live, so far the DWP and HMRC have made 8.3 million cost of living payments in 2023/24. These payments are being made in a way to tackle the current crisis with support, including a further £300 cost-of-living payment for eligible families in autumn 2023, with a payment of £299 in spring 2024.
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Chancellor Jeremy Hunt confirmed £94billion worth of support packages during his Spring Budget which are available for struggling families while the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) is also being extended. Here is the support available for UK households this June, the Independent reports.
Extra £1,350 of support being paid out
Millions of people on low incomes will receive further cost of living support from the government this year totalling up to £1,350 despite the end of the Energy Bill Support Scheme.
Eight million eligible means-tested benefits claimants, including people on Universal Credit, Pension Credit and Tax Credits, are receiving £900 in three separate instalments from spring 2023. The DWP said the money is automatically paid into bank accounts in three payments.
There will also be a separate £150 payment for more than six million people with disabilities and an extra £300 for over eight million pensioners. Here are the payment windows that have been announced so far, with more precise dates expected later in the year:
- £301 – First cost of living payment – already issued between 25 April and 17 May (or 2 to 9 May for people on tax credits but no other low-income benefits)
- £150 – Disability payment – during summer 2023
- £300 – Second cost of living payment – during autumn 2023
- £300 – Pensioner payment – during winter 2023/4
- £299 – Third cost of living payment – during spring 2024
Energy Price Guarantee still in play
Mr Hunt announced in the Spring Budget that the EPG would be extended for a further three months. It was first introduced by former Prime Minister Liz Truss in September 2022 to ensure households paid no more than £2,500 for their electricity and gas.
The government subsidises the remainder owed to providers under Ofgem’s Energy Price Cap. The Chancellor had reportedly been tempted to increase the EPG to £3,000 to help ease the financial burden on the state but ultimately decided to extend the guarantee until June.
Without that help in place, the average household would have been paying an annualised bill of £4,279 between January and April. With the EPG, this has been reduced to £2,500 with the government picking up the remaining £1,779.
Ofgem has since dropped the price cap by 23 per cent to £3,280 for the second quarter of the year, with Mr Hunt’s decision meaning the public will continue to be shielded rather than pay that full amount while the state will be paying considerably less, more like £780 per household.
Benefits going out as usual
The DWP will continue to send the usual benefits and pensions payments in June with no bank holidays scheduled to confuse delivery dates like in May. Anyone expecting to receive any of the following from the DWP can expect their money on the usual date this month.
- Universal credit
- State pension
- Pension credit
- Disability living allowance
- Personal independence payment
- Attendance allowance
- Carer’s allowance
- Employment support allowance
- Income support
- Jobseeker’s allowance
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