The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced its an annual report into benefits system fraud and errors will analyse cost of living payments made to millions of people last year. The DWP said its findings on the payments will be included in the report due to be published on May 11 as there is “public interest in these payments”.
As reported by the Daily Record, the pre-release guidance on GOV.UK clarified benefit reviews would not be made on the payments. “We have not conducted benefit reviews on Cost of Living Payments, so the estimate will be included within the unreviewed benefits section of the supplementary tables. Given the public interest in these payments, we will include a section within our main publication document that will provide information specifically relating to Cost of Living Payments.”
It continued: “If a claimant is not eligible to receive a qualifying benefit, then they would also not be eligible to receive a Cost of Living Payment. Therefore, to derive an estimate for the rate of fraud and error on these payments, we will use the rate of claims that lose entitlement on the qualifying benefits (the majority of which have been measured in the current or recent years).”
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The fraud and error report will look at payments made last year. Below is everything you need to know about cost of living payments due in 2023/24.
Eligibility for £301 cost of living payment
Over eight million families are expected to receive the £301 cost of living payment from the DWP between April 25 and May 17, 2023. The lump sum is the first part of the £900 means-tested cost of living support from the UK Government’s 2023/24 financial package, which is worth £37 billion in total.
A further one million Tax Credits claimants are due to receive the £301 payment directly from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) between May 2-9, 2023.
All payments from DWP and HMRC will land automatically into eligible claimants’ bank accounts during the respective payment windows, so there’s no need to make a claim. However, the qualifying periods are slightly different for people on means-tested benefits other than Universal Credit.
Guidance on GOV.UK explains that people on Income-based JobSeeker’s Allowance (JSA), income-based Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Income Support and Pension Credit will be due the £301 payment if they were entitled to a payment - or later found to be entitled to a payment - of those benefits for “any day in the period 26 January 2023 to 25 February 2023”.
It adds: “You are also eligible if you are entitled to one of these benefits for any day during this period but you do not receive a benefit payment because your entitlement is between 1 penny and 9 pence.”
Universal Credit
You are eligible for the £301 cost of living payment if you were entitled to a payment, or later found to be entitled to a payment, of Universal Credit for an assessment period that ended in the period January 26, 2023 to February 25, 2023.
Universal Credit ‘nil awards’
Updated guidance on GOV.UK explains: "You will not be eligible for the Cost of Living Payment if your benefit is reduced to £0 for the qualifying period. This is sometimes called a ‘nil award’.
Reasons your benefit may be reduced to £0 include:
- you got more than one payment of earnings in your Universal Credit assessment period
- your or your partner’s earnings went up
- your or your partner’s savings went up
- you started getting another benefit
- you got a ‘sanction’ because you did not do something you agreed in your claimant commitment
You may still be eligible for a Cost of Living Payment if your benefit is reduced to £0 and one of the following applies:
- money was taken off your benefit for other reasons, such as payments of rent to your landlord or for money that you owe
- you had a hardship payment because you got a sanction and could not pay for rent, heating, food or hygiene needs
Tax Credits
People on Working Tax Credits or Child Tax Credits and a qualifying DWP benefit will receive their payment from DWP. For those in receipt of Tax Credits-only, the payment will be made through HMRC.
You will be eligible for the £301 payment if you received a payment of Tax Credits for any day in the period January 26, 2023 to February 25, 2023, or you are later found to have been entitled to a payment for this period.
Qualifying benefits for £301 payment
This will be paid to eligible households receiving the following benefits:
- Universal Credit
- Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Income Support
- Pension Credit
- Working Tax Credit - paid by HMRC if no other DWP means-tested benefit is also claimed
- Child Tax Credit - paid by HMRC if no other DWP means-tested benefit is also claimed
This payment will be tax-free, will not count towards the benefit cap, and will not have any impact on existing benefit awards.
Benefits that do not qualify for £301 payment
You will not get a payment if you are only getting:
- New Style ESA
- Contributory ESA
- New Style JSA
Joint claims
If you have a joint claim on the qualifying dates, a single payment of £301 will be sent using the same payment method, if you’re eligible.
New Pension Credit claims and £301 payment
The DWP is also encouraging low-income pensioners not already getting Pension Credit to check their eligibility, as they can still qualify for the £301 cost of living payment if they make a successful Pension Credit application by May 19, 2023.
This is because Pension Credit is a retrospective benefit that can be backdated by up to three months, taking it to within the qualifying period.
People can check their eligibility for Pension Credit using the online calculator on GOV.UK here or by calling the Pension Credit helpline on 0800 99 1234.
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