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Daily Record

Lifestyle

Linda Howard

Full list of people who may not be due £301 cost of living payment starting this week

DWP Universal Credit HMRC

Millions of households will start to receive a £301 cost of living payment from Tuesday, April 25, as part of the UK Government’s £900 support package for those on means-tested benefits. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will make payments to some 7.2million households across Great Britain - including 686,000 in Scotland - between April 25 and May 17, 2023.

More than four million payments are expected to be received by families qualifying due to an entitlement to Universal Credit and just under 1.4million pensioner households can expect the money to land automatically in their bank account at some point during the payment window. Payments will appear on accounts as ‘DWP COLP’, along with the claimant’s National Insurance number.

The remainder of families will qualify due to entitlement to legacy DWP benefits such as Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Income Support. A further 890,000 people on Tax Credits-only will receive the money between May 2 and 9, directly from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Breakdown of £301 payments by benefit

Universal Credit - 4,513,000
Pension Credit - 1,384,000
Income Based ESA - 1,128,000
Income Support - 148,000
Income based JSA - 34,000
Tax Credits - 891,000 (to be paid between May 2-9)
Total - 8,097,000

Qualifying benefits

The £301 payment will be made 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

It's also important to be aware that while the benefits above do not individually qualify for the payment, if the claimant is also in receipt of a means-tested benefit, they may be entitled to it. Similarly, people on Carer's Allowance will not qualify for the payment through that benefit, but some 60 per cent of claimants will be part of an eligible household - where someone else does receive the means-tested lump sum.

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.

Universal Credit eligibility

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

Pension Credit and other income-related benefits

Guidance on GOV.UK explains that people on Income-based JSA, income-based 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 January 26, 2023, to February 25, 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.”

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 an application for Pension Credit application before May 19, 2023, which later turns out to be successful.

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 (January 26 - February 25).

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.

Tax Credits

People on Working Tax Credits or Child Tax Credits and a qualifying DWP benefit will receive their payment from DWP between April 25 and May 17, 2023. For those in receipt of Tax Credits-only, the payment will be made through HMRC between May 2 and May 9, 2023.

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.

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