The Department of Work and Pensions is to issue cost of living payments to over 300,000 people in Northern Ireland.
A £900 Cost of Living Payment will be paid to those on means tested benefits in three installments this year with the first £301 payment taking place this Spring.
More than 321,000 people in Northern Ireland will be eligable to receive the payment, including those on Universal Credit, Pension Credit and tax credits, starts in spring and will go direct to bank accounts in three payments over the course of the financial year.
Read more: Cost of Living: Northern Ireland low-income households to get new payments from spring 2023
There will also be a separate £150 for 340,000 people receiving disability benefits and £300 for pensioners on top of their Winter Fuel Payments.
Earlier this week, MPs approved the Social Security (Additional Payments) (No.2) Bill at second reading and it will now undergo further scrutiny at a later date.
It also confirms that the cost of living payments will have the “same set of qualifying benefits as previously” and, as before, some households will qualify for more than one type of payment.
It adds that most payments will be made automatically, without the need to make a claim and all payments will again be tax-free, will not count towards the benefit cap, and will have no impact on existing benefit awards.
But for those waiting on the all-important qualifying period dates, which will determine whether someone is eligible for any of the £900 means-tested payments - £301, £300, £299 - or the £150 disability payment, these have still not been released.
However, DWP has given a good reason why “precise qualifying and payment dates for means-tested and disability support have yet to be announced”.
In a nutshell, it’s to “limit the possibility of fraud”.
Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride told MPs: “We still recognise that despite the relief that (reducing inflation) will provide to millions up and down the country, we still need to provide further support payments.”
The legislation, he added, will set out the “basis of qualification for the payments”, who makes the payments plus timing of them.”
The government has announced when further Cost of Living Payments will be made between spring 2023 and spring 2024. These payments are:
· £301 for people on an eligible low income benefit, to be paid during spring 2023
· £150 for people on an eligible disability benefit, to be paid during summer 2023
· £300 for people on an eligible low income benefit, to be paid during autumn 2023
· £300 for pensioner households, to be paid during winter 2023 to 2024
· £299 for people on an eligible low income benefit, to be paid in spring 2024
Further guidance will be published when more details have been announced, including the qualifying dates.
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