April is set to be a tough month across the UK as bills rocket again. Gas and electricity bills will see one round of Government help end - meaning everyone will pay £70 more each month.
Council Tax is going up, water bills are going up, broadband and mobile phone bills are also going up while the cost of food continues to increase - with some items having doubled in price in the last year. In England the price of prescriptions will go up in April.
The price of stamps is also going up - with a first class costing more than £1 for the first time.
The Government has announced some support will be available for the most vulnerable later this year, but has yet to announce exact dates.
Benefits and state pensions will increase in April.
Here are the other payments you may be entitled to and when to expect them
First instalment of £900 payments in spring
Those receiving certain benefits will receive the first part of the £900 cost of living payment sometime in the spring, which would mean before the end of June. The payment is split into three instalments of £301, £300, and £299.
In order to be considered eligible for the payments, you must be receiving one of the following benefits:
- Universal Credit
- Working Tax Credit
- Child Tax Credit
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA)
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Pension Credit
However, if your Universal Credit has been cut to zero during the qualifying period, then you won't be considered eligible in most cases. All three instalments will go into accounts during the new financial year, which starts on April 6.
The first payment will be paid sometime during spring, with the second in autumn, and the third in spring 2024.
£150 disability cost of living payment this summer
Those receiving disability benefits will be eligible for a cash boost in the summer. In order to be considered eligible you must be receiving one of the following benefits:
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- Attendance Allowance
- Disability Living Allowance
- Constant Attendance Allowance
- Scottish disability payments
- Armed Force Independence Payment
- War Pension Mobility Supplement
Qualifying periods and specific payment dates are yet to be announced.
£300 pensioner cost of living payment in November
Those who receive the Winter Fuel Payment for 2023/24 will be eligible for an extra cash boost worth between £150 to £300 which will be topped onto the usual Winter Fuel Payment in November 2023.
The exact amount someone receive will vary depending on when they were born and their circumstances during the qualifying dates. It is understood that letters will be sent out in October or November to inform people of how much they will receive if eligible.
What will get more expensive in April?
Mobile, TV and broadband
The rules allow mobile phone bills, TV packages and broadband to go up by the rate of inflation plus 3.9% from April 1.
CPI inflation for December stood at 10.5% and some companies will increase bills by this amount with 3.9% extra on top. The rate of RPI for January was 13.4% - meaning possible rises of 17.3% if you include the additional 3.9%.
Energy bills
From April, the £400 energy bill discount being supplied by the Government will come to an end.
This means you'll no longer receive money off your bill each month - so how much you're paying will go up.
The £400 discount to household energy bills has been given through instalments of £66 and £67 each month since October.
Council tax
Council tax is another bill that will increase in April, with the majority of local authorities upping monthly payment by 5%.
Due to a change introduced by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt last year councils can up the bill by up to 5% without a referendum, before this they could only increase it by 2.99%.
Research by County Councils Network (CCN) found that 84 out of the 114 local authorities in England will increase their tax by the full 5%.
For some authorities it will be even more.
London councils can increase bills by 10% under plans by Mayor Sadiq Khan to raise the precept, his share of council tax bills.
Croydon Council has been given special permission to raise council tax by 15% to help pay off £1.6billion of debt and Slough is to up it by 9.99%.
Water bills
Water bills are to see the biggest increase in bills for around 20 years, with the annual bill for an average household in England and Wales hitting £448.
The 7.5% increase will mean customers will pay on average £31 more than last year.
Prescriptions
The price of an NHS prescription in England is rising by 30p, from £9.35 to £9.65, starting next month.
The cost of prescription pre-payment certificates (PPCs) - which cover multiple NHS prescriptions for a set price - will also increase.
A three-month PPC is going up from £30.25 to £31.25, and a 12-month PPC will increase from £108.10 to £111.60.
The cost of wigs and fabric supports will rise as well, while the recently introduced PPC for Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) will cost £19.30.
Stamps
The price of a first class stamp will rise to above £1 for the first time from next month.
A first class stamp will cost 15p more from April 3, rising from 95p to £1.10.
The price of second class stamps will also increase by 7p, from 68p to 75p.
Benefits
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) benefits and the benefit cap will go up by 10.1% from April 10.
Most working-age benefits increase every April, in line with the previous September's CPI inflation rate and this was 10.1% in September 2022.
It was uncertain for a while as to whether the Government would commit to an increase of this size but it was confirmed in the Autumn Budget by the Chancellor.
The Universal Credit standard allowance will increase from:
Under 25:
- 2022-23 - single person - £265.31
- 2023-24 - single persons - £292.11
- 2022-23 - joint claimants - £416.45
- 2023-24 - joint claimants - £458.51
Over 25
- 2022-23 - single person - £334.91
- 2023-24 - single person - £368.74
- 2022-23 - joint claimants - £525.72
- 2023-24 - joint claimants - £578.82
The full list of the other benefits that will see an increase in payment include:
- Housing benefit
- Pension Credit
- Attendance Allowance
- Constant Attendance Allowance
- Carer's Allowance
- Disability Living Allowance
- Employment Support Allowance
- Jobseekers Allowance
- Maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental pay
- Maternity Allowance
- Income Support
- Personal Independence Payment
- Widows Benefit
- Severe Disablement Allowance
- Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
- Industrial Death Benefit
- Incapacity benefits
- Bereavement Benefit
The full list of how much each benefit will be rising can be found on the Government's website.
State pension
The state pension will rise by 10.1% on April 10 after the return of the triple lock was confirmed by the Tories.
The triple lock promise guarantees the state pension rises by the highest of average earnings, CPI inflation and 2.5%.
But this was downgraded to a double lock to avoid a record 8% increase after the pandemic pushed earnings growth higher as workers returned from furlough.
Now the triple lock guarantee is being kept in place, the full state pension will rise from £185.15 to £203.85 per week.
The basic state pension will increase from £141.85 per week to £156.20 per week under the triple lock.
