The cost of living crisis continues to badly affect Greater Manchester and the rest of the country, with food inflation in particular causing misery.
With mortgages and rent also rising dramatically, pressure on household budgets remains extremely high. Part of government efforts to tackle that has been the introduction of cost of living payments.
The direct payments from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) are designed to east some of the pressures and cut some of the gap caused by high inflation levels over the past year. As yet, Rishi Sunak has been able to get nowhere near his pledge of halving the rate of inflation, and millions of households will welcome the support.
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Amid the ongoing pressures, Government cost of living payments are going some way to easing the pain for those on the lowest incomes, Birmingham Live reports. The DWP has now handed out around £450 in extra cash, with more to follow later in the financial year. Here we look at who gets the payments and all the key dates and rules.
Who gets the £450 cost of living payments?
This is a cumulative total of a £301 sum for households on means-tested benefits - the first cost of living payment to be handed out in the current financial year - and a subsequent £150 for people on disability benefits. Although aimed at different social groups, some people do qualify for both amounts because it is possible to claim disability benefits on top of means-tested benefits without one affecting the other.
The £301 payment has been given to people receiving any of the following means-tested benefits - they are described as means-tested because the amount given to a claimant depends on their income and savings. The seven benefits that are eligible are:
- Universal Credit
- Pension Credit
- income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
- income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Income Support
- Working Tax Credit
- Child Tax Credit
Note that other types of those benefits are not eligible, so New Style ESA, contributory ESA, and New Style JSA do not qualify for the payment. Meanwhile, the £150 payment is for individuals receiving disability benefits. These are not means-tested and can be awarded even if you're working, have savings or are getting most other benefits. The nine benefits that are eligible for this payment are:
- Attendance Allowance
- Constant Attendance Allowance
- Disability Living Allowance for adults
- Disability Living Allowance for children
- Personal Independence Payment
- Adult Disability Payment (in Scotland)
- Child Disability Payment (in Scotland)
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- War Pension Mobility Supplement
Note that the LCWRA element of Universal Credit, awarded to those unable to work because of a disability or long-term health problem, does not qualify, as we have previously explained. But those on LCWRA will have received the £301 because it is part of Universal Credit.
What are the key dates?
The payment of £301 was paid out from April 25 to May 17 for people on DWP means-tested benefits, and in a narrower window of May 2 to 9 for people on HMRC tax credits. In order to qualify, people had to be entitled (or later found to be entitled) to a payment of income-based JSA, income-related ESA, Income Support, Pension Credit or tax credits for any day in the period January 26 to to February 25, 2023.
In the case of Universal Credit, you must have been entitled (or later found to be entitled) to a payment of Universal Credit for an assessment period that ended sometime between January 26 to to February 25 - your benefit arrives seven days after the end of an assessment period so it could have gone into the bank after that timeframe. Pension Credit claims are backdated for three months so those who put in a successful claim for this pension top-up benefit by May 19 will qualify for the £301 sum.
The £150 disability payment was paid out between June 20 and July 4. In order to get it, you must have received (or later receive) a payment of one of the eligible benefits for April 1, 2023. Those with a later benefit claim that is backdated to cover the April qualifying date will also qualify but will get the money later.
The DWP explained: "Your payment might come later, for example if you’re awarded a qualifying benefit at a later date or you change the account your benefit is paid into. You will still be paid the cost of living payment automatically."
