The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will start giving over eight million households the second part of the £650 cost of living payment from Tuesday. Payments for £324 will land in bank accounts between November 8 and 23, for most eligible claimants and some members of the Daily Record Money Saving Scotland Facebook group have received confirmation text messages from DWP.
People claiming Working Tax Credits or Child Tax Credits - with no other means-tested benefit - will receive the money between November 23 and 30. Nobody needs to apply for these payments as they will be made automatically if you are eligible and meet the requirements of the qualifying period.
Universal Credit ‘nil awards’ can be a tricky topic to understand, but as long as you have received a benefit payment for at least one penny during the qualifying period, you will be eligible for the £324 cost of living payment.
This means that you will be eligible 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 August 26 2022 to September 25 2022.
The guidance on GOV.UK states that you will not be eligible for the second cost of living payment if your earnings reduced your Universal Credit to £0 for the qualifying assessment period - this is sometimes called a ‘nil award’.
If money has also been taken off for other reasons, such as payments of rent to your landlord or for money that you owe, you might still be eligible.
Eligible benefits for November £324 payment from DWP
You may get a payment of £324 if you are currently claiming any of the following:
- Universal Credit
- income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
- income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Income Support
- Pension Credit
- Tax Credits - must be claimed alongside one other DWP benefit in this list, otherwise payment will be made later from HMRC
The payment will be made separately from your benefit.
If you have a joint claim with a partner, you will get one payment of £324 for your joint claim, if you’re entitled. The easiest way to think of this is one payment per claim, so two individuals living in a house with two separate claims will get two separate payments.
When will payments arrive?
DWP said that payments will arrive between November 8th and 23rd for most people.
You can read the full UK Government guidance on the cost of living payments here.
To keep up to date with the latest cost of living news, join our Money Saving Scotland Facebook page here, or subscribe to our newsletter which goes out four times each week - sign up here.
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