When is the next cost of living payment in 2023?
Millions of households on low incomes will receive fresh cost-of-living support from April, with the grants due to be spread out until 2024.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced further details on the timeline, building on payments made to more than eight million people in 2022.
The next round of support for households was previously unveiled in the Chancellor’s 2022 autumn statement.
The new £900 cash payouts for more than eight million eligible means-tested benefits claimants, including people on Universal Credit, Pension Credit, and tax credits, start this spring and will go directly to bank accounts in three payments, the DWP said on January 3.
When will people receive payments?
The DWP has confirmed that the first payment of £301 will be made between April 25 and May 17 to eligible households.
The following £300 will be paid some time in autumn 2023, and the final £299 will be paid in early spring 2024. A separate £150 disability cost-of-living payment will be provided in summer 2023.
There will also be an extra £150 in cash support for disabled people in summer 2023, and £300 for pensioners, on top of their winter-fuel benefit, in the winter.
The payments will be sent to eligible people automatically, operating in the same way as the 2022 £650 cost-of-living support for those on benefits.
For winter 2023–2024, the DWP will extend the £300 boost to the winter fuel payment, popularly known as the pensioners’ cost-of-living payment. This means that the most vulnerable households could get up to £1,350 in additional support from the Government over the next year.
Who is eligible for the £900 payments?
According to Government official guidance, you may be eligible if you’re getting any of the following:
Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
Income Support
Pension Credit
Universal Credit
Child Tax Credit
Working Tax Credit
Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said: “We are sticking by our promise to protect the most vulnerable and these payments, worth hundreds of pounds, will provide vital support next year for those on the lowest incomes.
“The Government’s wider support package has already helped more than eight million families as we continue to deal with the global consequences of Putin’s illegal war and the aftershocks of the pandemic.”
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt added: “I know these are tough times for families across the UK who are struggling to meet rising food and energy costs, driven by the aftershocks of Covid and Putin’s war in Ukraine.
“That’s why we’re putting a further £900 into the pockets of over eight million low-income households next year. These payments are on top of above-inflation increases to working-age benefits and the energy price guarantee, which is insulating millions from even higher global gas prices.”
