Who is eligible for cost of living payments of up to £1,350 – and when to expect them

HARD-UP households will be able to get up to £1,350 in cost of living payments – we explain who is eligible and when you’ll be paid.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt unveiled the help – which will cost a total of £26billion – in his Autumn Statement.

Three cost of living payments have been announced, and if you’re eligible for all of them, you’ll be in line for £1,350 in help.

Millions of people on means-tested benefits will receive a £900 payment, pensioners are in line for £300, and those with disabilities £150.

We explain who qualifies for the help, and when it will land in your bank account.

What to know about £900 help

Millions on means-tested benefits can get this £900 cost of living payment.

Who is eligible?

Those on means-tested benefits can get the help, which includes:

• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Income Support
• Pension Credit
• Tax Credits (Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit)
• Housing Benefit
• Council Tax Support
• Social Fund (Sure Start Maternity Grant, Funeral Payment, Cold Weather Payment)
• Universal Credit

For previous payments, you had to be entitled, or later found to be entitled, to one of these benefits by a certain date.

The government will reveal eligibility dates and payment timings for this £600 help in due course, according to Statement documents.

When will it be paid?

In the small print of the Autumn Statement, it says those eligible for the £900 payment will be able to get the payment in the 2023/24 financial year.

As the financial year starts in April, it means you will get it after this point.

Exact dates of when you’ll get it will be revealed by the government at a later date, according to documents.

It has been confirmed that you will be paid in more than one instalment.

This payment will be tax-free, will not count towards the benefit cap, and will not have any impact on existing benefit awards. 

What to know about £300 help

In his Autumn Statement, the Chancellor confirmed millions of elderly households will get another £300 cost of living payment next April.

Hard-up pensioners are currently being given a £300 cost of living payment – here’s what we know about how this new one will work.

Who is eligible?

The current Pensioner Cost of Living payment is being given to all pensioners who normally get the Winter Fuel Payment.

This means you qualify if:

• you were born on or before September 25, 1956
• you lived in the UK for at least one day during the week of 19 to 25 September 2022 in what is known as the “qualifying week”

Again, exact eligibility dates have not been confirmed by the DWP for the new £300 payment, but details will be revealed soon.

When will it be paid?

Payments will be dished out in the 2023/24 financial year – after April next year.

For the current £300 round of help, payments are being dished out this month and next – with the DWP expecting to hand out all payments by January 13, 2023.

It means that if the new £300 payment will work the same way, you could expect the help to land in your account from November next year.

However, the DWP hasn’t confirmed this and exact payment timings will be revealed at a later point.

Like the £900 cost of living help, this payment will be tax-free, will not count towards the benefit cap, and will not have any impact on existing benefit awards. 

What to know about £150 help

Those on disability benefit will get an additional £150 cost of living payment.

The first payment was dished out from September this year – here’s what we know about how the latest payment will work.

Who is eligible?

You need to receive one of the following to be eligible:

• Disability Living Allowance
• Personal Independence Payment
• Attendance Allowance
• Scottish Disability Benefits
• Armed Forces Independence Payment
• Constant Attendance Allowance
• War Pension Mobility Supplement

The criteria for receiving the second payment hasn’t been announced yet.

For the last payment, claimants must have received, or begun an eventually successful claim for one of these benefits, as of May 25 this year to be eligible for the £150 payment.

When will it be paid?

Payments will be dished out in the 2023/24 financial year – after April next year.

Exact payment dates will be revealed soon.

Like the other cost of living help, the payment is tax-free, and will not have any impact on existing benefit awards.