Payments for higher bills are being made to millions of people, and there will be even more in the future.
Following an extension of a program it launched in 2022, low-income households, pensioners, and some people with disabilities are now entitled to additional cost-of-living funds.
Whether the payments are helping those who are most in need is currently being examined by a committee of MPs.
Payments will be made to certain groups, including:, to assist with higher expenses.
- Three payments of £900 will be made to households receiving means-tested benefits in the spring, fall, and spring of 2024.
- Winter housing assistance of £300 for senior citizens.
- to recipients of specific disability benefits, £150.
Approximately eight million people have now received their £301 first instalment for means-tested benefits, which began to be paid on April 25.
Households receiving the following benefits are eligible for the three-instalment payment.
- Credit universal.
- jobseeker's compensation based on income.
- allowance for employment and support based on income.
- aid to income.
- credit for work.
- the child tax credit.
- Retirement benefits.
The recipient's national insurance number was listed as the payment reference, followed by the DWP COL.
The 1.1 million people who only receive tax credits and none of the other benefits received their money a little bit later than the rest, on May 2.
Unless they receive universal credit, people who receive new style employment and support allowance, contributory employment and support allowance, or new style jobseeker's allowance are not eligible for these payments.
Anyone who feels they ought to have received assistance but did not should get in touch with the office that handles the distribution of their benefits or tax credits, or report it here.
Those who received a payment for an assessment period ending between January 26 and February 25, 2023, or made a claim for a benefits payment during this time period, were eligible for the most recent instalment. A new pension credit claim may be retroactively approved for households with pensioners.
The pension credit, which is a doorway to these additional payments, is not claimed by an estimated 850,000 pensioner households.
Here are some more information on eligibility.
None of these cost-of-living adjustments have an impact on the taxes you owe, benefits you receive, or tax credits you qualify for.
An additional £150 is given to as many as six million recipients of the following disability benefits.
- Living allowance for people with disabilities.
- Individual independence allowance.
- attendance bonus.
- disability benefits in Scotland.
- Independence pay for the armed forces.
- Consistent attendance bonus.
- Mobility supplement for war pension.
Between June 20 and July 4, those payments must be made.
A further £300 should have been given to households receiving the winter fuel payment in November or December 2022, and an additional £300 will be given this winter. This payment, worth £200 to £300, is given to nearly all households with at least one person of retirement age.
In addition to the assistance given to those receiving benefits, lower-income pensioners who claim pension credit receive the money.
Over eight million low-income households received two payments in 2022 totaling £650.
During the winter, pensioners received payments of £300, and people with disabilities received payments of £150.
If they were qualified, some people would have gotten every single payment.
Last year, a £150 rebate was given—often through people's council tax bills. The Household Support Fund, which is distributed by local councils, assisted those who were most in need, including by providing fuel vouchers.
In the months from October to March, every household's energy costs were reduced by at least £400.
Energy providers in England, Scotland, and Wales automatically applied the discount. There are no plans to repeat this in the winter of 2023, though.
Households in Northern Ireland, which has its own energy market, were given separate considerations.
Beginning in January, they received a single payment of £600, which was more than the rest of the UK received due to a higher percentage of households using heating oil.
Customers in Northern Ireland who used direct debit received the funds in their bank accounts. A coupon was sent to additional clients.
The Commons Work and Pensions Committee is looking into whether recipients of cost-of-living adjustments have been those who most need assistance.
They are investigating whether some people lost out on hundreds of pounds because they are just outside the eligibility requirements and whether the package as a whole is adequate for low-income families.
The annual energy bill for a typical dual-fuel household is currently capped at £2,500 thanks to the government's Energy Price Guarantee, which was introduced in October 2022.
Customers' actual costs are not capped; instead, your bill is determined by the amount of energy you actually consume.
It was originally intended for the scheme, which is applicable to England, Wales, and Scotland, to last for two years, but that was later changed to six months.
The guarantee, however, will continue until July, when an average bill will drop to about £2,074 annually under regulator Ofgem's energy price cap.
A government initiative to lower energy costs for businesses came to an end at the end of March.
In contrast to the previous arrangement, which had cost caps, the new program, which started in April, gives businesses discounts on wholesale prices.
Heavy energy users like glass, ceramics, and steel producers receive a larger discount than other industries.
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