The first instalment of the £650 payment for qualifying low income households in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will be paid into bank accounts from 14 July 2022. This instalment will be an automated payment of £326 and the second payment later in the autumn will be £324. The government states that the payments are deliberately unequal due to the time periods used to decide who is eligible, in order to minimise fraud risks.
Anyone with an existing claim of the following benefits by 25th May 2022 will receive a payment: Universal Credit, Income-based Jobseekers Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit and Pension Credit. Tax credits claimants will receive their payment slightly later than other DWP benefit claimants to avoid duplicate payments to the same household.
This payment will be tax-free, will not count towards the benefit cap, and will not have any impact on existing benefit awards.
Qualifying households do not need to do anything to apply for this payment; it will be made automatically into the bank account they usually receive their qualifying benefit in.
The payment dates for the other cost of living assistance payments to pensioners and to those on qualifying disability benefits will be announced shortly.
Ella Smith,
Welfare Rights Adviser.
The ME Association.
