Cost of living Payments
Cost of Living Payments 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Department for Work and Pensions
Contents
People may be able to get up to 5 payments to help with the cost of living if they are getting certain benefits or tax credits.
If people are eligible, they will be paid automatically in the same way they usually get their benefit or tax credits. This includes if they are found to be eligible at a later date.
Payments are not taxable and will not affect the benefits or tax credits that people receive
Low income benefits and tax credits Cost of Living Payment
People may be entitled to up to 3 Cost of Living Payments of £301, £300 and £299 if they get any of the following benefits or tax credits on certain dates:
income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
Income Support
Pension Credit
Universal Credit
Child Tax Credit
Working Tax Credit
The payment will be made separately from their benefit payments.
People will not get a payment if you are only getting New Style ESA, contributory ESA, or New Style JSA.
If individuals have a joint claim on the qualifying dates, a single payment of £301, £300 and £299 will be sent using the same payment method used between these dates, if they are eligible.
£301 Cost of Living Payment eligibility
Universal Credit
People are eligible for the first Cost of Living Payment of £301 if they 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 26 January 2023 to 25 February 2023.
Income-based JSA, income-based ESA, Income Support and Pension Credit
People are eligible for the first Cost of Living Payment of £301 if you were entitled to a payment (or later found to be entitled to a payment) of income-based JSA, income-related ESA, Income Support or Pension Credit for any day in the period 26 January 2023 to 25 February 2023.
People are also eligible if they are entitled to one of these benefits for any day during this period but you do not receive a benefit payment because your entitlement is between 1 penny and 9 pence.
Tax credits
People are eligible for the first Cost of Living Payment of £301 if you received a payment of tax credits for any day in the period 26 January 2023 to 25 February 2023, or you are later found to have been entitled to a payment for this period.
£300 and £299 Cost of Living Payments
If people are/were eligible, they will have received:
£301 paid between 25 April 2023 and 17 May 2023 for most people on DWP benefits
£301 paid between 2 and 9 May 2023 for most people on tax credits and no other low income benefits
£300 paid during autumn 2023 for most people
£299 paid during spring 2024 for most people
If someone is getting both Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit, you will receive a Cost of Living Payment for Child Tax Credit only, which will be paid by HMRC.
If someone is getting tax credits from HMRC and a low income benefit from DWP, they cannot get a Cost of Living Payment from both HMRC and DWP.
People’s payment might come later, for example if they are awarded a qualifying benefit at a later date or they change the account their benefit or tax credits are paid into. They will still be paid the Cost of Living Payment automatically.
Disability Cost of Living Payment
People may be entitled to a Disability Cost of Living Payment of £150 if they are getting any of any of the following benefits:
Attendance Allowance
Constant Attendance Allowance
Disability Living Allowance for adults
Disability Living Allowance for children
Personal Independence Payment
Adult Disability Payment (in Scotland)
Child Disability Payment (in Scotland)
Armed Forces Independence Payment
War Pension Mobility Supplement
Most people were paid the £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment automatically between 20 June 2023 and 4 July 2023.
Payments were made to people who were getting a qualifying disability benefit from DWP before payments to people who were getting a qualifying benefit from the Ministry of Defence.
Find out how to report a missing Cost of Living Payment
Most people should have received their £301 Cost of Living Payment and £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment for 2023.
Find out how to report a missing Cost of Living Payment, if they think you should have had one of the following payments, but they cannot see it in their bank, building society or credit union account:
£301 Cost of Living Payment for a low income benefit,
£150 Disability Cost of Living Paymen
Pensioner Cost of Living Payment
If people are entitled to a Winter Fuel Payment for winter 2023 to 2024, they will get an extra £150 or £300 paid with their normal payment from November 2023.
The full amount of Winter Fuel Payment (including the Pensioner Cost of Living Payment) individuals will get for winter 2023 to 2024 depends on when they were born and their circumstances during the qualifying dates.
People can get a Winter Fuel Payment for winter 2023 to 2024 if they were born before 25 September 1957.
2022 Cost of Living Payments
This guidance is about Cost of Living Payments being made in 2023 and 2024. People can read about the Cost of Living Payments in 2022 in separate guidance.
Other help
Find out what other benefits and financial support people might be able to get to help with your living costs.
Use an independent benefits calculator to find out what benefits people could get.
They may be able to get other kinds of support, including:
Crisis Grant or Community Care Grant in Scotland