DWP cost of living payments you may still be entitled to this year and the benefits that qualify
If you missed out on cost of living payments during the original rollouts, it may be worth checking if you are entitled to the cash now.
The Department for Work and Pensions carries out regular reviews of people's benefits and identifies those who may be "retrospectively entitled" to some or all of the previous cost of living payments. In other cases, people have reported missing amounts and have later been contacted with news of what they will be receiving.
One claimant says they filled in an online form and were informed they would be getting just over £950, made up of three cost of living payments of £326, £324 and £301 that they had not received when they were initially distributed to millions of households, reports BirminghamLive.
Read More: Five DWP benefit changes and what they mean for you - from Universal Credit to PIP reforms
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The DWP still has an active webpage for people to log a claim for a missed payment. You need to put in your National Insurance number and check your bank, building society or credit union statements, or your Payment Exception Service voucher receipts, before reporting that you did not receive a payment. Here is a look at what benefits you need to have been receiving and how much you should have had.
Cost of living payments 2022-2023
You would have been eligible for £650 paid in two lump sums of £326 and £324 if you were getting payments of any of the following:
income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
Income Support
Pension Credit
Child Tax Credit
Working Tax Credit
The £326 first instalment was sent out between July 14 and 31, 2022, and the second part of £324 between November 8 and 23 that year. A sum of £150 for those who are on disability benefits was paid between September 20 and the start of October, 2022 - to be eligible you had to be receiving any of the following:
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
Cost of living payments 2023-2024
You may be entitled to up to three cost of living payments of £301, £300 and £299 if you received any of the following means-tested 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 £301 payment went into accounts between April 25 and May 17, 2023, followed by £300 between October 31 and November 19 that year and then £299 between February 6 and 22, 2024. In addition, you may be entitled to a disability cost of living payment of £150 if you are getting 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
The £150 disability cost of living payment was sent out between June 20 and July 4, 2023. Each payment had its own qualifying dates when people must have been on a relevant benefit, or had a Universal Credit assessment period ending. Those whose benefits were reduced to zero between the qualifying dates because of excess earnings, having too much savings or for other reasons aren't usually eligible for the cost of living payments.
Some people receive means-tested benefits such as Universal Credit as well as a disability benefit such as Personal Independence Payment and could have been eligible for both sets of payments. Those only on means-tested benefits and who were receiving them in the qualifying dates would have been entitled to £650 in 2022-2023 and £900 in 2023-2024.
People only on disability benefits would have been entitled to £150 in each of those years. And those who are on both benefit types would potentially be entitled to £800 in the first year and £1,050 in the second year. Eligibility in both years could mean a total of £1,850 is due, a hefty sum for anyone who slipped through the net.