28 March 2023

Cost of Living Payments 2023-2024

Information about the Government's Cost of Living payments for 2023-2024 has been published.

Up to 3 cost of living payments of £301, £300 and £299 are available for people who receive payment of 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

DWP will make the payments of £301 to people who qualify due to receiving payment of a qualifying benefit during the qualifying period, which is between 26 January 2023 and 25 February 2023, inclusive. The first payments will be paid automatically by DWP between 25 April and 17 May 2023. 

For tax credit-only claimants, to get the first 2023-2024 payment of £301 from HMRC, HMRC must have made a payment of tax credits to the claimant in respect of any day between 26 January 2023 and 25 February 2023, inclusive (or HMRC later find the claimant to have been entitled to a payment for this period). 

Tax Credit-only customers, who are not eligible for a payment from DWP, will receive their payment from HMRC shortly after DWP payments begin. HMRC will publish the payment dates for tax credit-only customers as soon as possible. 

Each payment has separate eligibility criteria and therefore receiving a previous payment doesn't guarantee eligibility for a future one. Claimants do not need to contact DWP or HMRC to apply for the cost of living payments – payment continues to be automatic into the bank account where they receive their tax credits payments.HMRC will include further information for their customers  in the letter they will receive from HMRC in the next few weeks, and will be updated on GOV.UK. 

More informaiton is available on the GOV.UK website.