DWP confirms exact date £299 cost of living payment will land in bank accounts

13 December 2023 , 00:01

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The next cost of living payment is worth £299 (Image: Getty Images)

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has confirmed when the third and final cost of living payment for people claiming certain benefits will be paid.

The payment is worth £299 and will be sent to most eligible people between February 6 and February 22 next year. You need to have been entitled to a payment for a qualifying benefit between November 13 and December 12 to get the cost of living cash.

If you claim Universal Credit, you must have been eligible for a payment for an assessment period ending between these dates. The money will be sent automatically, meaning you won't need to physically claim it. The DWP and HMRC are urging people to be wary of scammers and anyone trying to trick people into believing they need to apply for it.

Around eight million people will receive the £299 payment, which is the third instalment of the £900 cost of living support previously announced by the Government. Households claiming eligible benefits should have already received two previous payments worth £301 and £300, respectively.

However, you don't need to have received the previous payments in order to get the final £299 instalment. You just need to have been claiming certain benefits during the timeframe mentioned above. The full list of benefits that qualify for the third cost of living payment are:

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• Universal Credit
• Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Income Support
• Working Tax Credit
• Child Tax Credit
• Pension Credit

The payment will show in your bank account with your National Insurance Number followed by DWP COL. The HMRC payment reference will be HMRC COLS. In an update on December 28, HMRC confirmed people who receive Tax Credits and no other income-related benefits will be paid between February 16 and February 22.

If you later become entitled to a cost of living payment - for example, you start claiming benefits and your claim gets backdated - and you don't receive the money, you can report this to GOV.UK from February 23, 2024.

Mel Stride, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, said: “We’ve delivered on our promise to halve inflation, putting money back in people’s pockets, while also providing millions of households with unprecedented financial support to ease cost of living pressures. We will always protect the most vulnerable, while ensuring fairness for the taxpayer.

“We know that the best way to secure long-term financial security is through employment, so we’re rolling out the next generation of welfare reforms to put thousands more people on a pathway off benefits and into work.”

Levi Winchester