DWP warns cost of living payment will only be given to certain households

01 February 2024 , 09:29

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Not everyone will receive the final cost of living payment (Image: Getty Images)

The third and final cost of living payment worth £299 will start to be sent out to millions of households from next week.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will issue the payments to most eligible people between February 6 and February 22. If you receive Tax Credits from HMRC and no other income-related benefits, you'll be paid between February 16 and February 22.

You need to have been claiming one of the following means-tested benefits between November 13 and December 12 last year to get the final cost of living payment. If you claim Universal Credit, you must have been eligible for a payment for an assessment period ending between these dates.

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

However, there are some incidences where you won't receive the payment. The first reason why you may not get the money, is if your benefit is reduced to £0 - this is sometimes called a "nil award" - for the qualifying period we've mentioned above. But you may still be eligible for a cost of living payment if you received a "nil award" and one of the following applies:

• Money was taken off your benefit for payment of rent to your landlord or for money you owe
• You had a hardship payment

The second reason why you may not be entitled to the cost of living payment is if you claim Tax Credits and your entitlement for the tax year is below £26. Around eight million people are expected to receive the cost of living payment, which is the third and final part of the £900 cost of living support previously announced by the Government.

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The two previous payments were worth £301 and £300, respectively. If you're eligible for the latest payment, the money will be sent automatically to your bank account - you won't need to apply for it. The code to check for in your bank account for the latest payment will be your National Insurance Number followed by DWP COL. The HMRC payment reference will be HMRC COLS.

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. For example, you can backdate Pension Credit by three months and the deadline to do this, and be entitled to the £299 cost of living payment, is by March 5.

Levi Winchester