Cost of living payment - you can now report missing £299 to DWP from today

23 February 2024 , 14:53

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The £299 cost of living payment should have been sent out to eligible households (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

If you've yet to receive the £299 cost of living payment, you'll be able to report this to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) or HMRC from today.

The DWP began sending the money to eligible benefit claimants from February 6, while the payments from HMRC started from February 16 for those claiming Tax Credits only. Yesterday (February 22) was the final day the cash should have hit your bank account, proving you are entitled to it.

But if you haven't received the money, there is now a webpage open on GOV.UK for you to claim it. The DWP and HMRC recommend you double check your bank statements first before reporting the money as missing. The payment should have been made automatically to your bank account. The payment reference is your National Insurance Number followed by DWP COL, or HMRC COLS for HMRC payments.

If you definitely didn't get it, you'll need your National Insurance number to hand to fill out the online form. You'll need to select which benefit you're currently claiming, and if you have a joint claim with your partner, or a single claim.

There are some reasons why you may not have received the £299 cost of living payment yet. You may get the cost of living payment at a later date if you put in a claim for benefits after today and your award is backdated. For example, you can backdate Pension Credit by three months and the deadline to do this, and be entitled to the £299, is by March 5.

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The £299 is being sent to people who were claiming one of these benefits between November 13 and December 12 last year. If you claim Universal Credit, you must have been eligible for a payment for an assessment period ending between these dates. Around eight million people are set to receive the money based on this eligibility criteria. The list of benefits is as follows:

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

Even if you're already claiming one of these benefits, there may be some circumstances where you still won't receive the payment. For example, if your Universal Credit is reduced to £0 in the eligibility timeframe, or if you claim Tax Credits and your entitlement for the tax year is below £26.

This is the last instalment in the £900 cost of living package, with the previous payments worth £301 and £300 having already been sent out to eligible UK homes. There is currently no further payments scheduled after this. You can still be entitled to the final payment even if you didn't receive the first two cash sums.

Levi Winchester