MILLIONS of people on Universal Credit and benefits will start getting much-needed cash within days to help in the cost of living crisis.
The first half of a £650 cost of living payment from the government will hit bank accounts from July 14.
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The help was first announced in May by former Chancellor and wannabe Rishi Sunak in a bid to help Brits struggling with rising bills.
Anyone claiming Universal Credit and certain other means-tested benefits as of May 25 should get the payment.
The first instalment is worth £326 and will be paid between Thursday (July 14) and the end of the month.
It’s the first of a series of payments many people will get this year, and the second half worth £324 is due in Autumn.
Every household in the UK will also be given at least £400 to help cover spiralling energy bills, which are set to rise by hundreds of pounds more this winter.
Pensioners will get an extra £300 one-off payment during the coldest months and those with disabilities will be handed £150.
More than 8million households are set to get the first chunk of the £650.
Those on the following means-tested benefits will get the cash: Universal Credit, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), income support and Pension Credit.
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The payment will arrive separately to your normal benefit payment and will go directly into your bank account.
That means you’ll get two payments in July – your usual benefit payment, and a cost of living payment from the DWP.
You’ll see the extra cash appear in your bank account as “DWP Cost of Living”.
To get the first payment, you will need to be in receipt of any of these eligible benefit payments as of May 25 this year, or have started a claim by this date and later be successful.
There will be later cut-off date for the second payment, so you could be eligible for that, even if you didn’t get the first, if you start claiming Universal Credit or other benefits.
It could be worth checking now if you could claim benefits as it’s estimated that millions of people are missing out.
If you’re getting tax credits you’re also eligible for the cost of living cash boost – but you’ll get it at a later date.
The cash will be paid later to avoid people getting paid twice if they get other benefits on top of tax credits.
The first cost of living payment for those on tax credits who are not getting any other eligible DWP benefit, will be made in Autumn 2022 and the second “from winter” 2022.
All the cost of living payments will be tax-free and won’t affect any benefits you’re getting, or count towards the benefit cap.
Everyone eligible for the first payment should get the cash by July 31.
As there are millions of them being processed it means they can’ all be paid on the same day.
Some people will get the cash sooner and others later as the payments are being staggered.
The government said it expects only a “small minority” of cases where payment isn’t made by the end of July, and only where people have very unique or complicated circumstances.
