MILLIONS of households will see an increase in their benefits from April 2024.
Some payments will rise in line with September’s inflation rate of 6.7%, but others will remain the same.
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Benefits payments usually rise each year in April, based on how much prices are rising in the previous September.
Last year, benefits rose by 10.1% in line with inflation from September 2022.
Next year, many will see a 6.7% rise in their benefits, but others will remain unchanged.
As well as the five benefits we have listed below it is important to note that the benefits cap will also remain unchanged – meaning 85,000 could be up to £53 worse off.
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Here is the full list of benefits that will not be changing in April 2024:
Bereavement support payment
If your partner has died in the last 21 months, you can claim bereavement support.
To get the full amount you must claim within three months of your partner’s death.
You can claim up to 21 months after their death but you will get fewer monthly payments.
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You are only eligible for this benefit if your partner either:
- paid National Insurance contributions for at least 25 weeks in one tax year since April 6, 1975
- died because of an accident at work or a disease caused by work
Plus, when they died you must have been:
- under State Pension age
- living in the UK or a country that pays bereavement benefits
There are two rates, and if you are eligible you will get a first payment and then up to 18 monthly payments.
Currently, the first payment on the higher rate is worth £3,500 then the following 18 payments are worth £350.
The first payment on the lower rate is £2,500 and then the following 18 payments are worth £100.
This will not change from next April.
Child Benefit high income tax charge threshold
If you or a partner has an income of over £50,000 then you may be liable to pay the High Income Benefit Charge.
The following also must apply:
- you or your partner get child benefit
- someone else gets child benefit for a child living with you and they contribute at least an equal amount towards their upkeep
If this is the case, it means you will have to pay some or all of the child benefit you receive back.
At the moment you are required to pay back 1% of your child benefit for every £100 earned over £50,000.
You’re not entitled to any child benefit if you earn over £60,000.
The £50,000 threshold is not going to change from April.
Child element of Working Tax Credit
If you are struggling with your childcare costs you could be eligible for extra help.
You can get an extra amount of Working Tax Credit to help cover the costs of childcare.
Both of the following must apply though:
- your child must be in “approved childcare”
- the childcare must be provided in person, not online
The amount of working tax credit you can get has been frozen since 2005/6 and that’s not changing from next April either.
That means the maximum support that a claimant can receive is £175 for one child and £300 for two children per week.
Family element of Child Tax Credit
If you are a household on a low income and find yourself struggling to raise a child because of that, you could be eligible for Child Tax Credit.
Depending on your circumstances the amount you can get will vary.
If all of your children were born before April 2017, you could get the “child element” for all of them.
Plus, you’ll get the basic amount which is also known as the “family element”.
The family element is currently worth £545 a year. From next April this will be staying the same.
Savings and Universal Credit
Depending on how much savings you have, the amount of Universal Credit you get may change.
As it stands, if you’ve got any savings under £6,000 you won’t get any Universal Credit deducted.
Cash that you have of between £6,000 and £16,000 counts towards your Universal Credit calculation though.
It’s treated as a monthly income of £4.35 for every £250 over £6,000.
Any savings over £16,000 that you have yourself or as a couple means you won’t be entitled to Universal Credit.
The Department for Work and Pensions has confirmed these thresholds will remain the same from next April.
What help can I get instead?
Millions of Brits are missing out on other benefits that they’re entitled to adding up to billions of pounds in total.
You can check what extra benefits you might be entitled to by using a benefits calculator.
There are several benefit checker tools you can use – here’s our guide.
Successful claims to certain means-tested benefits and Universal Credit will ensure your eligibility for a free £900 cost of living payment.
Free cash is also available via your local authority thanks to the Household Support Fund.
The Household Support Fund is a pot of £842million that has been handed out to local councils to help households who might be struggling.
The money on offer to residents varies by location so you’ll have to check to see what you can get and how your council will pay you once it receives its new budget.
Some councils have issued supermarket vouchers and others have given cash payments of up to £200.
Residents can claim it to help with things like energy and grocery bills, rent arrears or council tax payments.
To get the help, you’ll need to check if you need to apply via your local council – as they are in charge of distributing the funding.
To find your local council, use the Gov.UK council finder tool.
If you’re struggling with energy bills specifically – speak to your supplier.
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They will often offer plenty of energy grants and schemes to help you out if you’re struggling so don’t suffer in silence.
Meanwhile here is a full list of all of the benefits that will be increasing in April 2024.
