ON 26 May, 2022, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a £15bn support package aimed to help ease the cost-of-living crisis.
It includes a discount on energy bills for all, and a one-off payment to the poorest households. But how much will you save and what’s happening with the disability payment?
1
When will I get my £150 one-off disability payment?
In the autumn of 2022, around six million people across the UK will receive a one off-payment to support people with disabilities who face additional and increased costs.
In September 2022, a £150 payment will be given to those who receive the following disability benefits:
- Disability Living Allowance
- Personal Independence Payment
- Attendance Allowance
- Scottish Disability Benefits
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- Constant Attendance Allowance
- War Pension Mobility Supplement
Those claiming the additional payment must be in receipt of, or have begun an eventually successful claim for, one of these benefits as of 25th May 2022 in order to be eligible.
For many people who already get disability benefit who are on means tested benefits, the sum will be added on top of the £650 they receive separately.
The payments will be tax exempt, won’t count towards the benefit cap, and won’t have any impact on existing benefit awards.
The government will make these payments directly to those who are eligible across the UK.
How much will my energy bill be cut by?
As part of the cost-of-living bail-out, the Chancellor announced that all households would receive a £400 grant to help households pay spiralling energy bills.
In May 2022, the boss of energy regulator Ofgem said households could see their energy bills rocket to a staggering £2,800 a year in October.
£200 of support was announced earlier this year which will be doubled and the full £400 payment will be made as a grant, which won’t be recovered through higher bills in future years as was previously planned.
The support will be delivered to households with a domestic electricity meter by energy suppliers over six months from October 2022.
Credit and direct debit customers will have the funds credited directly to their accounts while those on pre-pay meters will have the money paid via a voucher or applied to their meter.
It will apply directly for households in England, Scotland and Wales, is GB-wide and equivalent support with be delivered to people in Northern Ireland.
Will I have to pay the money back?
The previous plan was a repayment scheme, the £200 energy bill rebate set to come in from October, 2022.
Labour criticised the scheme, calling it a “shoddily designed buy now, pay later loan scheme”.
But this energy bill loan will now be shelved, and Mr Sunak said changes the energy price outlook had changed the Government’s approach:
“Since then the outlook for energy prices has changed, I’ve heard people’s concerns over the impact of these repayments on future bills, so I’ve decided that those repayments will be cancelled.
“I’ve decided that those repayments will be cancelled,” The Chancellor said, adding, “This support is now unambiguously a grant.”
As the payment of twice that is now being made as a grant, the sum will not need to be repaid.
