Cost-of-living crisis: Get the help you are entitled to
HARVEY JONES highlights what hat you can claim and key deadline dates in the £15bn rescue plan
CHANCELLOR Rishi Sunak’s decision to give eight million of the poorest households £650 to ease cost-of-living pressures, should help take the heat off millions who were wondering how to pay basic bills.
Yet in practice, the Cost of Living Payment, as it is officially called, will vanish instantly on food and fuel.
In April, the average energy bill jumped by a larger amount, climbing £693 to £1,971 a year, and may hit £2,800 from October.
The money, announced in May, is part of a wider rescue package worth at least £1,200 for vulnerable families, and up to £1,650 for some disabled pensioners.
Who gets the payment?
The £650 will be paid to qualifying low-income households in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The money will be handed out in two lump sums of £326 and £324, straight into your bank account. You are likely to be eligible if you are getting any of the following means-tested benefits, or you made a successful claim by May 25.
■ Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
■ Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
■ Income Support
■ Pension Credit
■ Universal Credit
■ Child Tax Credit
■ Working Tax Credit
If you made a claim after May 25, you will not get the first Cost of Living Payment of £326, but may be eligible for the second one of £324. The Government will publish the qualifying dates nearer the time.
If you think you’re eligible for one of the above means-tested benefits but don’t claim it, you have an incentive to check now. This money is paid per household rather than individually.
The Government says: “If you have a joint claim with a partner, you will get one payment of £650 for both of you, paid in two lump sums from July 2022 and in autumn 2022, if eligible.”
People who receive eive non-meanstested benefits such h as the Personal Independence Allowance or Carer’s Allowance, will not automatically get the £650, unless they qualify for other benefits that are means-tested.
I’m disabled... will I get more?
If you also get a qualifying disability benefit, you may get an additional Disability Cost of Living Payment.
This is worth £150, on top of the £650 Cost of Living Payment, and should arrive in September. This lump sum is paid if you get any of the following benefits:
■ Attendance Allowance
■ Constant Attendance Allowance
■ Personal Independence Payment
■ Disability Living Allowance for adults
■ Disability Living Allowance for children
■ Adult Disability Payment (Scotland)
■ Child Disability Payment (Scotland)
■ Armed Forces Independence Payment
■ War Pension Mobility Supplement
Again, to qualify you must have received a payment or have put in a successful claim for one of these benefits before May 25. Dates for the payments to people with disabilities will be confirmed soon. If you get a qualifying disability benefit from the Ministry of Defence and a qualifying disability benefit from the Department for Work and Pensions, you will only get one Disability Cost of Living Payment. This will come from the DWP.
What do I have to do to get it?
You do not need to apply for the Cost of Living Payment. If you are eligible for it, then the money should be paid to you automatically.
It will be sent in the same way you usually get your benefit or tax credits, although as a separate payment. This payment is tax-free, does not count towards the benefit cap, and will not have any impact on existing benefits or tax credits you get.
When is it paid?
The first payment of £326 will be made between July 14 and the end of the month.
If you are entitled to the second payment of £324 as well, that will come in autumn. We don’t know what date yet, because the Government hasn’t told us. It will publish dates nearer the time.
What else could I get?
As part of the support package, the Government has earmarked £300 for pensioners struggling to heat homes. This will go to those who are entitled to Winter Fuel Payments, which gives those born on or before September 25, 1956 between £100 and £300 towards their heating bills.
The Winter Fuel Payment is made automatically if you are eligible and either get the state pension or another social security benefit (not Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction, Child Benefit or Universal Credit).
Pensioners will receive the extra £300 with their normal payment in November or December. This will be paid on top of any Cost of Living Payment received.
If you think you are eligible but haven’t received confirmation from the DWP, you should call the Winter Fuel Payment helpline on 0800 731 0160. You will need your National Insurance number, as well as your bank or building society details.
What other support is there?
In February, the Chancellor announced a rescue package which included a £150 council tax rebate for band A-D properties. If you pay by direct debit, this will be paid directly into your bank account.
If you don’t, your council will contact you with details of how you will be able to claim.
At the same time, Rishi Sunak announced the energy bill discount, in the shape of a £200 loan that had to be repaid from May 2023.
Last month he doubled that to £400, and now the money will not have to be paid back. This will be sent to every household in October.
The Government has also increased funding for the Household Support Fund to £1.5billion. Contact your local council to claim. You do not need to be claiming benefits, but must answer questions about your income, earnings and savings, and provide evidence of hardship. If you need any help, contact Citizens Advice.
How much can I claim in total?
People falling into more than one category will qualify for multiple payments. t Millions Milli of pensioners will be given £850 of support: £300 extra pensioner payment, £400 help with energy bills, £150 council tax rebate.
The poorest pensioner households could potentially get an extra £1,650, Laura Suter, head of personal finance at AJ Bell, says.
This would be made up of the following:
■ Cost of Living Payment: £650
■ Disability Cost of Living Payment: £150
■ Separate payment for pensioners:£ 300
■ Council tax rebate: £150
■ Help with energy bills: £400
Laura cautioned: “That may feel like a giant sum, but between March and October this year average energy bills will rise by £1,523.
“So even households getting the largest handouts have just £100 extra to cover all the other cost-ofliving increases.” The average household will get £550, Sunak said, including some better-off families.
Pension credit
That [the £1,650, in help for the poorest families] may feel like a giant sum, but between March and October this year average energy bills will rise by £1,523. So even households getting the largest handouts have just £100 extra to cover all the other cost-of- living increases.” Laura Suter, head of personal finance at AJ Bell on the squeeze on family budgets
Up to 850,000 of the poorest pensioners could miss out on the Cost of Living Payment because they fail to claim means-tested state pension top-up pension credit. This vital support is worth up to £3,300 a year for the 1.4 million pensioners who do claim it, says Jon Greer, head of retirement policy at financial advisers Quilter.
An estimated £1.7billion is unclaimed each year.
As well as more income, pension credit gives low-income pensioners access to help with their housing costs, council tax or heating bills, and those over 75 are entitled to a free TV licence.
Royal London’s consumer finance specialist Sarah Pennells said pensioners had to have started their claim by May 25 to get that first £326 payment.”