One in four get help with bills
Cost of Living Campaign – Price Watch
ENERGY BILLS and day-today living costs are set to rise once again, but as the cost of living crisis bites deeper the Government has stepped in to help the most vulnerable in society.
One off payments are set to be given out. At the same time the National World Cost of Living - Price Watch community campaign aims to lend a listening ear and some useful tips.
The latest campaign is the second of our cost of living drives, following on from the company’s successful Heat & Eat and Keep Us Warm This Winter drives.
According to the Gov.UK website almost one in four families across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will get £326 sent directly to them, with the second instalment of £324 sent later this year as part of the government’s £37 billion support package.
It will help those on a range of benefits and tax credits.
The £326 payment – the first of two cost of living payments – will be sent to seven million bank accounts as part of the
Our
government’s multi-billion pound support package.
Second instalment of £324 will follow from the autumn, with separate payments for pensioners and disabled people also coming later this year.
Tax credit claimants will receive their first cost of living instalment by autumn.
Those getting payments will include as mentioned the main cost of living payment, worth £650 in total, for those on income-related benefits and tax credits. The pensioner payment, worth £300, for everyone who receives the winter fuel payment.
The disability payment, worth £150, for those on non-means-tested disability benefits.
Combined with other support, millions of lowincome households across the UK will receive at least £1,200 from the government by Christmas.
In addition, nearly one in ten people will get the £150 disability payment this Autumn, and more than eight million pensioner households could get an extra £300 from Winter Fuel Payments in November and December.
The Gov. UK website also states that households who are eligible because they receive tax credits and no other eligible benefits will receive their first instalment from HMRC in the autumn, and the second instalment in the winter.
DWP will administer payments for customers on all other eligible means-tested benefits, and customers do not need to contact the governmen or apply for the payment at any stage.
Meanwhile, in the winter there will be a £400 discount on electricity bills for all households and this will be handled by the various energy providers and, unlike the previous scheme, will no longer need to be paid back by customers.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nadhim Zahawi said: “It’s great that millions of the families who are most in need are starting to receive their Cost of Living Payments, which I know will be a massive help for people who are struggling.”
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