On May 26th the Government, after relentless pressure from Citizens Advice and others, made a major announcement outlining a new set of measures to mitigate the worst impacts of the cost-of-living crisis. Below is a short summary of the key elements.
The Energy Bills Support Scheme.
Previously announced, in February, as a £200 repayable ‘energy rebate’ this figure has been doubled and made into a £400 non-repayable grant.
Energy suppliers will deliver this support to households with a domestic electricity meter over six months from October 2022.
Direct debit and credit customers will have the money credited to their account, while customers with pre-payment meters will have the money applied to their meter or paid via a voucher.
£650 one-off Cost of Living Payment for those on means tested benefits.
Households on means tested benefits, such as (but not only) Universal Credit will receive a payment of £650 this year, made in two instalments.
The first payment will be made in July, the second payment in early autumn.
Claimants will need to be in receipt of a relevant benefits or have begun a claim which is later successful, as of 25th May 2022 to be eligible for the first of the two instalments.
HMRC and DWP will provide further guidance in due course.
One-off £300 Pensioner Cost of Living Payment.
Pensioner households, who receive the Winter Fuel Payment, will get an additional £300 one-off payment in November/December. This will be in addition to any other one-off cost-of-living payment they may be entitled to in this package of measures.
For most pensioner households, this will be paid by direct debit.
People will be eligible for this payment if they are over State Pension age (aged 66 or above) between 19 – 25 September 2022.
£150 Disability Cost of Living Payment.
Those across the UK who receive disability benefits – such as Personal Independence Payments, Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance – will receive a one-off payment of £150 in September.
Claimants must be in receipt of, or have begun an eventually successful claim for, one of these benefits as of 25th May 2022 to be eligible for this additional payment.
For the many disability benefit recipients who also receive means tested benefits, this £150 will come on top of the £650 they will receive separately.
These payments will be exempt from tax, will not count towards the benefit cap, and will not have any impact on existing benefit awards.
The government will make these payments directly to eligible people across the UK.
As all of the one-off payments referenced above are being made through the current benefits system none require potential recipients to make an application. However, if you have questions about your entitlement, or receive confusing messages about how to access these payments, please contact Citizens Advice as soon as possible. Don’t let scammers confuse you into giving them your bank or other personal details.
Finally, in addition to the one-off payments above, the government also extended the Household Support Fund (HSF) from October 2022 to March 2023. The HSF is delivered by local authorities and is focused on helping struggling households pay for food and energy.
Some HSF payments will be made automatically to pre-selected households while some will be open to an online or telephone application.
For more information about the HSF in Coventry please visit https://www.coventry.gov.uk/council-tax-benefits/household-support-fund .
If you want to know more about the government’s announcement go to the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cost-of-living-support/cost-of-living-support-factsheet-26-may-2022 .
To see how these measures add to those announced in February go to the link below:
Citizens Advice hugely welcomes these one-off payments but equally notes that such payments do not address the underlying flaws and deficiencies of either the welfare benefits system nor the government’s wider response to the cost-of-living crisis.
We are particularly concerned that the number of nationally announced one-off payments, when added to local one-off council tax ‘energy rebates’, will only add to the confusion of struggling households trying to understand what they are entitled to and how they are to access this help.
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