All the one-off benefit payments due before the end of the year including families and people over State Pension age
MILLIONS receiving benefits are in line for one-off boosts to help ease the pain on budgets at certain pressure points over the coming months.
As long as you are claiming qualifying benefits, you could receive several cash injections before the end of the year,
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Here are all the one-off payments on the cards…
Household Support Fund
You can get help with the cost of living through the Household Support Fund.
The pot is worth £421 million and distributed by local councils.
Each authority has different qualifying criteria and gives support in different ways and for different amounts.
It means that what you are able to apply for depends on where you live, as well as your financial situation.
The money is usually given as cash transfer or through shopping or food vouchers.
For example, in some parts of the country such as Portsmouth you can get as much as £1,000.
Whereas households in other areas including Doncaster may be more likely to get up to £300 to support with gas, electricity and food costs.
To find out, you’ll need to look what your council offers and apply directly.
DWP Christmas bonus
Thousands of households on benefits receive a tax-free £10 cash boost from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The tax-free £10 payment is paid to eligible households usually during the first full week of December.
To qualify for the payment you must be present or “ordinarily resident” in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man or Gibraltar.
Households will also need to claim at least one of the 20 qualifying benefits within the same period.
The bonus is for those who receive Universal Credit plus mone of the qualifying benefits.
To claim your part of the Christmas cash, you’ll need to be claiming at least one of the following DWP’s benefits:
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- Attendance Allowance
- Carer’s Allowance
- Child Disability Payment
- Constant Attendance Allowance (paid under Industrial Injuries or War Pensions schemes)
- Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance (once the main phase of the benefit is entered after the first 13 weeks of claim)
- Disability Living Allowance
- Incapacity Benefit at the long-term rate
- Industrial Death Benefit (for widows or widowers)
- Mobility Supplement
- Pension Credit – the guarantee element
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- State Pension (including Graduated Retirement Benefit)
- Severe Disablement Allowance (transitionally protected)
- Unemployability Supplement or Allowance (paid under Industrial Injuries or War Pensions schemes)
- War Disablement Pension at State Pension age
- War Widow’s Pension
- Widowed Mother’s Allowance
- Widowed Parent’s Allowance
- Widow’s Pension
If you’re part of a married couple, in a civil partnership or live together, you’ll both get the cash bonus – as long as you both are eligible.
If you or your partner do not get one of the above qualifying benefits, then they could still get the bonus if they are over the state pension age by the end of the qualifying week.
Winter Fuel payment
The Winter Fuel Payment is made every year to help cover the cost of energy over the colder months.
It has been changed in recent months so that fewer can claim.
However, the cash boost, worth up to £300, is still valuable for those who quality – particularly those on Pension Credit.
The cash is usually paid in November and December, with some made up until the end of January the following year.
If you haven’t got your payment by then, you need to call the office that pays your benefits.
Households eligible for the payment are usually told via a letter sent in October or November each year.
If you think you meet the criteria, but don’t automatically get the winter fuel payment, you will have to apply on the government’s website.
The Child Winter Heating Assistance
If you’re based in Scotland, you could receive a child winter heating assistance payment of £255.80.
You get child winter heating payment for a child or young person under 19 who lives in Scotland and who is entitled to:
- the highest rate of the care component of child disability payment (CDP) or disability living allowance (DLA), or
- the enhanced rate of the daily living component of adult disability payment (ADP) or personal independence payment (PIP).
They must be entitled to the relevant disability benefit during the ‘qualifying week’, which is the week beginning on the third Monday in September (w/c Septmber 15 in 2025).
You do not have to make a claim for the payment, but it should be paid by Social Security Scotland, usually in November.
If you think you’re entitled but have not received payment by the end of December, you should contact Social Security Scotland on 0800 182 2222.
Warm Home Discount
The Warm Home Discount is an automatic £150 discount off energy bills.
As the money is a discount, there is no money paid to you, but you’ll get the payment automatically if your electricity supplier is part of the scheme and you qualify.
You’ll have to be in receipt of one of the following benefits to qualify for one of the payments:
If you don’t claim any of the above benefits, you won’t be eligible for the payment.
Cold Weather payment
Cold weather payments are dished out when temperatures are recorded as, or forecast to be, zero degrees or below, on average, for seven consecutive days between November 1 and March 31.
Eligible Brits are then given extra money to help heat their homes.
You get £25 for each seven-day period where the weather is below zero Celsius on average during this time frame.
You can check if your area has had a cold weather payment by popping your postcode into the government’s tool on its website.
You’ll need to be on certain benefits to qualify, which are:
- Pension credit
- Income support
- Income-based jobseeker’s allowance
- Income-related employment and support allowance
- Universal Credit
- Support for mortgage interest
Those in Scotland don’t get cold weather payments but may be able to receive a winter heating payment instead.
Student maintenance payments loans
Student maintenance loans are paid to university students to help cover living costs such as rent.
They are usually paid at the start of each new term, so you typically receive three payments a year.
Maintenance Loans are paid straight into your student bank account in three (almost) equal instalments throughout the year.
The amount you will receive depends on where in the UK you’re from, whether you’ll be living at home or not, your household income and how long you’re studying for.
The average Maintenance Loan is approximately £6,116 a year.
Are you missing out on benefits?
YOU can use a benefits calculator to help check that you are not missing out on money you are entitled to
Charity Turn2Us’ benefits calculator works out what you could get.
Entitledto’s free calculator determines whether you qualify for various benefits, tax credit and Universal Credit.
MoneySavingExpert.com and charity StepChange both have benefits tools powered by Entitledto’s data.
You can use Policy in Practice’s calculator to determine which benefits you could receive and how much cash you’ll have left over each month after paying for housing costs.
Your exact entitlement will only be clear when you make a claim, but calculators can indicate what you might be eligible for.
