New direct payments of £299 towards living expenses will go to 700,000 families from TODAY
MILLIONS of households will start receiving their third cost of living payment from today.
Around 700,000 households receiving tax credits will receive a direct payment of £299 from HMRC between February 16 and 22.
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It is the third of the total cost of living, up to a total of £900, for eligible tax credit customers in the UK.
This also applies to people on means-tested benefits, such as universal credit, child tax credit and pension credit.
More than seven million eligible UK households have already received the £299 payment directly from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), which started making payments on February 6.
And now HMRC will start sending out the rest of the direct payments from today – and will continue to do so until February 22.
The money will be automatically credited to the bank accounts where eligible customers receive their tax credits.
There is no need to contact HMRC or request payment.
To check whether your living expenses have been received, you just need to look for a certain code in your bank details.
Payments from HMRC appear on bank statements as their National Insurance Number, followed by “HMRC COLS”, referring to the cost of living.
And those who receive the payment from DWP will see the payment reference as their National Insurance Number followed by “DWP COL”.
If your NI number is JT 83 42 97B, your payment will appear as “JT 83 42 97B DWP COL” or “JT 83 42 97B HMRC COLS” on your bank statement.
Full list of benefit recipients eligible for the third cost of living payment
- Universal credit
- Income-related benefit for job seekers
- Income-related employment and support benefit
- Income support
- Working tax credit
- Child tax credit
- Pension credit
For joint claimants of the tax credit, where one claimant receives a working tax credit and the other claimant receives a child tax credit, the payments will be made to the same bank account as the child tax credit.
You must have been entitled to a payment of one of the qualifying benefits above between November 13 and December 12 to be eligible for the free money.
If it later turns out that you are entitled to one of the above benefits between the same dates, you will also be eligible for payment.
Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC director general of customer service, said: “The £299 cost of living payment will provide further financial support for customers eligible for UK tax credits.
“To make things as simple as possible, payment is made automatically with no action required from HMRC customers.”
It is important to note that these payments are tax-free, do not count towards the benefit ceiling and do not have any impact on existing benefits.
Important to note
If people have not received the payment they expected from HMRC between the scheduled payment dates, but think they are eligible, they should wait until after February 23 to get in touch, HMRC said.
This is to give the bank, building society or credit union time to process the payment.
Receiving a previous payment for living expenses does not guarantee that customers will receive this payment. Customers must meet the individual eligibility criteria for each payment, as published on GOV.UK.
People should also beware of scams that target people expecting a payment. If someone gets in touch claiming to be from HMRC or DWP it could be a scam.
These payments come in slightly different amounts, each covering a specific qualifying period before the payment is made.
This allows HMRC and DWP to ensure that support is targeted to those who need it and are eligible; and to determine whether a payee has received the correct payments and to identify the payment value.
What other help is available?
If you don't qualify for the £299 living costs payment, or even if you do and still need help, some other support is offered.
The Domestic Support Fund is one option. It is worth £842 million and is shared between councils in England.
They then decide how to divide their portion.
But what you are entitled to depends on where you live, as each local authority sets its own eligibility criteria.
In the vast majority of cases, you are eligible if you are on benefits or are struggling financially.
You should contact your local council to see if assistance is offered. You can find out which local authority area you fall under by using the government's online council finder.
You may also be able to claim a free subsidy from your energy company if you are struggling to pay.
British Gas, Octopus Energy and EDF are among the major companies offering help.
Eligibility requirements vary depending on the company, but you will usually need to prove that you have energy debt or are experiencing fuel poverty.
The government classes fuel poverty when a household has to spend a “large portion” of its income to keep the temperature at a reasonable level.
It's worth checking whether you're also eligible for benefits, after the latest figures from analytics firm Policy in Practice show that £19 billion in support is going unclaimed every year.