First means-tested Cost of Living Payment of £326 made

The first instalment of the 2022 Cost of Living Payment, £326, was paid in July 2022 to anyone who was awarded, or later found to be entitled to, a means-tested benefit on any day between 26 April and 25 May 2022¹. The payment formed part of a £650 sum for households on means-tested benefits, split into two instalments¹.

The qualifying benefits were Universal Credit, Pension Credit, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance and Income Support¹. Couples making a joint claim for a means-tested benefit received one £650 payment between them, paid in two instalments¹. No claim was needed: payments were made automatically through existing benefit awards, did not affect entitlement to benefits and did not count towards the benefit cap¹.

The second instalment of £324 was due in November 2022¹. To qualify, a claimant had to be entitled to a payment, or later found to be entitled to one, of income-based JSA, income-related ESA, Income Support or Pension Credit for any day between 26 August and 25 September 2022¹. Turn2us records that for people getting Pension Credit, Universal Credit, Income Support, income-related ESA or income-based JSA, the first instalment was paid between 14 July and the end of July 2022, and the second between 8 and 23 November 2022².

Separate payments ran alongside the means-tested award. Households on Child Tax Credit and/or Working Tax Credit received £650 in two instalments, the first in September 2022, with eligibility based on receiving a payment, or an annual award of at least £26, of tax credits on any day between 26 April and 25 May 2022¹. A lump sum of £150 went to anyone in receipt of a qualifying disability benefit on 25 May 2022, including Attendance Allowance, Constant Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, and the Armed Forces Independence Payment and War Pension Mobility Supplement; that payment should have been made in September¹. From November 2022, anyone entitled to the Winter Fuel Payment for winter 2022 to 2023 received an additional £300 towards energy costs¹.

People receiving only Carers Allowance, new-style or contribution-based JSA, new-style or contribution-based ESA, Incapacity Benefit, or Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit were not covered by a specific cost of living payment¹.

Why it matters for households

The £326 reached households on means-tested benefits from July 2022, with the £324 balance following in November, so a couple on a joint claim saw £650 in total across the two dates rather than £650 each¹. Tax credit claimants were paid on a different timetable, with the first instalment in September 2022 and the second at the end of November 2022¹. Households receiving both a means-tested benefit or tax credit and a qualifying disability benefit received the £150 in addition to the £650¹. Pensioner households entitled to the Winter Fuel Payment for winter 2022 to 2023 received an extra £300 from November 2022¹. Because payments were automatic and did not count towards the benefit cap, no application was required¹.

What happens next

The second means-tested instalment of £324 was paid in November 2022, with entitlement assessed on the 26 August to 25 September 2022 period¹. The second tax credit payment was paid at the end of November 2022¹. Later Cost of Living Payments followed under a separate £900 award for 2023/24, paid in three instalments: £301 in spring 2023, £300 in autumn 2023 and £299 in winter 2024². Turn2us records that the third instalment of £299 was paid between 6 February and 22 February 2024 for most people, and between 16 and 22 February 2024 for tax credits only claimants².