£301 Cost of Living Payment eligibility and payment dates published

The Department for Work and Pensions published the eligibility dates and payment dates for the £301 Cost of Living Payment for people on a low income benefit on 27 March 2023¹. The payment is part of a series of Cost of Living Payments made between 2022 and 2024 to people who were getting certain benefits or tax credits on certain dates¹.

For Universal Credit claimants, eligibility for the £301 payment depended on being entitled to a payment of Universal Credit for an assessment period that ended in the period 26 January 2023 to 25 February 2023. Most payments were made between 25 April and 17 May 2023¹. For people on income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support or Pension Credit, eligibility required entitlement to a payment of the benefit for any day in the same period, 26 January 2023 to 25 February 2023, with the same payment window of 25 April to 17 May 2023 for most people¹. Tax credit claimants needed to have received a payment of tax credits in respect of any day in the period 26 January 2023 to 25 February 2023, with most payments made between 2 May and 9 May 2023¹.

The qualifying benefits and tax credits for the low income payments were income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Pension Credit, Universal Credit, Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit¹. People who were only getting New Style ESA, contributory ESA or New Style JSA did not get a payment¹. Joint claims on the qualifying dates attracted a single payment sent by the same method used for the benefit or tax credits¹.

The guidance states that the payments are not taxable and do not affect the benefits or tax credits received¹. It also states that if someone received a Cost of Living Payment but was later found not to have been eligible, they may have to pay it back¹. Payments could come later than the published window, for example where a qualifying benefit was awarded at a later date or the account a benefit was paid into changed, and the guidance says the payment would still be made automatically¹.

Why it matters for households

The £301 payment was the third of five low income Cost of Living Payments, following £326 and £324, and was paid automatically to eligible households from late April 2023¹. Eligibility was fixed by benefit entitlement on a set of qualifying dates rather than by application, so households whose Universal Credit assessment period ended between 26 January and 25 February 2023, or who were entitled to one of the other qualifying benefits for any day in that period, were in scope¹. Tax credit households had a separate, slightly later payment window of 2 May to 9 May 2023¹.

A nil award, where benefit was reduced to £0 for the qualifying period, meant no payment, though the guidance lists exceptions including money taken off for rent paid to a landlord or money owed, and hardship payments¹. Tax credit claimants were not eligible if their tax credits entitlement for the tax year was below £26¹. The payments did not count as taxable income and did not reduce the benefits or tax credits a household received¹.

What happens next

The guidance records that DWP is not planning to make any more Cost of Living Payments¹. It also notes that the Household Support Fund has been replaced with the Crisis and Resilience Fund¹. People who think they were eligible for a Cost of Living Payment but cannot see it in their bank, building society or credit union account are directed to contact the office that pays their qualifying benefit or tax credits¹.