Law Centre NI publishes Cost of Living Support Payments 2023-2024 poster

The Law Centre NI published a poster in June 2023 setting out the cost of living support payments for 2023-2024, listing the amounts, the qualifying benefits and the dates attached to each payment¹. The poster covers three means-tested payments, a disability payment and a pensioner payment¹.

Payment 1 is £301. A person is eligible if they are entitled, or later found to be entitled, to a qualifying low income (means-tested) benefit during certain dates¹. For Universal Credit, this means an assessment period that ended between 26 January 2023 and 25 February 2023; for other means-tested benefits, any day between 26 January 2023 and 25 February 2023; and for Tax Credits, any day in the period 26 January to 25 February 2023¹.

The Disability Payment is £150, for people receiving qualifying disability benefits. The poster lists these as Attendance Allowance, Constant Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance for adults or children, Personal Independence Payment, Armed Forces Independence Payment and War Pension Mobility Supplement¹. To be eligible, a person must have received a payment, or later received a payment, for one of these benefits for 1 April 2023. The poster states the payment will likely be received automatically between 20 June 2023 and 4 July 2023¹.

Payment 2 is £300, with the same means-tested qualifying benefits as Payment 1. The poster says the dates are yet to be confirmed¹. Payment 3 is £299, again for people entitled to a qualifying means-tested benefit, with dates yet to be confirmed¹.

The Pensioner Payment is up to £300. A person entitled to a Winter Fuel Payment for winter 2023 to 2024 receives an extra £150 to £300 with their normal payment in November 2023¹. The poster states a person can receive Winter Fuel Payment for 2023/2024 if they were born before 25 September 1957, and that a letter will be sent in October or November 2023 to those eligible¹. The qualifying dates are marked as yet to be published¹.

Why it matters for households

The poster sets out which benefits open the door to each payment and the window in which a person must have been entitled to them. For the £301 Payment 1, the qualifying window has already closed: it ran from 26 January to 25 February 2023, depending on the benefit¹. The £150 Disability Payment turns on a payment for a listed disability benefit for 1 April 2023, with automatic payment expected between 20 June and 4 July 2023¹. The £300 Payment 2 and £299 Payment 3 have no confirmed dates in the poster, so households receiving means-tested benefits do not yet have a payment window to work from¹. The pensioner element is paid alongside the Winter Fuel Payment in November 2023, and eligibility for Winter Fuel Payment for 2023/2024 depends on being born before 25 September 1957¹. The poster does not state whether the payments are taxable or how they interact with other support, and this has not been reported¹.

What happens next

The Disability Payment is expected to be paid automatically between 20 June 2023 and 4 July 2023¹. Letters about Winter Fuel Payment eligibility are due in October or November 2023, with the pensioner payment following in November 2023¹. The qualifying dates for Payment 2, Payment 3 and the Winter Fuel Payment have not been published¹.