Third £299 Cost of Living payment paid in February 2024

The third instalment of the 2023/24 Cost of Living Payment, £299, was paid between 6 and 22 February 2024 for most people, according to Turn2us¹. The OECD's tax and benefit policy descriptions for the United Kingdom also record that the payment was made between those dates². For tax credits only claimants, the payment was made between 16 and 22 February 2024¹.

The £299 was the final part of a £900 payment split across three instalments in 2023/24. The first, £301, was paid during Spring 2023, between 25 April and 17 May 2023 for most people, and between 2 and 9 May 2023 for tax credits only claimants. The second, £300, was paid during Autumn 2023, between 31 October and 19 November 2023 for most people, and between 10 and 19 November 2023 for tax credits only claimants¹. The OECD records the same dates for the first and second payments².

Eligibility for the £299 payment depended on receiving a qualifying benefit or tax credits for a set period. For Universal Credit claimants, this meant a payment, or later entitlement to a payment, of any amount over 1p for an assessment period that ended between 13 November and 12 December 2023. For other qualifying benefits, it meant any payment, or later entitlement, between the same dates, including entitlement of between 1p and 9p where no payment was received. Pension Credit can be backdated for three months, giving claimants until 5 March 2024 to apply and be entitled to the third instalment¹.

People did not need to claim the payment. Turn2us states:

Claimants were not eligible if their benefit was reduced to £0 for the qualifying period, or if their tax credits entitlement for the tax year was below £26, except where entitlement fell to £0 for other reasons such as rent paid to a landlord or money owed, or where a hardship payment was received because of a sanction¹. Moving to Universal Credit after a Migration Notice letter did not affect eligibility¹.

The 2023/24 payments followed a different 2022 scheme, when people claiming means-tested benefits received an extra £650 paid in two instalments: £326 and £324. The first instalment was paid between 14 July and the end of July 2022 for people getting Pension Credit, Universal Credit, Income Support, income-related ESA or income-based JSA, and in autumn 2022 for tax credits claimants. The second was paid between 8 and 23 November 2022 for the first group, and after 23 November 2022 for tax credits claimants¹.

Why it matters for households

The £299 completed the £900 that households on qualifying means-tested benefits and tax credits received across 2023/24¹. Because payment was automatic and separate from benefit payments, no application was needed, and the money was paid the same way as usual benefit payments¹. Households that were entitled but did not receive the £299 could report a missing payment online¹. The qualifying period for the third instalment ran from 13 November to 12 December 2023, so entitlement depended on benefit receipt in that window rather than on circumstances at the time of payment¹. Pension Credit claimants who applied by 5 March 2024 could still be entitled to the third instalment because of the three-month backdating rule¹.

What happens next

The 5 March 2024 deadline for Pension Credit applications to qualify for the third instalment has passed¹. Turn2us directs anyone who believes they should have received the £299 but did not to report the missing payment online¹. No further Cost of Living Payments under the 2023/24 scheme are set out in the information reviewed; the £900 was paid in three instalments across the year¹.