The UK government previously announced that every household in the UK would receive a £400 energy grant to help battle the rising costs of living. Additionally, around 8 million low income households in the UK would receive an extra £650 cost of living allowance on top of that. The government has started paying out the grants on the 14th of July. We provide an overview of when you can expect to receive your payments in the coming months.
Published on: 18-07-2022
£400 energy grant will be deducted from your energy bills in October
All households will receive the £400 energy grant from October onwards. There is no need to apply anywhere to receive it and it will also not be transferred to your bank account directly. Your energy supplier will make sure that the £400 is added to your account at the energy supplier if you have a direct debit or a credit plan at the company. This process might take a few months in total before everyone has received the full amount. If you have a prepayment meter the funds will either be added to your meter automatically or you will receive a voucher with the money. Everyone in England, Scotland, and Wales will receive the £400 energy grant via this structure. People from Northern Ireland will receive the grant as well but the way that it will be paid out has not been determined yet.
£650 cost of living will be paid in two installments
UK households that receive any of the benefits mentioned below will also receive an extra £650 cost of living allowance to further help battle living costs.
- Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
- Child Tax Credit
- Universal Credit
- Income Support
- Pension Credit
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Working Tax Credit
The allowance will be paid out in 2 installments. The first £326 will be automatically transferred to your bank account between the 14th and 31st of July 2022. The final £324 will then be transferred in autumn. The exact dates that this will happen will be announced at a later stage. However, if you are receiving Working Tax Credit your payments will be done later, with the first installment coming in autumn together with the second installment for the other people and your second installment being paid out in winter of this year. You do not need to apply for the grant, a computer administration program will automatically identify those who are eligible for the grant. These people will then receive the payment automatically. If you believe you are eligible but did not receive any payments, you can always be in touch with the administration office to double-check.
Extra money for people with disabilities and people of pension age
Households with at least one person of pension age will receive another £200 to £300 on top of the current grants. This money will be transferred in November or December to those eligible. Also, people that are on any of the disability benefits listed below will receive extra money. They receive £150 in September which often is on top of £650 because of higher energy consumption for this group of people.
- Attendance Allowance
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- Constant Attendance Allowance
- Scottish Disability Payments
- Personal Independence Payments
- Disability Living Allowance
- War Pension Mobility Supplement