£324 payment to hit bank accounts from today

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Over 8 million households in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland who claimed qualifying means-tested benefits during the eligibility period will be automatically paid £324 this month, as part of £1,200 worth of direct help for households.

  • over 8 million benefit claimants to receive £324 this month as part of Cost of Living support
  • DWP claimants will receive their second Cost of Living payment by 23 November 2022, and eligible tax credit claimants, on no other means-tested benefits, will receive it between 23 and 30 November 2022
  • payments will automatically be made to everyone eligible, with no need for anyone to apply

The payments, starting today from the Department for Work and Pensions, are made directly into eligible recipients’ bank accounts, with no need for people to apply or do anything to receive it.

The payment reference on DWP recipients’ bank accounts will be their national insurance number, followed by “DWP COL”. For HMRC recipients the payment reference will be “HMRC COLS”.

Work and Pensions Secretary, Mel Stride said:

We understand that people are struggling and that is why we’ve consistently acted to ensure millions of low-income families are supported. We will continue to act with compassion as we navigate challenging global economic circumstances.

As part of a wider £37 billion package of support, this latest £324 payment will help the most vulnerable people in our society who are worrying about their finances through the winter months.

The government’s £1,200 support package contains £400 for energy bills that is being paid in monthly instalments to all domestic energy customers between now and March 2023. It also includes a £150 Council Tax rebate for 85% of all UK households and the previous £326 Cost of Living Payment made by DWP in July and by HMRC in September.

On top of this, nearly one in ten people received the £150 disability payment in September, and a £300 addition to Winter Fuel Payments will go to over eight million pensioner households over the winter.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt added:

Prices are rising across the world as we manage the aftershock of COVID-19 and Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. We recognise that families back home are struggling, which is why we’ve taken decisive action to hold down energy bills this winter, and provided hundreds of pounds of cash support for each vulnerable household.

As part of that support, over 8 million vulnerable households – almost a quarter of families in the UK – will automatically receive a second cost of living payment worth £324 in their bank account from today.

And while we can’t completely protect people from rising prices, my priority at the upcoming Autumn Statement will be to protect the poorest in society as we take the tough decisions necessary to fix our public finances.

Those eligible to receive the second cost of living payment from today include people on:

  • Universal Credit
  • Income-based Jobseekers Allowance (JSA)
  • Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
  • Income Support
  • Pension Credit

To be eligible, claimants must have been claiming and entitled to a payment between 26 August and 25 September 2022, with the exception of pensioner households, who may be able to have a new Pension Credit claim backdated.

They have until 18 December 2022 to submit a valid claim for Pension Credit, which could entitle them to the £324 Cost of Living payment. Anyone can check their eligibility for Pension Credit using the online calculator or by calling the freephone claim line, on: 0800 99 1234.

Even if you are not on a qualifying DWP benefit you may still be eligible for the £324 payment, as HMRC are also making payments to over a million people who receive Working Tax Credit or Child Tax Credit and no other eligible benefits. These will be paid between 23 and 30 November 2022 and customers do not need to contact the government or apply for the payment at any stage.

The £324 payment and the overall £1,200 package come on top of wide-ranging government support with the cost of living this winter, including an extension to the Household Support Fund, which is providing an extra £421 million between October and March to help vulnerable people with the essentials.

As well as this, the Energy Price Guarantee is ensuring people across the country pay significantly less for their energy bills, with a typical household saving around £700 this winter.

More information about Cost of Living support

Table 1 : Estimated number of families eligible for the means-tested benefit cost of living payment by region

Region Cases
London 1,224,000
South West 580,000
South East 846,000
Eastern 627,000
West Midlands 792,000
East Midlands 551,000
North West 1,048,000
North East 397,000
Yorkshire and The Humber 722,000
Wales 426,000
Scotland 689,000
Northern Ireland 309,000
Total 8,213,000

Note for table 1: Estimates rounded to the nearest 1,000. Numbers may not add up due to rounding. For a small number of claimants, it has not been possible to determine a region. They have still been included in the totals.

Table 2: Estimated number of families eligible for the means-tested benefit cost of living payment by Westminster parliamentary constituency

Parliamentary constituency Families eligible for the means-tested payment
Aberavon 11,600
Aberconwy 7,100
Aberdeen North 13,300
Aberdeen South 7,700
Airdrie and Shotts 13,400
Aldershot 10,500
Aldridge-Brownhills 8,300
Altrincham and Sale West 7,000
Alyn and Deeside 9,200
Amber Valley 10,700
Angus 11,000
Arfon 7,600
Argyll and Bute 9,600
Arundel and South Downs 6,700
Ashfield 14,300
Ashford 13,200
Ashton-under-Lyne 16,100
Aylesbury 10,300
Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock 14,100
Banbury 10,900
Banff and Buchan 9,500
Barking 24,900
Barnsley Central 13,800
Barnsley East 14,700
Barrow and Furness 10,300
Basildon and Billericay 11,300
Basingstoke 10,300
Bassetlaw 12,800
Bath 8,000
Batley and Spen 16,200
Battersea 11,700
Beaconsfield 6,300
Beckenham 6,000
Bedford 15,000
Belfast East 14,600
Belfast North 26,600
Belfast South 13,900
Belfast West 27,100
Bermondsey and Old Southwark 22,100
Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk 10,600
Berwick-upon-Tweed 7,600
Bethnal Green and Bow 26,000
Beverley and Holderness 9,000
Bexhill and Battle 10,500
Bexleyheath and Crayford 9,400
Birkenhead 19,100
Birmingham, Edgbaston 15,900
Birmingham, Erdington 23,400
Birmingham, Hall Green 24,600
Birmingham, Hodge Hill 30,600
Birmingham, Ladywood 32,400
Birmingham, Northfield 19,200
Birmingham, Perry Barr 22,900
Birmingham, Selly Oak 15,400
Birmingham, Yardley 23,400
Bishop Auckland 13,400
Blackburn 22,600
Blackley and Broughton 28,800
Blackpool North and Cleveleys 14,900
Blackpool South 18,400
Blaenau Gwent 12,000
Blaydon 10,900
Blyth Valley 11,800
Bognor Regis and Littlehampton 13,200
Bolsover 12,600
Bolton North East 17,700
Bolton South East 20,500
Bolton West 11,700
Bootle 21,000
Boston and Skegness 17,100
Bosworth 9,100
Bournemouth East 14,600
Bournemouth West 14,000
Bracknell 8,400
Bradford East 25,600
Bradford South 19,800
Bradford West 26,400
Braintree 9,300
Brecon and Radnorshire 7,200
Brent Central 30,600
Brent North 19,000
Brentford and Isleworth 17,500
Brentwood and Ongar 7,300
Bridgend 10,400
Bridgwater and West Somerset 13,000
Brigg and Goole 9,000
Brighton, Kemptown 14,400
Brighton, Pavilion 11,900
Bristol East 13,200
Bristol North West 12,400
Bristol South 16,600
Bristol West 14,400
Broadland 8,000
Bromley and Chislehurst 9,400
Bromsgrove 7,500
Broxbourne 11,200
Broxtowe 8,500
Buckingham 6,300
Burnley 16,300
Burton 12,300
Bury North 12,000
Bury South 13,500
Bury St Edmunds 9,600
Caerphilly 13,000
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross 7,600
Calder Valley 11,400
Camberwell and Peckham 23,300
Camborne and Redruth 13,000
Cambridge 9,800
Cannock Chase 11,700
Canterbury 11,100
Cardiff Central 10,500
Cardiff North 7,600
Cardiff South and Penarth 18,600
Cardiff West 15,100
Carlisle 10,900
Carmarthen East and Dinefwr 8,800
Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire 9,700
Carshalton and Wallington 11,600
Castle Point 8,400
Central Ayrshire 12,700
Central Devon 8,500
Central Suffolk and North Ipswich 7,900
Ceredigion 8,500
Charnwood 7,800
Chatham and Aylesford 12,800
Cheadle 6,500
Chelmsford 9,400
Chelsea and Fulham 11,000
Cheltenham 9,900
Chesham and Amersham 5,500
Chesterfield 12,800
Chichester 9,500
Chingford and Woodford Green 10,400
Chippenham 8,500
Chipping Barnet 12,500
Chorley 10,800
Christchurch 7,200
Cities of London and Westminster 11,900
City of Chester 10,400
City of Durham 9,800
Clacton 15,200
Cleethorpes 11,100
Clwyd South 9,400
Clwyd West 9,900
Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill 14,100
Colchester 13,900
Colne Valley 12,200
Congleton 7,900
Copeland 8,400
Corby 13,300
Coventry North East 21,200
Coventry North West 13,900
Coventry South 13,700
Crawley 14,100
Crewe and Nantwich 12,200
Croydon Central 19,100
Croydon North 26,600
Croydon South 11,400
Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East 11,600
Cynon Valley 12,300
Dagenham and Rainham 17,000
Darlington 13,900
Dartford 11,100
Daventry 7,700
Delyn 8,300
Denton and Reddish 12,600
Derby North 13,300
Derby South 21,700
Derbyshire Dales 5,600
Devizes 7,500
Dewsbury 15,600
Don Valley 12,900
Doncaster Central 17,100
Doncaster North 15,500
Dover 13,000
Dudley North 13,700
Dudley South 11,000
Dulwich and West Norwood 16,600
Dumfries and Galloway 12,700
Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale 9,300
Dundee East 11,400
Dundee West 14,700
Dunfermline and West Fife 11,100
Dwyfor Meirionnydd 6,800
Ealing Central and Acton 16,900
Ealing North 19,500
Easington 15,200
East Antrim 12,300
East Devon 9,300
East Dunbartonshire 5,100
East Ham 30,000
East Hampshire 6,700
East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow 11,200
East Londonderry 17,000
East Lothian 11,000
East Renfrewshire 7,300
East Surrey 8,100
East Worthing and Shoreham 10,100
East Yorkshire 11,700
Eastbourne 15,200
Eastleigh 9,300
Eddisbury 8,600
Edinburgh East 12,800
Edinburgh North and Leith 11,800
Edinburgh South 6,900
Edinburgh South West 11,000
Edinburgh West 8,000
Edmonton 25,600
Ellesmere Port and Neston 10,800
Elmet and Rothwell 7,700
Eltham 12,400
Enfield North 18,500
Enfield, Southgate 12,300
Epping Forest 9,300
Epsom and Ewell 6,500
Erewash 11,600
Erith and Thamesmead 18,200
Esher and Walton 7,000
Exeter 11,800
Falkirk 13,400
Fareham 6,500
Faversham and Mid Kent 9,700
Feltham and Heston 21,200
Fermanagh and South Tyrone 16,400
Filton and Bradley Stoke 8,200
Finchley and Golders Green 15,700
Folkestone and Hythe 14,600
Forest of Dean 8,800
Foyle 24,900
Fylde 8,500
Gainsborough 10,500
Garston and Halewood 17,200
Gedling 10,400
Gateshead 17,000
Gillingham and Rainham 11,900
Glasgow Central 18,500
Glasgow East 20,900
Glasgow North 10,600
Glasgow North East 20,300
Glasgow North West 16,100
Glasgow South 13,800
Glasgow South West 18,900
Glenrothes 14,600
Gloucester 15,200
Gordon 6,300
Gosport 10,200
Gower 8,200
Grantham and Stamford 10,900
Gravesham 12,700
Great Grimsby 16,200
Great Yarmouth 16,600
Greenwich and Woolwich 19,600
Guildford 6,800
Hackney North and Stoke Newington 25,900
Hackney South and Shoreditch 24,200
Halesowen and Rowley Regis 12,100
Halifax 17,600
Haltemprice and Howden 5,700
Halton 15,200
Hammersmith 19,000
Hampstead and Kilburn 17,200
Harborough 8,600
Harlow 12,900
Harrogate and Knaresborough 8,200
Harrow East 12,800
Harrow West 14,100
Hartlepool 17,500
Harwich and North Essex 8,400
Hastings and Rye 18,600
Havant 11,800
Hayes and Harlington 18,700
Hazel Grove 7,900
Hemel Hempstead 11,200
Hemsworth 13,700
Hendon 19,800
Henley 5,500
Hereford and South Herefordshire 10,200
Hertford and Stortford 8,000
Hertsmere 10,000
Hexham 5,500
Heywood and Middleton 17,000
High Peak 8,700
Hitchin and Harpenden 6,000
Holborn and St Pancras 21,700
Hornchurch and Upminster 11,000
Hornsey and Wood Green 17,200
Horsham 7,300
Houghton and Sunderland South 14,900
Hove 12,600
Huddersfield 15,900
Huntingdon 9,300
Hyndburn 15,700
Ilford North 13,000
Ilford South 22,800
Inverclyde 13,300
Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey 11,000
Ipswich 16,100
Isle of Wight 18,300
Islington North 18,700
Islington South and Finsbury 17,900
Islwyn 10,500
Jarrow 12,600
Keighley 12,500
Kenilworth and Southam 5,300
Kensington 14,100
Kettering 10,800
Kilmarnock and Loudoun 14,400
Kingston and Surbiton 11,100
Kingston upon Hull East 16,200
Kingston upon Hull North 17,000
Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle 17,100
Kingswood 7,700
Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath 14,700
Knowsley 23,000
Lagan Valley 12,400
Lanark and Hamilton East 13,400
Lancaster and Fleetwood 10,400
Leeds Central 26,600
Leeds East 19,700
Leeds North East 11,100
Leeds North West 6,600
Leeds West 16,500
Leicester East 21,100
Leicester South 20,100
Leicester West 20,000
Leigh 13,900
Lewes 8,800
Lewisham East 17,400
Lewisham West and Penge 17,200
Lewisham, Deptford 20,100
Leyton and Wanstead 15,300
Lichfield 7,700
Lincoln 15,100
Linlithgow and East Falkirk 14,500
Liverpool, Riverside 20,800
Liverpool, Walton 23,800
Liverpool, Wavertree 17,100
Liverpool, West Derby 19,900
Livingston 14,100
Llanelli 12,500
Loughborough 10,000
Louth and Horncastle 12,600
Ludlow 7,700
Luton North 14,500
Luton South 19,700
Macclesfield 7,700
Maidenhead 6,600
Maidstone and The Weald 10,800
Makerfield 11,300
Maldon 7,100
Manchester Central 27,500
Manchester, Gorton 24,100
Manchester, Withington 12,500
Mansfield 15,300
Meon Valley 7,000
Meriden 14,000
Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney 13,400
Mid Bedfordshire 7,600
Mid Dorset and North Poole 6,400
Mid Derbyshire 6,000
Mid Norfolk 9,700
Mid Sussex 7,300
Mid Ulster 16,000
Mid Worcestershire 9,600
Middlesbrough 21,600
Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland 13,700
Midlothian 10,300
Milton Keynes North 14,500
Milton Keynes South 15,600
Mitcham and Morden 16,000
Mole Valley 5,600
Monmouth 7,800
Montgomeryshire 6,800
Moray 9,200
Morecambe and Lunesdale 12,800
Morley and Outwood 9,700
Motherwell and Wishaw 15,500
Na h-Eileanan an Iar 2,900
Neath 11,100
New Forest East 7,100
New Forest West 6,700
Newark 9,500
Newbury 8,000
Newcastle upon Tyne Central 19,100
Newcastle upon Tyne East 13,800
Newcastle upon Tyne North 12,500
Newcastle-under-Lyme 9,800
Newport East 12,000
Newport West 13,300
Newry and Armagh 20,400
Newton Abbot 9,800
Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford 16,200
North Antrim 16,800
North Ayrshire and Arran 14,800
North Cornwall 10,900
North Devon 11,100
North Dorset 7,500
North Down 10,500
North Durham 13,100
North East Bedfordshire 8,700
North East Cambridgeshire 14,100
North East Derbyshire 9,500
North East Fife 6,300
North East Hampshire 5,000
North East Hertfordshire 8,100
North East Somerset 7,500
North Herefordshire 7,800
North Norfolk 8,900
North Shropshire 10,500
North Somerset 6,500
North Swindon 11,600
North Thanet 14,300
North Tyneside 16,100
North Warwickshire 10,400
North West Cambridgeshire 13,600
North West Durham 12,800
North West Hampshire 8,300
North West Leicestershire 8,900
North West Norfolk 11,300
North Wiltshire 6,500
Northampton North 11,500
Northampton South 14,100
Norwich North 10,900
Norwich South 13,900
Nottingham East 19,600
Nottingham North 21,900
Nottingham South 13,900
Nuneaton 12,200
Ochil and South Perthshire 11,000
Ogmore 11,300
Old Bexley and Sidcup 6,600
Oldham East and Saddleworth 18,100
Oldham West and Royton 20,600
Orkney and Shetland 3,600
Orpington 7,000
Oxford East 12,100
Oxford West and Abingdon 6,400
Paisley and Renfrewshire North 10,800
Paisley and Renfrewshire South 13,000
Pendle 15,000
Penistone and Stocksbridge 8,200
Penrith and The Border 6,700
Perth and North Perthshire 10,600
Peterborough 22,700
Plymouth, Moor View 14,000
Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport 18,100
Pontypridd 9,400
Poole 10,200
Poplar and Limehouse 27,000
Portsmouth North 12,000
Portsmouth South 15,800
Preseli Pembrokeshire 10,400
Preston 18,400
Pudsey 7,600
Putney 10,700
Rayleigh and Wickford 6,800
Reading East 10,000
Reading West 12,400
Redcar 14,900
Redditch 10,500
Reigate 7,200
Rhondda 12,600
Ribble Valley 7,300
Richmond (Yorks) 8,000
Richmond Park 8,100
Rochdale 21,800
Rochester and Strood 12,500
Rochford and Southend East 17,200
Romford 11,300
Romsey and Southampton North 6,400
Ross, Skye and Lochaber 6,500
Rossendale and Darwen 12,600
Rother Valley 10,800
Rotherham 17,200
Rugby 9,600
Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner 7,400
Runnymede and Weybridge 7,400
Rushcliffe 6,300
Rutherglen and Hamilton West 16,300
Rutland and Melton 7,400
Saffron Walden 7,400
Salford and Eccles 19,600
Salisbury 8,500
Scarborough and Whitby 13,500
Scunthorpe 12,900
Sedgefield 12,200
Sefton Central 7,000
Selby and Ainsty 7,900
Sevenoaks 6,900
Sheffield Central 14,300
Sheffield South East 14,300
Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough 22,700
Sheffield, Hallam 4,600
Sheffield, Heeley 15,200
Sherwood 11,200
Shipley 9,500
Shrewsbury and Atcham 10,200
Sittingbourne and Sheppey 15,500
Skipton and Ripon 7,100
Sleaford and North Hykeham 9,700
Slough 19,700
Solihull 8,000
Somerton and Frome 9,600
South Antrim 12,800
South Basildon and East Thurrock 12,200
South Cambridgeshire 6,700
South Derbyshire 9,100
South Dorset 11,100
South Down 17,000
South East Cambridgeshire 8,100
South East Cornwall 10,100
South Holland and The Deepings 11,100
South Leicestershire 8,400
South Norfolk 8,800
South Northamptonshire 7,400
South Ribble 8,600
South Shields 15,500
South Staffordshire 8,400
South Suffolk 7,800
South Swindon 12,800
South Thanet 15,600
South West Bedfordshire 10,300
South West Devon 6,900
South West Hertfordshire 6,600
South West Norfolk 11,200
South West Surrey 6,100
South West Wiltshire 9,700
Southampton, Itchen 14,900
Southampton, Test 15,800
Southend West 9,700
Southport 12,300
Spelthorne 8,800
St Albans 7,500
St Austell and Newquay 13,900
St Helens North 14,400
St Helens South and Whiston 16,400
St Ives 11,000
Stafford 9,200
Staffordshire Moorlands 6,300
Stalybridge and Hyde 14,100
Stevenage 10,700
Stirling 8,700
Stockport 13,700
Stockton North 15,800
Stockton South 11,500
Stoke-on-Trent Central 14,800
Stoke-on-Trent North 16,200
Stoke-on-Trent South 13,100
Stone 6,000
Stourbridge 10,600
Strangford 12,500
Stratford-on-Avon 7,500
Streatham 17,400
Stretford and Urmston 13,800
Stroud 8,700
Suffolk Coastal 8,800
Sunderland Central 17,200
Surrey Heath 6,900
Sutton and Cheam 8,900
Sutton Coldfield 7,100
Swansea East 14,700
Swansea West 12,100
Tamworth 10,400
Tatton 6,300
Taunton Deane 12,000
Telford 15,500
Tewkesbury 8,300
The Cotswolds 7,000
The Wrekin 10,300
Thirsk and Malton 8,300
Thornbury and Yate 6,300
Thurrock 16,300
Tiverton and Honiton 9,800
Tonbridge and Malling 7,900
Tooting 11,400
Torbay 16,300
Torfaen 13,100
Torridge and West Devon 10,800
Totnes 9,800
Tottenham 31,900
Truro and Falmouth 10,100
Tunbridge Wells 8,300
Twickenham 8,300
Tynemouth 10,900
Upper Bann 20,300
Uxbridge and South Ruislip 11,500
Vale of Clwyd 12,200
Vale of Glamorgan 12,800
Vauxhall 19,100
Wakefield 13,400
Wallasey 15,500
Walsall North 18,700
Walsall South 19,200
Walthamstow 19,200
Wansbeck 11,600
Wantage 8,600
Warley 18,200
Warrington North 12,000
Warrington South 9,900
Warwick and Leamington 8,800
Washington and Sunderland West 14,900
Watford 12,300
Waveney 14,500
Wealden 8,100
Weaver Vale 10,100
Wellingborough 12,900
Wells 11,100
Wentworth and Dearne 15,100
West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine 5,100
West Bromwich East 16,800
West Bromwich West 17,800
West Dorset 8,800
West Dunbartonshire 15,600
West Ham 33,100
West Lancashire 11,500
West Suffolk 10,300
West Tyrone 17,400
West Worcestershire 8,400
Westminster North 18,600
Westmorland and Lonsdale 6,000
Weston-super-Mare 14,400
Wigan 14,600
Wimbledon 6,700
Winchester 5,900
Windsor 6,500
Wirral South 6,500
Wirral West 6,800
Witham 7,900
Witney 7,500
Woking 7,900
Wokingham 6,000
Wolverhampton North East 17,000
Wolverhampton South East 18,700
Wolverhampton South West 13,200
Worcester 11,300
Workington 9,700
Worsley and Eccles South 16,700
Worthing West 10,500
Wrexham 9,600
Wycombe 11,000
Wyre and Preston North 6,900
Wyre Forest 12,000
Wythenshawe and Sale East 19,200
Yeovil 11,500
Ynys Môn 9,000
York Central 10,300
York Outer 5,300

Note for table 2: Estimates rounded to the nearest 100. Numbers may not add up due to rounding. For a small number of claimants, it has not been possible to determine a Parliamentary Constituency. They have still been included in the totals.

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