Exact date six million people will receive £150 cost-of-living payment
Ministers have pledged up to £1,350 to help people weather the inflationary crisis
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Your support makes all the difference.The £150 payment promised to more than six million disabled people to help with the cost of living crisis will be distributed from June, the government has announced.
The payment forms part of the cost of living support package announced by the Department for Work (DWP) and Pensions in January, which will see people receive up to £1,350 over the course of 12 months.
That maximum figure includes three payments worth a total of £900 for those in receipt of means-tested benefits, a £300 payout to more than eight million pensioners, and the £150 sum announced for those with disabilities.
Ministers have now revealed that the DWP will start to distribute the one-off payment of £150 from 20 June, although not everyone will receive the money on that date.
When the first of three installments to around eight million benefit claimants was paid out in April and May, the government said recipients would receive the lump sum over the course of three weeks, rather than all on the same day.
The second and third of these payments are expected in the autumn and next spring, with the £300 payment to pensioners expected during the winter. The exact dates on which they will start to be distributed remains unclear.
Ministers said the £150 payment recognises the extra costs disabled people in particular often face, such as care and mobility needs.
It comes after the government was forced to step in to help people across the UK pay their rocketing energy bills, as inflation hit a 40-year high, forcing an “unprecedented” rise in the number of people turning to food banks.
While the government has artificially kept energy bills capped at an average of £2,500, this is set to rise to £3,000 in July. Meanwhile, the government’s energy bills support scheme which saw energy customers receive £400 off their bill and the most vulnerable given £1,200, came to an end earlier this year.
“This payment helps protect those who need our support the most, providing a vital financial boost to six million disabled people,” said work and pensions secretary Mel Stride.
“Our multibillion-pound package of support reinforces our commitment to help UK households with the rising cost of living. It comes on top of record increases to benefits and the national living wage.”
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