Millions to get next cost-of-living payment from April

Low-income households will receive the first instalment of the next set of cost-of-living payments between 25 April and 17 May, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) says.

Eight million means-tested benefits claimants including people on Universal Credit, Pension Credit and tax credits will eventually receive £900.

The first of three payments starting next month is worth £301.

The following two instalments will be paid in the autumn, then next spring.

All will be paid directly into eligible recipients' bank accounts, without the need to make a claim.

The payment reference for bank accounts will be DWP COLP, along with the claimant's National Insurance number.

In addition, during the summer, more than six million people with disabilities will get an extra £150. During next winter, over eight million pensioners will receive an extra £300.

• Who can get the next cost-of-living payments?

• What does the Budget mean for energy bills?

It follows payments which were made last year.

Tax credit-only customers who are not eligible for a payment from the DWP will receive their payment from HMRC shortly after DWP payments begin.

The measures are part of a package of support to help people with the soaring cost of living, which is rising at a near-record pace. It comes as the £400 energy bill discount for all UK residents ends in April.

Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said the cost-of-living payments would give a "financial boost" to the most vulnerable.

However, charities and poverty campaigners have said the payments do not go far enough to mitigate the effects of increasing prices.

"The government has been recycling funding announcements and generally this amount just mops around the edges of what people are really facing," Stuart Bretherton from Fuel Poverty Action told the BBC.

"We want radical reform for energy pricing so that no-one falls below their minimal energy needs," he said.

Am I eligible for the money?

• The money will be added automatically into the account which is used to receive benefit payments

• The reference will be DWP COLP, along with the claimant's National Insurance number

• To qualify for a payment, you must receive one of Universal Credit, Income-based Jobseekers Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, or Pension Credit

• You will need to have been entitled to a payment for one of these benefits between 26 January and 25 February 2023, or payment for an assessment period ending between these dates

• Low-income pensioners who are eligible for, but not claiming Pension Credit, can still qualify for the cost-of-living payment if they make a successful backdated Pension Credit application by 19 May

• Those who qualify solely through tax credits will receive their cost-of-living payment slightly later than others

In response, a spokesperson from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: "We know this is a difficult time for families, which is why the government is covering around half of the typical household's energy bill."

The spokesperson added that improving energy efficiency in homes was the best long-term way of tackling fuel poverty.

It comes as a report found advances in the energy efficiency of UK homes were "negligible".

Meanwhile, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: "I know that times are tough, which is why a key focus of the Spring Budget was supporting people with the cost of living and helping people into well-paid work."