DWP Universal Credit warning ahead of £301 cost of living payment

Thousands on eligible benefits have been warned they will not receive the £301 cost of living payment being sent to millions next week.

The payment, the first of five from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) this year, will land in people's accounts from Tuesday, April 25.

More than eight million people are eligible for payments, including those on Universal Credit, Tax Credits and Pension Credit.

However, eligibility rules released by the DWP reveal that not everyone on the means-tested benefits will receive the payment.

You will be excluded from the cost of living payment if your benefit was reduced to £0 between January 26, 2023 and February 25, 2023, the qualifying period for the payment.

These are some other reasons you could have received a nil award and therefore not be eligible for the payment:

However, you may still be considered eligible for the cost of living boost if you received a hardship payment because of the sanction.

The full list of benefit recipients that qualify for the upcoming Cost of Living payment are those who receive:

The qualifying period for this payment is between 26 January and 25 February 2023.

To be eligible for the Cost of Living Payment, you 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.

The exact dates for some payments are yet to be announced by the DWP, but this is when to expect each individual payment over the next year:

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