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Legal, pensions and money

Cost of living crisis support package

(50 Posts)
DaisyAnne Thu 26-May-22 18:10:17

I thought it was worth putting facts about this under the Benefits heading. Chat about it is going on elsewhere but will eventually drop off the list. Hopefully, this will be easier to find for those just wanting to check out the support.

This was Martin Lewis's list and I've linked to his page where the detailed explanation is further down

*A non-repayable £400 grant for all households to help with rising energy bills.
*A one-off payment of £650 for those on certain means-tested benefits.
*A one-off £300 top-up for pensioners in receipt of winter fuel payments.
*A one-off £150 payment for those on certain non-means tested disability benefits.
*An extra £500 million to be paid into the "Household Support Fund".

Blossoming Wed 10-Aug-22 12:08:25

DaisyAnne

*How the £150 for the disabled will be paid*

For the disability benefit recipients who receive means tested benefits this £150 will come in September on top of the £650 they will receive separately. The eligible benefits for the £150 are: Disability Living Allowance; Personal Independence Payment; Attendance Allowance; Scottish Disability Benefits; Armed Forces Independence Payment; Constant Attendance Allowance; or the War Pension Mobility Supplement,

These payments will be exempt from tax, will not count towards the benefit cap, and will not have any impact on existing benefit awards. The Government will make these payments directly to eligible people across the UK.
[Source: Daily Mail]

This is confusing. None of those eligible benefits listed are means tested.

Cabbie21 Wed 10-Aug-22 13:10:39

True, but some who get those benefits listed above may also receive means-tested benefits, whilst others won’t.
However everyone who receives one of those disability benefits gets £150.

DaisyAnne Wed 10-Aug-22 14:58:00

Do double check on the previous post. As we have seen, they can change.

Kate1949 Wed 10-Aug-22 17:00:28

Thanks for the useful information DaalisyAnne. We get £100 each Winter Fuel Payment. We are now being told that we will get £300 as a top up. Does anyone know if this is £300 plus the £100 each or instead of?

Kate1949 Wed 10-Aug-22 17:00:57

DaisyAnne

Cabbie21 Wed 10-Aug-22 18:39:33

It is £300 extra.

Blossoming Wed 10-Aug-22 19:15:55

Thank you Cabbie21, that makes more sense.

Kate1949 Thu 11-Aug-22 10:31:57

Thank you Cabbie.

DaisyAnne Thu 11-Aug-22 13:38:58

Blossoming

DaisyAnne

How the £150 for the disabled will be paid

For the disability benefit recipients who receive means tested benefits this £150 will come in September on top of the £650 they will receive separately. The eligible benefits for the £150 are: Disability Living Allowance; Personal Independence Payment; Attendance Allowance; Scottish Disability Benefits; Armed Forces Independence Payment; Constant Attendance Allowance; or the War Pension Mobility Supplement,

These payments will be exempt from tax, will not count towards the benefit cap, and will not have any impact on existing benefit awards. The Government will make these payments directly to eligible people across the UK.
[Source: Daily Mail]

This is confusing. None of those eligible benefits listed are means tested.

It is all very confusing Blossomingsad

You need two eligible benefits. Those listed at the time were the eligible disability benefits. You also needed a means-tested benefit. For example, I have a family member who gets the Disability Living Allowance. They do not get a means-tested benefit, so will not be eligible for the £150. I accept that this does not agree with Cabbie's reading of this particular benefit but believe it is correct.

I will see if I can find more clarification.

DaisyAnne Thu 11-Aug-22 13:49:20

From the i dated 15 July 2022:

... people with disabilities may be eligible for a £150 sum if you receive any of the following:^. (Note the "may")

Attendance allowance
Constant attendance allowance
Disability living allowance for adults
Disability living allowance for children
Personal independence payment (PIP)
Adult disability payment (in Scotland)
Child disability payment (in Scotland)
Armed Forces independence payment
War pension mobility supplement

DaisyAnne Thu 11-Aug-22 14:13:59

Kate1949

Thanks for the useful information DaalisyAnne. We get £100 each Winter Fuel Payment. We are now being told that we will get £300 as a top up. Does anyone know if this is £300 plus the £100 each or instead of?

You did each get £100 but they really look at it per household so a single person gets £200. After age 80, it becomes £150 each or £300 per household. (just in case others are reading)

I would imagine the extra £300 will be paid per household so the likelihood is that in your case you will each get a total of £250. A single person under 80 would get a total of £500. A couple of pension age but over 80 would get a total of £300 each, or £600 if they are on their own.

I hope this clarifies it.

Cabbie21 Thu 11-Aug-22 14:15:35

From gov.uk

£150 Disability Cost of Living Payment
Around six million people across the UK who receive the following disability benefits will receive a one-off payment of £150 from September:
Disability Living Allowance
Personal Independence Payment
Attendance Allowance
Scottish Disability Benefits
Armed Forces Independence Payment
Constant Attendance Allowance
War Pension Mobility Supplement
We know people with disabilities may face a wide range of additional costs, such as specialist equipment, specialist food, and increased transport costs, and this payment will help with these costs as they are likely to have increased. Claimants must received a payment (or later receive a payment) of, one of these qualifying benefits for as of 25th May 2022 to get the payment.
For the many disability benefit recipients who receive means tested benefits, this £150 will come on top of the £650 they will receive separately.
These payments will be exempt from tax, will not count towards the benefit cap, and will not have any impact on existing benefit awards.
The government will make these payments directly to eligible people across the UK.

It is pretty clear to me that the £150 is for all who are on those disability benefits, not just those also getting means-tested ones.

DaisyAnne Thu 11-Aug-22 14:54:51

You are probably right. Someone may come along who is dealing with these. I would certainly rather you were right.

Kate1949 Thu 11-Aug-22 15:48:02

Thank you DaisyAnne.

crazyH Thu 11-Aug-22 15:52:18

Does this mean we will all get £400 each regardless of disability ?

DaisyAnne Thu 11-Aug-22 17:18:18

crazyH

Does this mean we will all get £400 each regardless of disability ?

The £400 is being paid to all. It is being paid as a discount on your energy bill and payments starting in October. In October and November £66 will be taken off. In December to March £67 will be taken off monthly.

crazyH Thu 11-Aug-22 17:20:50

DaisyAnne - thankyou x

DaisyAnne Thu 11-Aug-22 17:47:38

Outside the Crisis Payments, if you're eligible for the Warm Home Discount, you'll still get £150 off your bills in winter, 2022-23.

Again, this money won't be paid to you directly. It will be credited to your electricity account. This payment is made by your energy supplier to the "core" group, usually between October and April. The core Group are those on Pension Credit (Guaranteed not Savings unless you get both).

The second group, where the criteria are decided by the supplier, is going to open in October, although no date has yet been given by the Government. It was the 18th last year. Check your supplier for eligibility. They can vary between companies.

Those eligible for Cold Weather Payments will still get them if the conditions are right. They will start from 1 November.

StarDreamer Sun 14-Aug-22 13:15:58

This is post 997.

So a round of applause please for MissAdventure for an interesting and useful thread that she started.

And shall we hold off posting so that MissAdventure can add a link to her new thread so as to assist anyone arriving here later please?

StarDreamer Sun 14-Aug-22 13:24:53

My apologies. That post was for another thread. I don't know how I managed to post it in here.

So a round of applause please for DaisyAnne for an interesting and useful thread that she started.

DaisyAnne Sun 14-Aug-22 21:31:50

Thank you for making me smile StarDreamer. I don't need a round of applause but it's a kind thought. Most of this is just research and talking to people who know. Thankfully we have people who come on these threads who have worked with benefits.

MissAdventure has lived it and given us a great deal of insight and she certainly deserves the applause.

StarDreamer Sun 14-Aug-22 22:49:36

Actually as far as I am aware for the non-means-tested Winter Fuel Allowance it is not about being married or single, it is about how many eligible people live in the house.

So for example, someone and a very elderly widowed parent get £100 each, phrased as something like "because another eligible person lives in the same household".

Does anyone know what is the situation if three or more eligible people live in the house?

For example, a married couple has two very elderly widowed parents in the house with them?

Not my situation, but it could be the situation for some people.

susytish Mon 19-Sep-22 09:38:26

My question is this. My husband is on cancer treatment. Ongoing chemotherapy. He needs to keep warm but we are worried about putting the heating on.
I have arthritis which doesn’t help!
He receives Attendance Allowance. I don’t know if we are entitled to any other help.
Reading through all the previous comments, I think Gransnet is an amazing source of information.

Georgesgran Mon 19-Sep-22 13:45:37

susy you will of course get the £400 paid direct to your energy supplier from next month and depending on your ages the WFA, plus the extra one off £300.
I think you’ll have to apply for other benefits, if you’re eligible - perhaps CAB could advise you.