Roundup of recent DWP announcements
Disability Cost of Living Payment
The £150 disability cost of living payment will be paid automatically from 20 September, with the vast majority of those eligible expected to receive their one-off payment by the beginning of October.
Those who had confirmed payment of their disability benefit for 25 May are expected to be paid shortly after the payment window opens.
For those awaiting confirmation of their disability benefits on 25 May, or who are waiting to be assessed for eligibility to receive disability benefits, the process may take longer but payments will still be automatic.
You must have received a payment (or later receive a payment) of one of the qualifying benefits for 25 May 2022 to get the payment.
More information including about the qualifying benefits for this payment can be found on GOV.UK.
You can read more about the Government’s cost of living support on the Help with the cost of living page.
Please share this information with your members and customers and update any content you may hold to reflect this announcement.
DWP deals with influx of Pension Credit claims
Following the success of DWP’s campaign to increase take-up of Pension Credit, the service has received an unprecedented number of claims.
Additional resources are being deployed to ensure claims are dealt with as quickly as possible. Once an application has been received claim decisions will be sent out in the post within 6 weeks.
People can be reassured successful claims will be backdated to the date the application was made. It is important those who are entitled do not miss out.
Pensioners can check their eligibility on GOV.UK and DWP urges anyone who believes they may be eligible for Pension Credit to make a claim.
Managed move of claimants to Universal Credit – discovery phase expands to Northumberland
In April DWP announced plans to resume the programme to move all benefit claimants over to Universal Credit by 2024.
We will now expand our discovery phase to Northumberland from mid-September 2022, having previously expanded it to places such as Harrow and Bolton. During the discovery phase we will send a Migration Notice to a small number of claimants on legacy benefits to let them know that they need to move across to Universal Credit, explain how the process will work and what they will need to do.
Everyone moving over from legacy benefits as part of this process will have their entitlement to Universal Credit assessed against their current claims, with transitional protection provided for eligible claimants whose initial Universal Credit entitlement would have been less than their entitlement to legacy benefits at the point of moving to Universal Credit. These will continue unless their entitlement changes.
A dedicated helpline – signposted on the migration notice claimants receive – will provide support for people to make their Universal Credit claim, and guidance will also be available online including on the Understanding Universal Credit website. Those in need of further support can also visit their local jobcentre.
Additional support remains available for those in need, including the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments.
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