Over 8 million households in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland who claimed qualifying means-tested benefits during the eligibility period will be automatically paid £324 this month, as part of £1,200 worth of direct help for households.

Over 8 million benefit claimants to receive £324 this month as part of Cost of Living support

DWP claimants will receive their second Cost of Living payment by 23 November 2022, and eligible tax credit claimants, on no other means-tested benefits, will receive it between 23 and 30 November 2022

Payments will automatically be made to everyone eligible, with no need for anyone to apply

The payments, starting today from the Department for Work and Pensions, are made directly into eligible recipients’ bank accounts, with no need for people to apply or do anything to receive it.

The payment reference on DWP recipients’ bank accounts will be their national insurance number, followed by “DWP COL”. For HMRC recipients the payment reference will be “HMRC COLS”.

Work and Pensions Secretary, Mel Stride said:

“We understand that people are struggling and that is why we’ve consistently acted to ensure millions of low-income families are supported. We will continue to act with compassion as we navigate challenging global economic circumstances.

“As part of a wider £37 billion package of support, this latest £324 payment will help the most vulnerable people in our society who are worrying about their finances through the winter months.”

The government’s £1,200 support package contains £400 for energy bills that is being paid in monthly instalments to all domestic energy customers between now and March 2023. It also includes a £150 Council Tax rebate for 85% of all UK households and the previous £326 Cost of Living Payment made by DWP in July and by HMRC in September.

On top of this, nearly one in ten people received the £150 disability payment in September, and a £300 addition to Winter Fuel Payments will go to over eight million pensioner households over the winter.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt added:

“Prices are rising across the world as we manage the aftershock of COVID-19 and Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. We recognise that families back home are struggling, which is why we’ve taken decisive action to hold down energy bills this winter, and provided hundreds of pounds of cash support for each vulnerable household.

“As part of that support, over 8 million vulnerable households – almost a quarter of families in the UK – will automatically receive a second cost of living payment worth £324 in their bank account from today.

“And while we can’t completely protect people from rising prices, my priority at the upcoming Autumn Statement will be to protect the poorest in society as we take the tough decisions necessary to fix our public finances.”

Those eligible to receive the second cost of living payment from today include people on:

  • Universal Credit
  • Income-based Jobseekers Allowance (JSA)
  • Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
  • Income Support
  • Pension Credit

To be eligible, claimants must have been claiming and entitled to a payment between 26 August and 25 September 2022, with the exception of pensioner households, who may be able to have a new Pension Credit claim backdated.

They have until 18 December 2022 to submit a valid claim for Pension Credit, which could entitle them to the £324 Cost of Living payment. Anyone can check their eligibility for Pension Credit using the online calculator or by calling the freephone claim line, on: 0800 99 1234.

Even if you are not on a qualifying DWP benefit you may still be eligible for the £324 payment, as HMRC are also making payments to over a million people who receive Working Tax Credit or Child Tax Credit and no other eligible benefits. These will be paid between 23 and 30 November 2022 and customers do not need to contact the government or apply for the payment at any stage.

The £324 payment and the overall £1,200 package come on top of wide-ranging government support with the cost of living this winter, including an extension to the Household Support Fund, which is providing an extra £421 million between October and March to help vulnerable people with the essentials.

As well as this, the Energy Price Guarantee is ensuring people across the country pay significantly less for their energy bills, with a typical household saving around £700 this winter.

More information about Cost of Living support

low-income households are benefiting from government support in a variety of different ways. You can read more about the government’s cost of living support and what is available 

the cost of living support package was announced in May 2022 and includes 6 one-off support measures:

a £650 Cost of Living Payment, made in two payments, to claimants of certain means-tested benefits including Universal Credit, most of the legacy benefits and tax credits it is replacing (except Housing Benefit), and Pension Credit

a £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment for recipients of certain non-means-tested disability benefits, including Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Attendance Allowance (AA)

a £300 Pensioner Cost of Living Payment, paid as an addition to the Winter Fuel Payment, to households with at least one person entitled to a Winter Fuel Payment for winter 2022 to 2023

a £150 Council Tax rebate for 85% of all UK households

an expansion of the Energy Bills Support Scheme, providing households with £400 of support towards their energy bills

additional funding to extend the Household Support Fund

to be eligible for the second payment of £324, families must have been entitled to a payment (or later found to be entitled to a payment) of either:

Universal Credit for an assessment period that ended in the period 26 August to 25 September 2022

Income-based JSA, income-related ESA, Income Support or Pension Credit for any day in the period 26 August 2022 to 25 September 2022

Tax credit-only customers, who will receive the second payment shortly after DWP payments, must have received a payment or an annual award of at least £26 of tax credits for any day in the period 26 August 2022 to 25 September 2022, or later found to be entitled to tax credits for this period

for DWP claimants eligible for the £324 payment, in a small minority of complex circumstances, households may be paid after 23 November 2022 – for example, if they were deemed unable to claim certain benefits, but won backdated entitlement on appeal, or where payments were rejected due to invalid account details. The DWP will seek to contact claimants directly in the very small minority of cases where there are issues or delays

this payment will be tax-free, will not count towards the benefit cap, and will not have any impact on existing benefit awards

these payments are being delivered in two slightly different amounts of £326 and £324. The distinct value relates to a specific qualifying period, so it is simpler to determine if a payee received the correct payments, reducing the fraud risk of people who claim not to have had one of the specific two payments, as DWP will be able to clearly track those who have

Table 1 : Estimated number of families eligible for the means-tested benefit cost of living payment by region

RegionCases
London1,224,000
South West580,000
South East846,000
Eastern627,000
West Midlands792,000
East Midlands551,000
North West1,048,000
North East397,000
Yorkshire and The Humber722,000
Wales426,000
Scotland689,000
Northern Ireland309,000
Total8,213,000

Note for table 1: Estimates rounded to the nearest 1,000. Numbers may not add up due to rounding. For a small number of claimants, it has not been possible to determine a region. They have still been included in the totals.

Table 2: Estimated number of families eligible for the means-tested benefit cost of living payment by Westminster parliamentary constituency

Parliamentary constituencyFamilies eligible for the means-tested payment
Aberavon11,600
Aberconwy7,100
Aberdeen North13,300
Aberdeen South7,700
Airdrie and Shotts13,400
Aldershot10,500
Aldridge-Brownhills8,300
Altrincham and Sale West7,000
Alyn and Deeside9,200
Amber Valley10,700
Angus11,000
Arfon7,600
Argyll and Bute9,600
Arundel and South Downs6,700
Ashfield14,300
Ashford13,200
Ashton-under-Lyne16,100
Aylesbury10,300
Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock14,100
Banbury10,900
Banff and Buchan9,500
Barking24,900
Barnsley Central13,800
Barnsley East14,700
Barrow and Furness10,300
Basildon and Billericay11,300
Basingstoke10,300
Bassetlaw12,800
Bath8,000
Batley and Spen16,200
Battersea11,700
Beaconsfield6,300
Beckenham6,000
Bedford15,000
Belfast East14,600
Belfast North26,600
Belfast South13,900
Belfast West27,100
Bermondsey and Old Southwark22,100
Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk10,600
Berwick-upon-Tweed7,600
Bethnal Green and Bow26,000
Beverley and Holderness9,000
Bexhill and Battle10,500
Bexleyheath and Crayford9,400
Birkenhead19,100
Birmingham, Edgbaston15,900
Birmingham, Erdington23,400
Birmingham, Hall Green24,600
Birmingham, Hodge Hill30,600
Birmingham, Ladywood32,400
Birmingham, Northfield19,200
Birmingham, Perry Barr22,900
Birmingham, Selly Oak15,400
Birmingham, Yardley23,400
Bishop Auckland13,400
Blackburn22,600
Blackley and Broughton28,800
Blackpool North and Cleveleys14,900
Blackpool South18,400
Blaenau Gwent12,000
Blaydon10,900
Blyth Valley11,800
Bognor Regis and Littlehampton13,200
Bolsover12,600
Bolton North East17,700
Bolton South East20,500
Bolton West11,700
Bootle21,000
Boston and Skegness17,100
Bosworth9,100
Bournemouth East14,600
Bournemouth West14,000
Bracknell8,400
Bradford East25,600
Bradford South19,800
Bradford West26,400
Braintree9,300
Brecon and Radnorshire7,200
Brent Central30,600
Brent North19,000
Brentford and Isleworth17,500
Brentwood and Ongar7,300
Bridgend10,400
Bridgwater and West Somerset13,000
Brigg and Goole9,000
Brighton, Kemptown14,400
Brighton, Pavilion11,900
Bristol East13,200
Bristol North West12,400
Bristol South16,600
Bristol West14,400
Broadland8,000
Bromley and Chislehurst9,400
Bromsgrove7,500
Broxbourne11,200
Broxtowe8,500
Buckingham6,300
Burnley16,300
Burton12,300
Bury North12,000
Bury South13,500
Bury St Edmunds9,600
Caerphilly13,000
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross7,600
Calder Valley11,400
Camberwell and Peckham23,300
Camborne and Redruth13,000
Cambridge9,800
Cannock Chase11,700
Canterbury11,100
Cardiff Central10,500
Cardiff North7,600
Cardiff South and Penarth18,600
Cardiff West15,100
Carlisle10,900
Carmarthen East and Dinefwr8,800
Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire9,700
Carshalton and Wallington11,600
Castle Point8,400
Central Ayrshire12,700
Central Devon8,500
Central Suffolk and North Ipswich7,900
Ceredigion8,500
Charnwood7,800
Chatham and Aylesford12,800
Cheadle6,500
Chelmsford9,400
Chelsea and Fulham11,000
Cheltenham9,900
Chesham and Amersham5,500
Chesterfield12,800
Chichester9,500
Chingford and Woodford Green10,400
Chippenham8,500
Chipping Barnet12,500
Chorley10,800
Christchurch7,200
Cities of London and Westminster11,900
City of Chester10,400
City of Durham9,800
Clacton15,200
Cleethorpes11,100
Clwyd South9,400
Clwyd West9,900
Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill14,100
Colchester13,900
Colne Valley12,200
Congleton7,900
Copeland8,400
Corby13,300
Coventry North East21,200
Coventry North West13,900
Coventry South13,700
Crawley14,100
Crewe and Nantwich12,200
Croydon Central19,100
Croydon North26,600
Croydon South11,400
Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East11,600
Cynon Valley12,300
Dagenham and Rainham17,000
Darlington13,900
Dartford11,100
Daventry7,700
Delyn8,300
Denton and Reddish12,600
Derby North13,300
Derby South21,700
Derbyshire Dales5,600
Devizes7,500
Dewsbury15,600
Don Valley12,900
Doncaster Central17,100
Doncaster North15,500
Dover13,000
Dudley North13,700
Dudley South11,000
Dulwich and West Norwood16,600
Dumfries and Galloway12,700
Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale9,300
Dundee East11,400
Dundee West14,700
Dunfermline and West Fife11,100
Dwyfor Meirionnydd6,800
Ealing Central and Acton16,900
Ealing North19,500
Easington15,200
East Antrim12,300
East Devon9,300
East Dunbartonshire5,100
East Ham30,000
East Hampshire6,700
East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow11,200
East Londonderry17,000
East Lothian11,000
East Renfrewshire7,300
East Surrey8,100
East Worthing and Shoreham10,100
East Yorkshire11,700
Eastbourne15,200
Eastleigh9,300
Eddisbury8,600
Edinburgh East12,800
Edinburgh North and Leith11,800
Edinburgh South6,900
Edinburgh South West11,000
Edinburgh West8,000
Edmonton25,600
Ellesmere Port and Neston10,800
Elmet and Rothwell7,700
Eltham12,400
Enfield North18,500
Enfield, Southgate12,300
Epping Forest9,300
Epsom and Ewell6,500
Erewash11,600
Erith and Thamesmead18,200
Esher and Walton7,000
Exeter11,800
Falkirk13,400
Fareham6,500
Faversham and Mid Kent9,700
Feltham and Heston21,200
Fermanagh and South Tyrone16,400
Filton and Bradley Stoke8,200
Finchley and Golders Green15,700
Folkestone and Hythe14,600
Forest of Dean8,800
Foyle24,900
Fylde8,500
Gainsborough10,500
Garston and Halewood17,200
Gedling10,400
Gateshead17,000
Gillingham and Rainham11,900
Glasgow Central18,500
Glasgow East20,900
Glasgow North10,600
Glasgow North East20,300
Glasgow North West16,100
Glasgow South13,800
Glasgow South West18,900
Glenrothes14,600
Gloucester15,200
Gordon6,300
Gosport10,200
Gower8,200
Grantham and Stamford10,900
Gravesham12,700
Great Grimsby16,200
Great Yarmouth16,600
Greenwich and Woolwich19,600
Guildford6,800
Hackney North and Stoke Newington25,900
Hackney South and Shoreditch24,200
Halesowen and Rowley Regis12,100
Halifax17,600
Haltemprice and Howden5,700
Halton15,200
Hammersmith19,000
Hampstead and Kilburn17,200
Harborough8,600
Harlow12,900
Harrogate and Knaresborough8,200
Harrow East12,800
Harrow West14,100
Hartlepool17,500
Harwich and North Essex8,400
Hastings and Rye18,600
Havant11,800
Hayes and Harlington18,700
Hazel Grove7,900
Hemel Hempstead11,200
Hemsworth13,700
Hendon19,800
Henley5,500
Hereford and South Herefordshire10,200
Hertford and Stortford8,000
Hertsmere10,000
Hexham5,500
Heywood and Middleton17,000
High Peak8,700
Hitchin and Harpenden6,000
Holborn and St Pancras21,700
Hornchurch and Upminster11,000
Hornsey and Wood Green17,200
Horsham7,300
Houghton and Sunderland South14,900
Hove12,600
Huddersfield15,900
Huntingdon9,300
Hyndburn15,700
Ilford North13,000
Ilford South22,800
Inverclyde13,300
Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey11,000
Ipswich16,100
Isle of Wight18,300
Islington North18,700
Islington South and Finsbury17,900
Islwyn10,500
Jarrow12,600
Keighley12,500
Kenilworth and Southam5,300
Kensington14,100
Kettering10,800
Kilmarnock and Loudoun14,400
Kingston and Surbiton11,100
Kingston upon Hull East16,200
Kingston upon Hull North17,000
Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle17,100
Kingswood7,700
Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath14,700
Knowsley23,000
Lagan Valley12,400
Lanark and Hamilton East13,400
Lancaster and Fleetwood10,400
Leeds Central26,600
Leeds East19,700
Leeds North East11,100
Leeds North West6,600
Leeds West16,500
Leicester East21,100
Leicester South20,100
Leicester West20,000
Leigh13,900
Lewes8,800
Lewisham East17,400
Lewisham West and Penge17,200
Lewisham, Deptford20,100
Leyton and Wanstead15,300
Lichfield7,700
Lincoln15,100
Linlithgow and East Falkirk14,500
Liverpool, Riverside20,800
Liverpool, Walton23,800
Liverpool, Wavertree17,100
Liverpool, West Derby19,900
Livingston14,100
Llanelli12,500
Loughborough10,000
Louth and Horncastle12,600
Ludlow7,700
Luton North14,500
Luton South19,700
Macclesfield7,700
Maidenhead6,600
Maidstone and The Weald10,800
Makerfield11,300
Maldon7,100
Manchester Central27,500
Manchester, Gorton24,100
Manchester, Withington12,500
Mansfield15,300
Meon Valley7,000
Meriden14,000
Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney13,400
Mid Bedfordshire7,600
Mid Dorset and North Poole6,400
Mid Derbyshire6,000
Mid Norfolk9,700
Mid Sussex7,300
Mid Ulster16,000
Mid Worcestershire9,600
Middlesbrough21,600
Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland13,700
Midlothian10,300
Milton Keynes North14,500
Milton Keynes South15,600
Mitcham and Morden16,000
Mole Valley5,600
Monmouth7,800
Montgomeryshire6,800
Moray9,200
Morecambe and Lunesdale12,800
Morley and Outwood9,700
Motherwell and Wishaw15,500
Na h-Eileanan an Iar2,900
Neath11,100
New Forest East7,100
New Forest West6,700
Newark9,500
Newbury8,000
Newcastle upon Tyne Central19,100
Newcastle upon Tyne East13,800
Newcastle upon Tyne North12,500
Newcastle-under-Lyme9,800
Newport East12,000
Newport West13,300
Newry and Armagh20,400
Newton Abbot9,800
Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford16,200
North Antrim16,800
North Ayrshire and Arran14,800
North Cornwall10,900
North Devon11,100
North Dorset7,500
North Down10,500
North Durham13,100
North East Bedfordshire8,700
North East Cambridgeshire14,100
North East Derbyshire9,500
North East Fife6,300
North East Hampshire5,000
North East Hertfordshire8,100
North East Somerset7,500
North Herefordshire7,800
North Norfolk8,900
North Shropshire10,500
North Somerset6,500
North Swindon11,600
North Thanet14,300
North Tyneside16,100
North Warwickshire10,400
North West Cambridgeshire13,600
North West Durham12,800
North West Hampshire8,300
North West Leicestershire8,900
North West Norfolk11,300
North Wiltshire6,500
Northampton North11,500
Northampton South14,100
Norwich North10,900
Norwich South13,900
Nottingham East19,600
Nottingham North21,900
Nottingham South13,900
Nuneaton12,200
Ochil and South Perthshire11,000
Ogmore11,300
Old Bexley and Sidcup6,600
Oldham East and Saddleworth18,100
Oldham West and Royton20,600
Orkney and Shetland3,600
Orpington7,000
Oxford East12,100
Oxford West and Abingdon6,400
Paisley and Renfrewshire North10,800
Paisley and Renfrewshire South13,000
Pendle15,000
Penistone and Stocksbridge8,200
Penrith and The Border6,700
Perth and North Perthshire10,600
Peterborough22,700
Plymouth, Moor View14,000
Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport18,100
Pontypridd9,400
Poole10,200
Poplar and Limehouse27,000
Portsmouth North12,000
Portsmouth South15,800
Preseli Pembrokeshire10,400
Preston18,400
Pudsey7,600
Putney10,700
Rayleigh and Wickford6,800
Reading East10,000
Reading West12,400
Redcar14,900
Redditch10,500
Reigate7,200
Rhondda12,600
Ribble Valley7,300
Richmond (Yorks)8,000
Richmond Park8,100
Rochdale21,800
Rochester and Strood12,500
Rochford and Southend East17,200
Romford11,300
Romsey and Southampton North6,400
Ross, Skye and Lochaber6,500
Rossendale and Darwen12,600
Rother Valley10,800
Rotherham17,200
Rugby9,600
Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner7,400
Runnymede and Weybridge7,400
Rushcliffe6,300
Rutherglen and Hamilton West16,300
Rutland and Melton7,400
Saffron Walden7,400
Salford and Eccles19,600
Salisbury8,500
Scarborough and Whitby13,500
Scunthorpe12,900
Sedgefield12,200
Sefton Central7,000
Selby and Ainsty7,900
Sevenoaks6,900
Sheffield Central14,300
Sheffield South East14,300
Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough22,700
Sheffield, Hallam4,600
Sheffield, Heeley15,200
Sherwood11,200
Shipley9,500
Shrewsbury and Atcham10,200
Sittingbourne and Sheppey15,500
Skipton and Ripon7,100
Sleaford and North Hykeham9,700
Slough19,700
Solihull8,000
Somerton and Frome9,600
South Antrim12,800
South Basildon and East Thurrock12,200
South Cambridgeshire6,700
South Derbyshire9,100
South Dorset11,100
South Down17,000
South East Cambridgeshire8,100
South East Cornwall10,100
South Holland and The Deepings11,100
South Leicestershire8,400
South Norfolk8,800
South Northamptonshire7,400
South Ribble8,600
South Shields15,500
South Staffordshire8,400
South Suffolk7,800
South Swindon12,800
South Thanet15,600
South West Bedfordshire10,300
South West Devon6,900
South West Hertfordshire6,600
South West Norfolk11,200
South West Surrey6,100
South West Wiltshire9,700
Southampton, Itchen14,900
Southampton, Test15,800
Southend West9,700
Southport12,300
Spelthorne8,800
St Albans7,500
St Austell and Newquay13,900
St Helens North14,400
St Helens South and Whiston16,400
St Ives11,000
Stafford9,200
Staffordshire Moorlands6,300
Stalybridge and Hyde14,100
Stevenage10,700
Stirling8,700
Stockport13,700
Stockton North15,800
Stockton South11,500
Stoke-on-Trent Central14,800
Stoke-on-Trent North16,200
Stoke-on-Trent South13,100
Stone6,000
Stourbridge10,600
Strangford12,500
Stratford-on-Avon7,500
Streatham17,400
Stretford and Urmston13,800
Stroud8,700
Suffolk Coastal8,800
Sunderland Central17,200
Surrey Heath6,900
Sutton and Cheam8,900
Sutton Coldfield7,100
Swansea East14,700
Swansea West12,100
Tamworth10,400
Tatton6,300
Taunton Deane12,000
Telford15,500
Tewkesbury8,300
The Cotswolds7,000
The Wrekin10,300
Thirsk and Malton8,300
Thornbury and Yate6,300
Thurrock16,300
Tiverton and Honiton9,800
Tonbridge and Malling7,900
Tooting11,400
Torbay16,300
Torfaen13,100
Torridge and West Devon10,800
Totnes9,800
Tottenham31,900
Truro and Falmouth10,100
Tunbridge Wells8,300
Twickenham8,300
Tynemouth10,900
Upper Bann20,300
Uxbridge and South Ruislip11,500
Vale of Clwyd12,200
Vale of Glamorgan12,800
Vauxhall19,100
Wakefield13,400
Wallasey15,500
Walsall North18,700
Walsall South19,200
Walthamstow19,200
Wansbeck11,600
Wantage8,600
Warley18,200
Warrington North12,000
Warrington South9,900
Warwick and Leamington8,800
Washington and Sunderland West14,900
Watford12,300
Waveney14,500
Wealden8,100
Weaver Vale10,100
Wellingborough12,900
Wells11,100
Wentworth and Dearne15,100
West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine5,100
West Bromwich East16,800
West Bromwich West17,800
West Dorset8,800
West Dunbartonshire15,600
West Ham33,100
West Lancashire11,500
West Suffolk10,300
West Tyrone17,400
West Worcestershire8,400
Westminster North18,600
Westmorland and Lonsdale6,000
Weston-super-Mare14,400
Wigan14,600
Wimbledon6,700
Winchester5,900
Windsor6,500
Wirral South6,500
Wirral West6,800
Witham7,900
Witney7,500
Woking7,900
Wokingham6,000
Wolverhampton North East17,000
Wolverhampton South East18,700

Note for table 2: Estimates rounded to the nearest 100. Numbers may not add up due to rounding. For a small number of claimants, it has not been possible to determine a Parliamentary Constituency. They have still been included in the totals.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.