Who’s eligible for £650 cost of living payments and how can they be claimed?

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ITV News Consumer Editor Chris Choi explains the extra cost-of-living support being paid to low income households, with calls growing for government to intervene over surging food and energy bills

More than eight million households will start to receive the first of two payments totaling £650 from Thursday.

Soaring energy bills – coupled with rising prices in supermarkets and shops – continue to put pressure on people, with figures showing more and more people are buying less food to get by.

New support is now available to those eligible in a scheme the government hopes will lessen the burden of the cost of living crisis.

Here is what you need to know.

Who is eligible?

People may be entitled to receive the £650 in two lump sums if they are from low-income households on benefits or receive certain support, such as:

What do I need to do to claim the money?

Those eligible will be paid automatically, so they do not need to apply and payments may appear in accounts as “DWP Cost of Living.”

The payments will be made from Thursday. Credit: PA

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have been identifying those eligible to receive a cost-of-living payment.

When will the payments be made?

Many people will receive the first installation of £326 between July 14 and 31, while the second payment of £324 will follow in the autumn.

For those receiving Tax Credits, however, the first payment is to be made from the autumn and the second from winter 2022.

Is there any other help?

Pensioner households will also receive an extra £300 to help cover the rising cost of energy this winter, while people on disability will receive an extra £150 payment in September.

From October, households will have £400 taken off energy bills.

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People may also see an income boost in their pay packets this month, as national insurance (NI) starting thresholds increased from £9,880 to £12,570 from July 6.

However, this was after a 1.25 percentage point increase in NI in April, to help pay for health and social care.

But won’t energy bills get worse?

Households have been warned to expect to see energy bills soar further in the coming months.

Experts at Cornwall Insight said bills could rise from a current record of £1,971, to £3,245 in October and then further to £3,364 at the start of next year.

The forecasts are based on what an average household will spend on gas and electricity in a year. A household that buys more energy could see higher bills.

According to recent Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures covering adults in Britain between late June and early July, around nine in 10 (91%) said their living costs had increased over the previous month.

Energy bills are expected to rise further. Credit: PA

Around half (49%) of people reported that they were buying less food when food shopping and 48% said they had to spend more than usual to get what they normally buy.

The vast majority of those surveyed had taken at least one action to save energy in the past year.

A ‘vital step’ but ‘not enough’

Sarah Coles, senior personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the cost-of living payments are “a vital step in the right direction for those on lower incomes.”

But she added: “It’s not enough to put people back where they were before price hikes.”

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said last week that geopolitical tensions, soaring energy costs and long-term pressure on the nation’s finances from an ageing population “add up to a challenging outlook for this and future governments as they steer the public finances through inevitable future shocks.”

The OBR said: “Many threats remain, with inflation potentially tipping the economy into rising recession, continued uncertainty about our future trading relationship with the EU, a resurgence in Covid cases, a changing global climate, and rising interest rates all continuing to hang over the fiscal outlook.”

People can find out more information about cost-of-living support at costoflivingsupport.campaign.gov.uk.

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