DWP confirms Christmas bonus schedule – full list (Image: Getty)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has confirmed the schedule for this year’s Christmas Bonus payment for millions of benefit claimants amid controversy of its worth.
The payment is worth £10 and has remained virtually unchanged since it was introduced in 1972, drawing widespread criticism from benefit claimants and charities.
The bonus is paid to people who get certain benefits in a specified qualifying week, which is normally the first full week of December.
The payment is then made that same week, which this year, the week begins on December 2.
People do not need to claim the bonus, it will arrive automatically in the bank accounts of those eligible.
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Britons claiming certain DWP benefits will receive a small income boost in December. (Image: Getty)
Who is eligible for a DWP Christmas bonus?
To get a Christmas Bonus people must be present or “ordinarily resident” in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man or Gibraltar during the qualifying week.
People must also get at least one of the following benefits in the qualifying week:
- Adult Disability Payment
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- Carer’s Allowance
- Child Disability Payment
- Constant (paid under Industrial Injuries or War Pensions schemes)
- Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance (once the main phase of the benefit is entered after the first 13 weeks of claim)
- Disability Living Allowance
- Incapacity Benefit at the long-term rate
- Industrial Death Benefit (for widows or widowers)
- Mobility Supplement
- Pension Credit – the guarantee element
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- (including Graduated Retirement Benefit)
- Severe Disablement Allowance (transitionally protected)
- Unemployability Supplement or Allowance (paid under Industrial Injuries or War Pensions schemes)
- War Disablement Pension at age
- War Widow’s Pension
- Widowed Mother’s Allowance
- Widowed Parent’s Allowance
- Widow’s Pension.
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Those who are either married, in a civil partnership, or cohabiting, and who receive one of the qualifying benefits, are each entitled to receive a Christmas Bonus payment.
People who have not claimed their yet and are not entitled to one of the other qualifying benefits will not get a Christmas Bonus.
However, if a person’s partner or civil partner does not get one of the qualifying benefits, they may still get the Christmas Bonus if both the following apply:
- The couple are both over age (66) by the end of the qualifying week
- The couple are also present (or ‘ordinarily resident’) in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Gibraltar, European Economic Area (EEA) country or Switzerland during the qualifying week
and either:
- One person is entitled to an increase of a qualifying benefit for their partner or civil partner
- The only qualifying benefit a person is getting is Pension Credit.
To check, people can look for the XB reference on their bank account.
Online petitions have called on the Government to permanently increase the rate in line with inflation, which would bring the payment up to £115.08, according to the Bank of England’s calculator.
A spokesperson has since responded, stating: “We are taking immediate action to turn around the dire inheritance we face – with more people living in poverty now than 14 years ago.
“This includes extending the Household Support Fund for the most vulnerable, kickstarting work to develop a strategy to reduce child poverty and taking the first steps towards delivering a genuine living wage for working people.”
People can check their council’s website or call their office to find out what support is available locally to them through the Household Support Fund.
For a few examples of how local authorities have previously used the fund, Birmingham City Council distributed grants of up to £200 to help households with food costs and energy payments.
In Plymouth, eligible residents could receive a maximum of £740 in vouchers.