Cost of living payment: Millions to get £301 to help pay bills
Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2023 7:39 pm
By Kevin Peachey
Cost of living correspondent
Low-income households are now starting to receive the latest cost-of-living payment from the government to tackle ongoing high bills.
Eight million means-tested benefits claimants, including people on Universal Credit, should receive the £301 instalment between now and 17 May.
Further almost identical payments will come in the autumn and next spring. All will be transferred automatically.
The payments come as food prices rise at their fastest rate for 45 years.
The cost of the supermarket shop has kept inflation - the rate of rising prices - stubbornly high in the UK. A typical household's energy bill also remains at £2,500 a year, although all of these bills are expected to drop later in the year.
Cost-of-living payments were originally introduced to help struggling families cope with the soaring cost of gas and electricity. Two payments totalling £650 were made last year.
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