Cost of living payments

[Monic1511]

If you don’t get any means tested benefits but only get PIP/DLA AND have not had the £150 cost of living payment please use the link on the Gov.uk website to report this.
The link asks for your name, address, national insurance number and which benefit


The reason I flagged this is because the government is changing the rules and making Pip/DLA no longer a qualifying benefit


Link [size=78%]https://www.gov.uk/guidance/cost-of-living-payment#disability-cost-of-living-payment[/size]

[Sunny Clouds]

I'm getting seriously confuddled here and I'm  beginning to think the government's computer algorithms are.  When I looked at the OP, I thought cost of living payment was synonymous with warm home discount, before clicking on the link and realising that it's not.

Else-site I've been discussing WHD because I had a letter saying I was getting it because I was in receipt of a 'qualifying means-tested benefit or a tax credit'.  I'm not on any means-tested benefit or tax credit.  I phoned up and the call handler was clueless (not his fault if he's not been briefed properly).  I looked on the gov.uk website and went through the 'are you eligible' thing twice, once saying I'd had a leter, with the code on it, which produced the result yes, and once saying I didn't know if I'd had a letter, and finding no box to tick for PIP (or 'new-style' ESA either), it said no.  I called the number on the letter again and the person fed my details in the computer but couldn't work out why I'd be eligible.

Researching, I found that the government had said it was withdrawing eligibility for WHD on the basis of PIP, but someone told me they'd restored it.  What I couldn't work out was whether (a) they'd done a U-turn and it makes you eligible but they hadn't updated gov-uk, or (b) they hadn't done a U-turn but hadn't updated the computer algorithms for awarding it.

So I rather suppose the systems for the CLP will be as badly set-up/adjusted.

That being so, thank you for alerting us to the need to claim CLP.

[Sunny Clouds]

Actually, leaving aside my comparison with WHD, I've just looked at my bank statement about COL payments.  I got it.  But I'd thought it was the payment I'd applied to my council for.

I've now looked on my council's site, and it mentions a £150 cost of living council tax rebate.  But that's not what it would have been called if I applied for it, because I don't pay council tax.  (Severe mental impairment exemption because of bipolar disorder - which I bet most of my fellow mad'uns don't apply for where I am because they now splash the word 'dementia' all over the relevant pages of their website and application form.)

This is so expletive complicated, which I bet it's meant to be.  The more complicated they make it, the more people that won't apply.

[Monic1511]

Sunny


I raised this because the government is changing the criteria for the £150 cost of living payments for people who are in receipt of DLA or PIP. On the Gov website there was a link that was headed “report if you have not received the disabled cost of living payment “. I checked my bank and no payment was there, so reported it and within 7 days the money was in my bank.


Now the government is saying that PIP alone isn’t enough to get the £150 which is why I’m asking anyone not on income related benefit but getting PIP to chase this before the government pulls it completely.


As you experienced phoning seems to be a waste of time, if you can use the link as it should work.

[Sunny Clouds]

Thanks, Monic.

I seem to have had the cost of living thing.  I was just confused because I thought until you started this thread that what had landed in my bank was what I'd applied to the council for, and now I'm wondering whether I am or am not entitled to a local grant.

It is so good of you to keep posting stuff over time prompting us to make sure we're getting all we should be, and giving us links.  I'm feeling rough at the moment and I cling onto every little bit of thoughtfulness and niceness I encounter in the world and your generosity in using your combination of advice skills, technical know-how and keeping up with benefits news is an example of the sort of thing that reminds me of the kindness in the world.

[ditchdwellers]

Thanks for keeping us updated in this ever changing financial situation Monic.

[KizzyKazaer]

Is the £150 cost-of-living payment not replacing the Warm Home Discount as I (perhaps wrongly) assumed?

[Monic1511]

Hi Kizzy
No, the £150 cost of living for those on disability benefits is different from the warm home discount.
This is the link to the update on 24/11/22


https://www.gov.uk/guidance/cost-of-living-payment

[KizzyKazaer]

Thanks Monic, fortunately I seem to have received all the COL payments without having to hassle the DWP!

[Sunny Clouds]

I'm now getting totally confuddled.

I had something in my bank as, I think, a DWP thingy, then my fuel company said they were giving me something off my bills, now they've sent me an email saying they're giving me another £150, and I've still no idea what it was I applied to the council for or whether I'll get it or how.

I'm sure it's all done like this to minimise the number of people who actually claim what they're entitled to.

[Monic1511]

If you’re eligible, you’ll be paid automatically in the same way you usually get your benefit or tax credits. This includes if you’re found to be eligible for a Cost of Living Payment or a Disability Cost of Living Payment at a later date.
[/size][/color]You could get up to 3 different types of payment depending on your circumstances on a particular date or during a particular period:[/font][/size][/color]a Cost of Living Payment, if you get a qualifying low income benefit or tax credits
[/font]

• a Disability Cost of Living Payment, if you get a qualifying disability benefit

• a Pensioner Cost of Living Payment, if you’re entitled to a Winter Fuel Payment for winter 2022 to 2023

• [/size][/color]These payments are not taxable and will not affect the benefits or tax credits [/font][/size][/color]Low income benefits and tax creditsYou may get a payment of £650 paid in 2 lump sums of £326 and £324 if you get payments of any of the following:Universal Credit[/color][/size][/font]

• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)

• income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

• Income Support

• Pension Credit

• Child Tax Credit

• Working Tax Credit

• The payment will be made separately from your benefit.You will not get a payment if you get New Style Employment and Support Allowance, contributory Employment and Support Allowance, or New Style Jobseeker’s Allowance, unless you get Universal Credit.If you have a joint claim with a partner, you will get one payment of £326 and one payment of £324 for your joint claim, if you’re entitled.
  The £150 from the council was only for council tax. [/color][/size]

[Sunny Clouds]

But with the council tax thing, is it a reduction in the amount payable, or a credit against your bill?

What I mean is this.  Let's suppose two people are home owners. 

One pays council tax.  I assume that if there's £150 you can get in relation to council tax, the person paying it pays £150 less.  E.g. if the council tax is £1000, they pay £850.

The other person is, in principle, liable for council tax, but has a class U exemption (which I do).  Do they get told "You don't pay council tax, so you don't get it." or do they get told "Here's your £150.  We can't knock it off your bill, so here's a cheque or bank deposit."

[Sunny Clouds]

Oh, and Monic, how come you haven't gone completely and utterly bonkers trying to help so many people with our bonkers benefits system(s)?  An extra category in the International Classification of Diseases is long overdue "Social Security System Exhaustion". 

[Monic1511]

According to this sheet if you don’t get charged council tax then you are not eligible for the £150 rebate
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/council-tax-rebate-factsheet#am-i-eligible-for-the-core-council-tax-rebate-scheme


Ps who says I’m not bonkers

[Sunny Clouds]

Erm, I'd never dare call you bonkers. What if you took offence and stopped steering us through the benefits system?

So I'm not getting the £150 council tax thingy.  I suppose I can't complain.

This whole financial disaster is very peculiar for me, having inherited some savings from my parents.  I've had times in my life when I didn't have money for food, didn't have money for the leccy meter etc.  It feels amazing to be able to give to foodbanks, Christmas toybanks etc.

That being said, the big shock for me of all this is that until I came across people saying elsewhere online how they were trying to cut corners, I hadn't realised how much the price of water varies.  I'm using out of date jargon, but I pay what I still think of as water rates, i.e. un-metered.  I knew it varied from place to place and house to house but not by how much.

I didn't get a meter for two reasons - I object on principle, and if you fill the forms in, they tell you things like if you keep the water running whilst cleaning your teeth, it's not worth getting a meter.

So imagine my shock when I realised recently that whilst my water costs about £900/year, there are people, also on un-metered water, paying less than a third of that.

Yet there are people that will be paying a fraction of what I do, have the water on the meter, and are using barely any to save money.  I foresee a public health disaster arising from poor hygiene.

Nothing can, I think, stop me finding this surreal.