DWP: £299 cost of living payment to be paid from tomorrow – but some eligible Britons could miss out

There are two situations which could lead to someone not receiving any money despite claiming the qualifying DWP benefits or HMRC tax credits.

The first circumstance would be if someone is given a “nil award” which is when their benefit payment is reduced to zero during the qualifying period.

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Some eight million Britons are estimated to get the payment from tomorrow which is the final instalment of the larger £900 in cost of living support for means-tested benefit claimants.

The majority of claimants will get the money between tomorrow and February 22, while anyone who receives tax credits from HMRC and no other income-related benefits will be paid between February 16 and February 22 .

Last year, claimants received two other instalments worth £301 and £300, respectively. Payments will be delivered automatically into the bank or building society account claimants get benefits paid into.

The cost of living payment for benefit claimants will show up on bank statements as their National Insurance number followed by DWP COL.

Any tax credit claimants can find their cost of living payment reference by looking for the code HMRC COLS.

To be eligible for the cost of living payment from DWP, claimants need to have been entitled to a payment for one of the below qualifying benefits between November 13 and December 12, or payment for an assessment period, ending between these dates:

• Universal Credit
• Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Income Support
• Working Tax Credit
• Child Tax Credit
• Pension Credit.

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If someone starts claiming benefits and want to backdate their claim, but do not receive the cost of living payment, they can report to http://GOV.UK from February 23.

Notably, recipients can backdate Pension Credit by three months and the deadline to do this and become eligible for the £299 sum is March 5.

Outside of the means-tested payment, the Government has rolled out other support payments for other vulnerable groups.

These include £150 and £300 cost of living payments for those living with disabilities and pensioners, respectively.