700,000 households to get a £299 boost

Around 700,000 households who receive tax credits and no other qualifying benefits are set to receive their £299 cost of living payment from Friday 16 onwards.

All payments to families receiving tax credits will have been paid by 22 February according to the HMRC.

The payment for households claiming tax credits will appear on bank statements as ‘HMRC COLS. It will be paid automatically into bank accounts, so you don’t need to do anything to receive the payment.

However, if you think you’re eligible and haven’t received the payment by the 23 February, you should contact HRMC directly.

Just because you’ve received previous payments, it doesn’t mean you’ll be eligible to get this final one. You must have received tax credits on any day between 13 November 2023 and 12 December 2023 to get the cash boost.

More than 7 million eligible households have already received their £299 since the third instalment was launched on 6 February.

This is the final cost of living payment families will receive and means that households have had an extra £900 in total to help towards rising living costs.

To qualify for the payment, you must have been claiming means-tested benefits such as universal credit, pension credit or tax credits during the 2023 and 2024 tax year.

Will there be another cost of living payment in 2024?

Eight million families received a cost of living payment of £900 split into three instalments.

The final instalment began to be paid on 6 February 2024.

No further support payments were announced in the 2023 Autumn Statement and it’s unlikely they will be reintroduced in the Spring Budget in March.