The Department of Work and Pensions Christmas bonus will be paid to those receiving certain benefits from today, the DWP has said.
"The Christmas Bonus is a one-off tax-free £10 payment made before Christmas, paid to people who get certain benefits in the qualifying week. This is normally the first full week of December," it says.
"You do not need to claim - you should get paid automatically."
The one-off tax-free £10 will usually be paid separately to bank accounts, using the five-digit reference code DWP XP.
Recommended reading:
- Quality Street tubs like you've never seen them before
- Savings accounts: best and worst for savings interest
- Parcel warning for Evri, Amazon, DHL, Yodel customers
Which benefits entitle claimants to the 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, which is usually the first week of December, and receive at least one of the following benefits:
- Adult Disability Payment
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- Attendance Allowance
- Carer’s Allowance
- Child Disability Payment
- Constant Attendance Allowance (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)
- State Pension (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 State Pension Age
- War Widow’s Pension
- Widowed Mother’s Allowance
- Widowed Parent’s Allowance
- Widow’s Pension.
Why is the DWP Christmas Bonus payment so low?
It was established by the Pensioners and Family Income Supplement Payments Act 1972 as a one-off payment, which has then been repeated - but not increased.
If it had kept up with inflation, that £10 would now be more than £115. There is a petition to get rates increased, which has been signed by more than 23,000 people. Shona McMahon, who launched the campaign, says: "Christmas is THE most expensive time of year. Pensioners, the vulnerable and people like myself, disabled, could do with an extra boost at this time of year, especially as the energy assistance has been axed."
What if I haven't received the DWP Christmas Bonus yet?
If you think you should get it, but have not by January 1, contact the Jobcentre Plus office that deals with your payments or the Pension Service.
Those who have not claimed their state pension and are not entitled to one of the other qualifying benefits will not get a Christmas Bonus.
Those who are married, in a civil partnership, or living together and who receive one of the qualifying benefits, are each entitled to receive a Christmas Bonus payment.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel