Six million individuals who are in receipt of certain disability benefits have started to receive their one-off cost-of-living support payment of £150 from today (Tuesday September 20).
The payments form part of the government’s support package valuing £37 billion, which is also comprised of the Energy Price Guarantee announced by new prime minister Liz Truss and cost-of-living payments for households totalling £650.
The £150 payments starting today are going toward helping the disabled with the increasing cost-of-living, as the government acknowledges the need to help those who need to foot further bills for care and mobility requirements.
Those who had confirmed payment of their disability benefit for May 25 this year will have received the £150 today, while others will be paid by early October.
Chloe Smith, secretary of state for work & pensions, commented: “We know disabled people face additional costs and this government is listening and taking decisive action to protect the most vulnerable in our society.
“In addition to the £150 Disability Cost-of-Living payment, households will save an average of £1,000 a year through our new Energy Price Guarantee and the lowest-income households will receive at least £1,200 to help with the rising cost of living this year.
“This multi-billion-pound package of support reinforces our commitment to help UK households, particularly those with disability challenges, through the tough times ahead.”
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng said: “The government is providing vital support to shield the most vulnerable from rising prices caused by global economic challenges.
“From today, a one-off £150 payment will automatically land in over six million disabled peoples’ accounts. This is in addition to the decisive action we took last week to hold down energy bills over the next two years, saving the average household £1,000 a year.
“The government is standing behind people this winter, and in the longer term we are focusing on driving economic growth – the only way to permanently boost everyone’s living standards.”
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