Thousands of benefit recipients across the UK have been issued an important warning regarding the annual Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Christmas Bonus. While the £10 payment should have been made automatically, officials advise that some individuals may need to take proactive steps if they have not received it.
Who Needs to Take Action and When?
The DWP states that the one-off, tax-free £10 Christmas Bonus should have been paid automatically to eligible claimants before the Christmas period. However, the department has now issued guidance stating that anyone who believes they qualify but has not seen the payment in their account by 1 January should make contact.
Affected individuals are advised to get in touch with the office that handles their regular payments. This means contacting either your local Jobcentre Plus office or the Pension Service, depending on which service administers your primary benefit.
Full List of 24 Qualifying Benefits
Eligibility for the bonus is determined by receiving one or more of 24 specific benefits during what is known as the 'qualifying week' – typically the first full week of December. You must also have been living or 'ordinarily resident' in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, or Gibraltar during that week.
The comprehensive list of qualifying benefits is as follows:
- Adult Disability Payment
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- Attendance Allowance
- Carer’s Allowance
- Carer Support Payment
- Child Disability Payment
- Constant Attendance Allowance
- Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance (after the initial 13-week period)
- Disability Living Allowance
- Incapacity Benefit at the long-term rate
- Industrial Death Benefit
- Mobility Supplement
- Pension Age Disability Payment
- Pension Credit (guarantee element)
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance (SADLA)
- Severe Disablement Allowance
- State Pension (including Graduated Retirement Benefit)
- Unemployability Supplement or Allowance
- War Disablement Pension at State Pension age
- War Widow’s Pension
- Widowed Mother’s Allowance
- Widowed Parent’s Allowance
- Widow’s Pension
It is important to note that if you have deferred your State Pension and do not receive another qualifying benefit, you will not be eligible for the bonus.
Key Details About the Payment
The £10 payment is tax-free and does not affect the amount of any other benefits you receive. It will be paid directly into the same bank account where your regular benefits or pension are deposited. When checking your statement, look for the transaction reference 'DWP XB'.
For couples, the rules are clear: both married couples, civil partners, or those living together as such will each receive the bonus if they individually qualify. There is also a provision where if one partner is over State Pension age and receives a qualifying benefit, their partner may also be eligible for the bonus if both are over State Pension age by the end of the qualifying week, provided residency conditions are met.
The DWP emphasises that there is no need to make a claim for this payment under normal circumstances. The current warning is specifically for those who were expecting the automatic payment but have not yet seen it appear in their finances as the new year begins.
