Thousands of claimants are set to have their benefits paid early by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) or HMRC next month due to the Easter bank holidays.
Like every year, the two bank holidays over Easter affect benefit payment dates as the DWP and HMRC do not pay benefits on bank holidays. This is also the case for state pension payments. So, if you are due a payment on one of these days, you will likely be paid early.
If you are due your benefit on Good Friday – which this year falls on April 18 – then you should get paid on Thursday, April 17, instead. This will also be the case for those who are due payment on Easter Monday, which this year falls on April 21.
Benefits are also not paid on the weekend, so if your payment date falls on a Saturday or Sunday, you should also be paid early on Thursday, April 17. If your payment is due on a different day, it will arrive in your account as normal. Payment dates will return to normal after this weekend – well, until the May bank holidays, when payment will be paid early once again.
If your payment date falls on a different date then you will not need to do anything, it will be paid into your nominated bank account as normal. You will also be paid the same amount of money if you are paid early.
Even though being paid early may sound great you should be aware that the amount you will receive will remain the same. This means you will need to stretch your money until your next payment date.
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Here is a full list of benefits affected by the bank holiday and how often they are paid:
It’s important to note that from April, Tax Credits – which are managed by HMRC – will be scrapped, so these benefits will no longer be paid. So if you do not get a Tax Credit payment – this will be why. You should have received a migration notice from the DWP telling you to put in a claim for Universal Credit if you were claiming.
If you don’t get your benefit payment when you expected to, first check double-check the date on your award notice and your bank account. If you’ve got the right date, and the money isn’t there, you should contact the relevant helpline.
However, you should be aware that the helpline is likely not open on the bank holiday itself – so you should try and contact them the day your benefit payment should’ve been paid – usually, helplines are open from 8am until 5pm Monday to Friday.
You can find the helpline numbers for each DWP benefit on Gov.uk. You can reach its Universal Credit helpline on 0800 328 5644.
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