Thousands of benefit claimants have begun receiving their Christmas bonus from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The annual £10 payment is made automatically before Christmas, but only to those that claim qualifying benefits. These include carer’s allowance, personal independence payment (PIP), and pension credit. However, those claiming universal credit as a standalone benefit are not eligible.
Guidance from the government states: "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. You do not need to claim - you should get paid automatically."
The payment will usually arrive in bank accounts with the reference ‘XB’ or ‘DWP XB’.
Eligible claimants must be in receipt of one of the following benefits in the first week of December in order to qualify, as well as “ordinarily resident” in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man or Gibraltar.
Those eligible are recipients of any of the following:
Couples who are married, in a civil partnership, or cohabiting (in certain circumstances), will both receive a payment if both are receiving one of these qualifying benefits.
The government has been urged to boost the bonus in recent years, with the £10 sum remaining unchanged since 1972. This means it has degraded by over £100 after decades of inflation. To date, no plans have been announced to change the payment level.
There are also several key dates for benefit claimants to be aware of around the Christmas season, which will change when payments are received.
This year, most DWP payments due to fall on Christmas day (Thursday 25 December) or Boxing Day (Friday 26 December) should be paid on Christmas Eve (Wednesday 24 December) instead. This was the case in previous years, but is subject to final confirmation by the department, usually announced in December.
