Eligible households are advised to look for a five letter code on their bank statement.
The one-off £10 payment is awarded to eligible households in receipt of certain benefits (Image: Getty)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is sending Christmas Bonus payments to eligible UK households before Monday. The bonus is a one-off tax-free payment of £10 that is automatically paid to households in receipt of certain benefits.
The DWP has confirmed that the Christmas Bonus is normally paid in the first full week of December, which is from December 1 to 7, which means eligible households should see the payment land in their bank account before Monday, December 8. If you meet the eligibility criteria, then you don’t need to do anything to receive the bonus, as it will be paid to you automatically. The £10 bonus will be sent to the same bank account that your benefits, pensions and allowances are normally paid to, and it will be identifiable by a five-letter code.
The DWP says the payment will show up on bank statements with the code ‘DWP XB’ and should arrive in your account this week.
To get a Christmas Bonus, you must be present or ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man or Gibraltar during the qualifying week, which is the first full week of December.
If you haven’t claimed your State Pension and you’re not entitled to one of the qualifying benefits then you won’t get the £10 payment. The full list of qualifying benefits for the Christmas Bonus includes:
- Adult Disability Payment
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- Attendance Allowance
- Carer’s Allowance
- Carer Support Payment
- 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 Age Disability Payment
- Pension Credit – the guarantee element
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance (SADLA)
- Severe Disablement Allowance (transitionally protected)
- State Pension (including Graduated Retirement Benefit)
- 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
If you’re a married couple, in a civil partnership, or living together as if you are, and you both receive at least one of the above qualifying benefits, then you will each get a Christmas Bonus payment from the DWP.
If your partner doesn’t get one of the qualifying benefits, they may still be eligible for the payment if both of the following apply:
- you’re both over State Pension age by the end of the qualifying week
- your partner or civil partner was also present (or ‘ordinarily resident’) in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Gibraltar, European Economic Area (EEA) country or Switzerland during the qualifying week
One of the following must also apply:
- you’re entitled to an increase of a qualifying benefit for your partner or civil partner
- the only qualifying benefit you’re getting is Pension Credit
If you think you’re entitled to the £10 Christmas Bonus but you haven’t received it by January 1 then you should contact the Jobcen
