Eligible households will receive a one-off tax-free payment.
Eligible households that haven’t got the bonus by January 1 are urged to contact the DWP (Image: Getty)
Households across the UK are urged to contact the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in January to claim a bonus payment. The DWP pays a one-off tax-free Christmas bonus payment worth £10 to eligible households in December and this should be paid to those who qualify automatically. The £10 is sent to eligible households in the first full week of December, but those who have not received it by January 1 are urged to contact the DWP’s Jobcentre Plus office.
The Christmas bonus is sent to the same bank account that your benefits, pensions and allowances are normally paid into, and is identifiable by a five-letter code. If you’re entitled to the payment, this should have appeared on your bank statement with the code ‘DWP XB’ in December.
You are eligible to get a Christmas bonus if you are 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 cannot get the £10 payment. The full list of qualifying benefits for the Christmas Bonus include:
- 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 think you’re entitled to the £10 Christmas Bonus but you haven’t received it yet, you should contact the DWP’s Jobcentre Plus office this month.
The DWP said: “You do not need to claim the Christmas Bonus – you should get it automatically. If you think you should get it, but have not by 1 January, contact the Jobcentre Plus office that deals with your payments or the Pension Service.”
