If you’re working out your budget for the festive season, you may be wondering when your benefits will be paid.
Benefits from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and HMRC can be paid on different dates over Christmas and New Year. That’s because there are a number of bank holidays at the end of December and beginning of January.
Your benefits won’t be paid on bank holidays as both the banks and benefit offices will be closed.
Here’s when benefits are typically paid and how this is affected by Christmas 2024
Which benefits may be affected by date changes?
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- Attendance Allowance – usually paid every four weeks
- Carer’s Allowance – paid weekly in advance or every four weeks
- Child Benefit – usually paid every four weeks
- Disability Living Allowance (DLA) – usually paid every four weeks
- Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) – usually paid every two weeks
- Income Support – usually paid every two weeks
- Jobseeker’s Allowance – usually paid every two weeks
- Maternity Allowance – paid every two or four weeks
- Pension Credit – usually paid every four weeks
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP) – usually paid every four weeks
- State Pension – usually paid every four weeks
- Tax Credits – usually paid weekly or every four weeks
- Universal Credit – paid every month
Benefit date changes Christmas and New Year
The DWP says that ‘if your payment date is on a weekend or a bank holiday you’ll usually be paid on the working day before’. Christmas Day, Wednesday 25 and Boxing Day, Thursday 26 December 2024 and Wednesday 1 January 2025 are bank holidays.
This is how dates will change:
- If your benefit payment is due on 25 December – you will be paid on 24 December
- If your benefit payment is due on 26 December – you will be paid on 24 December
- If your benefit payment is due on 1 January – you will be paid on 31 December