A £150 lump sum cost of living payment cannot match double digit inflation, says DR UK

Around 6 million disabled people in the UK will receive their one-off £150 disability Cost of Living payment from 20 September,

Those being paid a qualifying disability benefit will be paid automatically from 20 September, with the “vast majority of those eligible” expected to receive their one-off payment within a couple of weeks by the beginning of October.

Those who receive the following disability benefits may be eligible for the one-off payment of £150: disability living allowance, personal independence payment, attendance allowance, Scottish disability benefits (adult disability payment and child disability payment), armed forces independence payment, constant attendance allowance and war pension mobility supplement.

Those who had confirmed payment of their disability benefit for 25 May will receive the £150 automatically.

For those still awaiting confirmation of their disability benefit entitlement the process may take longer but payments will still be automatic.

For those who are waiting to be assessed for eligibility to receive disability benefits, the process may take longer but payments will still be automatic

You must have received a payment (or later receive a payment) of one of these qualifying benefits for 25 May 2022 to get the payment.

Full details about the Government’s Help for Households cost of living package are available from gov.uk.

The Government said that the £150 payment is intended to help disabled people with the rising cost of living acknowledging the higher disability-related costs they often face, such as food, care and support services, equipment, energy, fuel and travel costs.

Ken Butler DR UK’s Welfare Rights and Policy Adviser said: “It’s good that the Government accepts that Disabled People face extra costs.

“But this £150 one-off payment is simply nowhere near enough in the face of the huge rise in fuel bills and double digit inflation.

“Half of all people living in poverty are either Disabled people themselves or have a Disabled person in their household. More than half of people who use food banks are Disabled people.

This is an ongoing disaster that small one-off payments cannot solve. We urgently need a systematic solution.”

The Disability Poverty Campaign Group (DPCG), of which DR UK member, is a coalition of England-wide Disabled People's Organisations and allies

The DPCG is calling for a thorough reassessment of social security support for disabled people, to end the appalling levels of poverty in our community. This should include introducing the following policies:

benefits - including the ‘extra-costs benefits’ (personal independence payment, disability living allowance and attendance allowance) - must receive an emergency uprating. The uprating must at least match the latest Bank of England predicted inflation rate of 13%.
act to ban all arrears-related deductions from benefits.
revise the eligibility criteria for the Warm Home Discount to reinstate eligibility for the £150 payment to the 300,000 Disabled benefit claimants whose entitlement to the rebate has been wrongfully removed.
put in place further targeted, non-repayable welfare support to Disabled people in vulnerable circumstances.
social care to be made free at the point of use, and a ban on local authorities taking debt recovery action again service-users who have not paid care charges.
the energy tariffs for customers using pre-payment meters – who pay in advance for their gas and electricity – to be the same as those for customers using standard meters.
better protection for those disabled people who may not be able to top up their pre-payment meters this winter and so face the possibility of having no power through so-called self-disconnection.