Cost of living payment assessment period

jonny363

Hi all . Any advice. We had no universal credit payment for 16th of may assessment period 10th April to 9th of may . We are due a payment in June 16th. Assessment period 10th may to 9th of June . Do we qualify? . asked universal credit just pointed me to gov.uk . There wordings seem confusing to me. Thanks for any help. 

jonny363

Forgot to mention as people already know. They say qualifying period ending between 26th April and 25th of may .

poppy12345

Universal Credit

To get the first Cost of Living Payment of £326, you must have been entitled to a payment (or later found to be entitled to a payment) of Universal Credit for an assessment period that ended in the period 26 April 2022 to 25 May 2022.

Which means if earnings reduced your entitlement to zero for that payment then you won't be entitled to the first payment of £326.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/cost-of-living-payment

Criteria for the next payment of £324 in the Autumn hasn't been announced yet so you maybe entitled to that.

sammyjammy

As you received no Universal credit during the assessment period that ended within the required dates you will not receive the first payment.  Your payment for assessment ending 9th June is outside the qualifying period

poppy12345

I still don't understand why so many people get confused, they couldn't be more clearer with the guidance.

jonny363

Thanks all makes sense now. I was blinkered to the obvious END DATE was just thinking of the whole period. Cheers all 

Adrian_T_B

poppy12345 said:

I still don't understand why so many people get confused, they couldn't be more clearer with the guidance.

Hi. I'll explain, coz I'm one of the confused ones 

I found the "assessment period ending" part confusing, coz I had no idea what it meant. What assessment period? How long is the assessment period? From what I now understand it to be, it's the month period between payments. So, am I correct in saying that people that got payed on the 27th March (ish) is the beginning of their assessment period up to the 26th April and then it just moves on a day for others who get payed on each following day up to 25th May?

My last £0 payment was 19th Nov 2021, so I was ondering if that fell in to the assessment period. I'm still at the figuring it out stage and looking for some clarity. If you could confirm or correct me, I would be really grateful.

poppy12345

Adrian_T_B said:

poppy12345 said:

I still don't understand why so many people get confused, they couldn't be more clearer with the guidance.

Hi. I'll explain, coz I'm one of the confused ones 

I found the "assessment period ending" part confusing, coz I had no idea what it meant. What assessment period? How long is the assessment period? From what I now understand it to be, it's the month period between payments.

Assessment periods last 1 calendar month and start on the date you first claimed. You will then have an assessment period each month and you'll receive your payment 7 days after that assessment period ends. For example if someone claimed UC on 18th of the month, their AP would be 18th - 17th of the month and payment would be on 24th of every month.

Adrian_T_B said:

poppy12345 said:

I still don't understand why so many people get confused, they couldn't be more clearer with the guidance.

 So, am I correct in saying that people that got payed on the 27th March (ish) is the beginning of their assessment period up to the 26th April and then it just moves on a day for others who get payed on each following day up to 25th May?

No, your payment date is not the start of your assessment period. As advised above your payment date would be 7 days after your previous assessment period ended.

To get the first Cost of Living Payment of £326, you must have been entitled to a payment (or later found to be entitled to a payment) of Universal Credit for an assessment period that ended in the period 26 April 2022 to 25 May 2022. This means if your assessment period ending within this time and you had a payment then you'll be entitled to the first payment.

Adrian_T_B said:

poppy12345 said:

I still don't understand why so many people get confused, they couldn't be more clearer with the guidance.

My last £0 payment was 19th Nov 2021, so I was ondering if that fell in to the assessment period. I'm still at the figuring it out stage and looking for some clarity. If you could confirm or correct me, I would be really grateful.

If your payment date is 19th of every month, your assessment periods will be 13th to 12th of every month. If you received or were entitled to a payment on 19th May 2022 then you'll be entitled to the first payment of £326.

Adrian_T_B

poppy12345 said:

Adrian_T_B said:

poppy12345 said:

I still don't understand why so many people get confused, they couldn't be more clearer with the guidance.

Hi. I'll explain, coz I'm one of the confused ones 

I found the "assessment period ending" part confusing, coz I had no idea what it meant. What assessment period? How long is the assessment period? From what I now understand it to be, it's the month period between payments.

Assessment periods last 1 calendar month and start on the date you first claimed. You will then have an assessment period each month and you'll receive your payment 7 days after that assessment period ends. For example if someone claimed UC on 18th of the month, their AP would be 18th - 17th of the month and payment would be on 24th of every month.

Adrian_T_B said:

poppy12345 said:

I still don't understand why so many people get confused, they couldn't be more clearer with the guidance.

 So, am I correct in saying that people that got payed on the 27th March (ish) is the beginning of their assessment period up to the 26th April and then it just moves on a day for others who get payed on each following day up to 25th May?

No, your payment date is not the start of your assessment period. As advised above your payment date would be 7 days after your previous assessment period ended.

To get the first Cost of Living Payment of £326, you must have been entitled to a payment (or later found to be entitled to a payment) of Universal Credit for an assessment period that ended in the period 26 April 2022 to 25 May 2022. This means if your assessment period ending within this time and you had a payment then you'll be entitled to the first payment.

Adrian_T_B said:

poppy12345 said:

I still don't understand why so many people get confused, they couldn't be more clearer with the guidance.

My last £0 payment was 19th Nov 2021, so I was ondering if that fell in to the assessment period. I'm still at the figuring it out stage and looking for some clarity. If you could confirm or correct me, I would be really grateful.

If your payment date is 19th of every month, your assessment periods will be 13th to 12th of every month. If you received or were entitled to a payment on 19th May 2022 then you'll be entitled to the first payment of £326.

Gotcha. Thanks Poppy. You spelled it out beautifully there. Very much appreciated.

Dandytf

Does AP 's include any periods before full rate UC payments started, I had some initial part payments in COL periods. thanks

calcotti

Dandytf said:

Does AP 's include any periods before full rate UC payments started, I had some initial part payments in COL periods. thanks

If you were entitled to any UC in the relevant AP then you qualify for the CoL payment. It doesn't matter how much the UC was.