DECEMBER is often the most expensive month of the year for many families.
Whether it’s having the heating on higher because the temperature has dropped or the cost of Christmas festivities, it’s no surprise that many Brits are feeling the pinch.
That means it’s more important than ever to know about key money dates and changes that could impact your family finances.
And there’s plenty going on in December, from the end of the Lloyds switching bonus, and HSBC ramping up charges on one of its key current accounts, to the DWP Christmas bonus and the last date for pensioners to apply to get the Winter Fuel Payment.
We’ve rounded up all the key changes you should be aware of and explained everything you need to know and what you need to do for each.
Each year, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) gives people on certain benefits a Christmas bonus.
Worth £10, the free cash usually lands in bank accounts in the first week of December, however, the DWP says it could be any time before January 1st at the latest.
You don’t need to do anything to claim the money, it should be paid automatically, but if you’ve not received it by January 1 and you should have, ring the benefits office.
It may show up as ‘DWP XB’ on your bank statement.
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 usually the first full week of December.
You also need to get at least one of the following benefits:
Cold Weather Payments are designed to help with the cost of heating when the weather plummets.
You get £25 for each seven-day period where the average
weather in your area is recorded as below 0 degrees Celsius.
The payments are available for each qualifying week from November 1 to March 31.
To get the money, you need to get certain benefits including Pension Credit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Universal Credit, and Support for Mortgage Interest.
You can read the full eligibility criteria on the DWP website here.
You don’t need to apply for the payments, and money should come to you automatically.
If you’re expecting payments and haven’t received them, you should
tell the Pension Service or Jobcentre Plus.
If you get Universal credit, you can also make a note on your journal or ring the Universal Credit helpline.
The Warm Home Discount is a one-off payment of £150 to help with the cost of energy bills in winter.
If you’re eligible for the money, it is discounted from your
energy bills rather than being paid to you directly.
Not every supplier is signed up to the scheme, so you should check with your provider.
If yours doesn’t offer the discount, you might want to consider switching so you can get the money off.
There are two main groups of people who could qualify, those who get the ‘guarantee element’ of Pension Credit, and people on a low income.
If you get Pension Credit and your name is on the bill, the discount should be applied automatically (as long as your provider is signed up).
You should receive a letter between October and January 2025, which will either tell you that you’re eligible, or ask you for more information to find out if you are.
If you’re asked to supply more information, you need to respond by February 28, 2025.
Contact the Warm Home Discount Scheme on 0800 030 9322 if you do not get the letter by early January 2025 and you think you should have.
You could also qualify if you’re on a low income and get certain benefits.
The key ones that qualify are:
You might also qualify if your household income falls below a certain threshold and you get either Child Tax Credit or Working Tax Credit.
Just like people on Pension Credit, you might get a letter asking for more information to decide if you’re eligible, which you must respond to by February 28.
All discounts should be applied to bills before March 31, 2025.
Nationwide is hiking prices on its popular Flex Plus accounts from December 1.
That means that customers will have to pay £18 a month or £216 a year – a £60 annual increase.
The account does come with lots of features, including worldwide family travel insurance, mobile phone insurance and European breakdown cover.
For customers who get a lot of use out of those added extras, it might still be cheaper than buying the insurances separately and having a free bank account.
But you could also consider switching to the Virgin M account, which costs just £12.50 a month for similar levels of cover.
Read our guide to the changes and the other packaged accounts that are available here.
Switching your current account to Lloyds can net you a tasty £200 as long as you do it before December 10.
To get the cash, you need to switch to one of Lloyd’s paid accounts: Club Lloyds, Club Lloyds Silver, or Club Lloyds Platinum.
Each comes at a different price point and with different features, but you can get the fees refunded on the Club Lloyds account if you pay in at least £2,000 a month.
Features for the more expensive accounts include things like gadget and travel insurance.
Many of us are still struggling with the high cost of living - but there's help you can get.
New or expectant parents can get up to £442 a year to spend on food through Healthy Start scheme.
Some new parents can get £500 via the Sure Start Maternity Grant. The money is designed to help you cover the costs of having a child.
Councils also offer support through the welfare assistance schemes, to help cover the costs of essentials, from buying new furniture to food vouchers.
The amount you can get varies but an investigation by The Sun found that hard-up Brits can apply for help worth up to £1,000.
Discretionary Housing Payment is a pot of money handed out by councils to those struggling to keep a roof over their heads.
A scheme is available for those who find themselves unable to cover housing costs, though the exact amount varies as each local authority dishes out the cash on a case-by-case basis.
Many energy forms offer grants to help cash-tight customers. The exact amount varies depending on your supplier and you circumstances, but could be as much a £2,000.
The next inflation update from the Consumer Prices Index will be released on December 18.
This data is released monthly, and shows how the costs of living
increases over time.
It is calculated by tracking the price of an average basket of
consumer goods.
In October, inflation rose to 2.3%, which is above the Bank of England’s 2% target.
It’s one factor that influences whether the bank cuts interest rates or not, which impacts things like credit card interest rates and the cost of mortgages.
The BOE has said that it expects inflation to rise to around 2.75% towards the end of this year before falling again.
Experts say that the increases are largely due to a
surge in energy costs.
The Bank of England will make its next base rate decision on December 19, after the inflation figures are released.
The base rate is important, because it’s the rate that the BoE charges banks and building societies for loans.
It also strongly influences the rates that banks set for their own lending, such as credit cards, personal loans, and mortgages.
When the base rate rises, the cost of borrowing for UK consumers also typically increases.
This might happen automatically, if you’re on a tracker product that is pegged to a rate, but it often also impacts the fixed rates that are available when your current deal ends.
Given heightened inflation, many experts are saying that cuts
from the current base rate of 4.75% are unlikely.
The Winter Fuel Payment is money provided by the government to help older people pay for heating in the winter.
This payment is especially helpful for pensioners who
often have a fixed income and might find it hard to keep up with rising energy bills.
Depending on their situation, eligible people can get up to £300 to help cover their costs.
However, this year the government changed the rules to make the Winter Fuel Payment a means-tested benefit.
As a result, millions of pensioners who used to get
the payment may not receive it now unless they meet the new requirements.
For most people, the deadline to apply for a qualifying benefit to get the WFP has passed, with one key exception.
Because Pension Credit can be backdated for up to
three months, applying now means that you’d still be able to qualify for the extra cash.
Pensioners who aren’t already receiving a qualifying benefit need to apply for Pension Credit by December 21, 2024, to get the Winter Fuel Payment this year.
You can do this by filling out an application online on the government’s website, or over the phone by calling the Pension Service helpline.
You’ll need your National Insurance number, details about your income and savings, and your bank account information for payment.
Pension Credit, which is worth up to £3,900 a year also acts as a gateway to other important benefits including help with housing costs, council tax reductions and NHS
treatment costs.
Most benefits and tax credits payments will be going out as usual in December, unless your typical payment date falls on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day.
In these cases, you’ll get your money a day early on either December 24 or 25.
YOU can use a benefits calculator to help check that you are not missing out on money you are entitled to
Charity Turn2Us’ benefits calculator works out what you could get.
Entitledto’s free calculator determines whether you qualify for various benefits, tax credit and Universal Credit.
MoneySavingExpert.com and charity StepChange both have benefits tools powered by Entitledto’s data.
You can use Policy in Practice’s calculator to determine which benefits you could receive and how much cash you’ll have left over each month after paying for housing costs.
Your exact entitlement will only be clear when you make a claim, but calculators can indicate what you might be eligible for.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.
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