Full list of DWP benefits set for bonus payment this December

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will soon be distributing its annual Christmas bonus to Brits claiming certain benefits. The DWP's Christmas bonus, first introduced in 1972, has been paid to benefit households each year to assist with the additional costs of the festive season.

The payment currently stands at £10 and has remained so since its inception. The Christmas bonus was only increased once by the Labour government in 2008, temporarily raising it to £70 to support households claiming benefits during the financial crash.

This tax-free payment is not given to all benefit claimants, but only to households claiming one of 22 qualifying benefits. However, those claiming Universal Credit, a group that includes 6.7 million people, do not qualify.

READ NEXT:Birmingham Updates founder jailed as campaign of gaslighting, control and 'web of lies' uncovered

Stay up to date with the very latest from your Birmingham or West Midlands street or neighbourhood with our Birmingham News Email Updates

The eligible benefits include: Adult disability payment, Armed Forces independence payment, Attendance allowance, Carer's allowance, 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 credit (the guarantee element), Personal independence payment (PIP), State pension (including graduated retirement benefit).

The DWP outlined that those eligible for the Christmas bonus include recipients of several allowances, such as Severe Disablement Allowance (transitionally protected), Unemployability Supplement or Allowance from industrial injuries or war pensions schemes, War Disablement Pension post-state pension age, War Widow's Pension, Widowed Mother's Allowance, Widowed Parent's Allowance, and the general Widow's Pension. To receive the payment, claimants must be in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, or Gibraltar, either living there or considered "ordinarily resident", reports the Mirror.

The DWP notes that individuals who have deferred claiming their State Pension, and aren't eligible for another qualifying benefit, won't receive the bonus. However, couples each receiving a qualifying benefit will each get a bonus payment.

A partner or civil partner may still be eligible even if they don't directly qualify, providing they're over State Pension age by the end of the qualifying week and were also in one of the specified regions during that time. Additionally, entitlement to an increase in benefit for a partner or solely drawing Pension Credit could allow for the bonus.

To be eligible for the bonus, you must be claiming your benefits during the qualifying week. This is typically the first full week of December - however, the DWP has not yet confirmed the date.

If it falls on the first week of December, it will be between Monday, December 2 and Sunday, December 8.