What are the Christmas pay dates for benefits and state pensions?

Festive season to bring slight disruption to usual schedule to accommodate bank holidays

Britain’s state pension is paid out every four weeks, always on weekdays (John Stillwell/PA)

As Christmas Day falls on a Sunday this year, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has had to make a slight adjustment to when state pensions and benefits will be paid out in December.

The timing of the festive seasons means that Boxing Day will fall on a Monday and the Christmas Day bank holiday on Tuesday.

Pensioners expecting their payment on Monday 26 December will receive it a few days earlier on Friday 23 December instead.

While that might be a welcome development for anyone planning to leave shopping to the last minute on Christmas Eve, it also means that your money will have to last longer into January.

State pensions are paid out every four weeks to the over-66s but never on a weekend, with the precise weekday indicated by the final two digits of a recipient’s National Insurance number.

Those likely to be disrupted by this year’s calendar will be anyone whose number ends in digits from 00 to 19 (denoting a Monday) or from 20 to 39 (Tuesday).

The same situation will apply to those in receipt of state benefits.

According to the DWP, those expecting payments for Universal Credit or other benefits on Monday 26 December or Tuesday 27 December will instead get theirs on Friday 23 December.

Those expecting a universal credit payment on Wednesday 28 December will get theirs on that date as normal but those expecting other benefits on that date will get theirs on the preceding Friday, as above.

Into the New Year, Monday 2 January is also be a bank holiday so anyone expecting their benefits on that date will get them on Friday 30 December instead.

Finally, those expecting theirs on Tuesday 3 January will get theirs on that date as usual with the exception of people living in Scotland, where benefits due to go out on that date will be paid on Friday 30 December instead.

You can find out more about the government’s additional cost of living support going out this December here.