Universal Credit claimants warned benefit payment date could change next month

UNIVERSAL Credit claimants could get their benefits on a different day next month.

The Easter bank holiday means your usual payment date might change in April.

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Benefit payments aren't made on bank holidays, and instead claimants get their money on the previous working day.

The Easter bank holiday is in April this year, with Good Friday falling on April 15 and Easter Monday on April 18.

That means that if your usual Universal Credit payment date is on the 15th, 16th, 17th or 18th of the month, you should expect to be paid the Thursday before, on April 14.

You don't need to do anything extra to claim the benefit as the change will be applied automatically.

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If your payment falls outside of these dates, you shouldn't expect any changes at all. 

The amount you're paid won't be affected by the bank holiday.

It's not just Universal Credit payment dates that are different when there's a bank holiday.

Other benefit payments are also made a day earlier on bank holiday weekends.

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That includes employment support allowance, jobseeker's allowance, carer's allowance, pension credit, personal independence payments and attendance allowance.

Contact the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) directly if you don't receive your payment one working day before the bank holiday.

After Easter, the next bank holiday is May 2, which falls on a Monday.

This means claimants who get paid on this day of the month should instead get their benefit the Friday beforehand, which is April 29.

Scotland and Northern Ireland bank holidays differ to those in England, meaning UC payment dates will differ too.

Benefit payments are changing in April - find out how much more you'll get from next month.

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If you claim Universal Credit, you might be eligible for ten freebies worth up to £5,848.

There are other changes scheduled for the coming months so make sure you've got the dates in the diary.