DWP Easter payments 2023: benefit payment dates over bank holiday weekend, including Universal Credit

Benefits payments will be issued on different dates this month due to the Easter bank holiday
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Thousands of Universal Credit and other benefits claimants can expect to receive their payments on a different day than normal this month due to the Easter bank holiday.

Easter brings with it two bank holidays - Good Friday and Easter Monday - which fall on 7 and 10 April this year.

It means that benefits payments often have to be brought forward to compensate for the closure of banks, so claimants should be slightly earlier this month.

Benefits payments earlier in April due to the Easter bank holiday (Photo: Adobe)Benefits payments earlier in April due to the Easter bank holiday (Photo: Adobe)
Benefits payments earlier in April due to the Easter bank holiday (Photo: Adobe)

When will benefits be paid this Easter?

The government has confirmed that benefits payments due to be paid between Friday 7 April and Monday 10 April will instead be paid one day early. So claimants can expect payments to arrive on Thursday 6 April instead.

The earlier payment date will affect anyone who claims the following benefits from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP):

  • Universal Credit
  • Child Tax Credits
  • Working Tax Credits
  • Child Benefit
  • Employment Support Allowance (ESA)
  • Personal Independence Payments (PIP)
  • Jobseeker’s Allowance (Jsa)
  • Carer’s Allowance
  • Attendance Allowance 
  • Pension Credits

Benefits issued by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customers (HMRC) will also be paid earlier. Claimants expecting any of the following payments between 7 and 10 April will receive them automatically on 6 April instead:

  • Working Tax Credits
  • Child Tax Credits
  • Child Benefit
  • Guardian’s Allowance

When are the next bank holidays?

There are still several more bank holidays to come this year after the Easter weekend, with the next one to come on 1 May. Upcoming bank holidays - and benefits payments for these dates - in England and Wales include:

  • Monday 1 May – Early May bank holiday - payments due by 28 April
  • Monday 8 May – Bank holiday for the coronation of King Charles III - payments due by 5 May
  • Monday 29 May – Spring bank holiday - payments due by 26 May
  • Monday 28 August – Summer bank holiday - payments due by 26 May
  • Monday 25 December – Christmas Day - payments due between 25 and 27 December due by 22 December
  • Tuesday 26 December – Boxing Day - payments due between 25 and 27 December due by 22 December

Bank holidays in Scotland fall on the same days apart from the August bank holiday which falls on Monday 7 August. Scots also get a bank holiday for St Andrew’s Day on 30 November.

In Northern Ireland, the August bank holiday falls on the same day as England and Wales. There is also an annual bank holiday to celebrate the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne (Orangemen’s Day), which falls on Wednesday 12 July this year.

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