If you’re due a benefit payment next month, your money may arrive on a different day due to the Christmas and New Year bank holidays
Around 24 million people claim Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) benefits and payments, including Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment and the state pension.
If you’re due a benefit payment next month, your money may arrive on a different day due to the Christmas and New Year bank holidays.
This means you may receive your benefit payment earlier than usual – and if you do get paid early, you will need to make your money last a little longer until your next payment.
If you are due a benefit payment on Thursday, December 25, or Friday, December 26, you will likely be paid on Wednesday, December 24 instead.
If you are due a benefit payment on Thursday, January 1, you will likely be paid on Wednesday, December 30 instead. Most benefits are paid by the DWP but Tax Credits and Child Benefit are paid by HMRC.
DWP and HMRC benefit payments December 2025
You can find a full list of some of the most common benefit payments below, plus how often they are normally paid:
- Attendance Allowance – Usually every four weeks
- Carer’s Allowance – Weekly in advance or every four weeks
- Child Benefit – Usually every four weeks, or weekly if you’re a single parent or you or your partner get certain benefits
- Disability Living Allowance – Usually every four weeks
- Employment and Support Allowance – Usually every two weeks
- Income Support – Usually every two weeks
- Jobseeker’s Allowance – Usually every two weeks
- Pension Credit – Usually every four weeks
- Personal Independence Payment – Usually every four weeks
- State Pension – Usually every four weeks
- Tax credits – Every four weeks or weekly
- Universal Credit – Every month
State pension payment dates December 2025
The day your state pension is paid depends on the last two digits of your National Insurance number – you can see which days correlate to which day of the week below. The state pension is normally paid every four weeks.
- 00 to 19: Monday
- 20 to 39: Tuesday
- 40 to 59: Wednesday
- 60 to 79: Thursday
- 80 to 99: Friday
What if I don’t get paid?
If you don’t get your benefit payment when you expected to, you should contact the relevant helpline. Do keep in mind these are unlikely to be open on bank holidays, so you may have to wait until the next working day.
Universal Credit:
- Call for free: 0800 328 9344
- Welsh speaking: 0800 012 1888
- Textphone: 0800 328 1344
Child benefit:
- Call for free: 0300 200 3100
- Outside UK: +44 161 210 3086
Tax credits:
- Call HMRC for free: 0345 300 3900
- From outside the UK: +44 2890 538 192
Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support, Incapacity Benefit and Employment and Support Allowance:
- Call for free: 0800 169 0310
- Textphone: 0800 169 0314
- Relay UK (if you cannot hear or speak on the phone): 18001 then 0800 169 0310
