DWP Christmas Bonus payment 2025: Who is eligible and when will money arrive?
Thousands of benefit claimants will receive a Christmas bonus from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) this winter.
The £10 annual payment is made automatically before Christmas, but only to eligible benefit recipients. These include carer’s allowance, personal independence payment (PIP) and pension credit. However, those claiming universal credit as a stand-alone benefit are not eligible.
The government’s guidance states: “The Christmas Bonus is a one-off tax-free payment of £10 made before Christmas and paid to people who claim certain benefits in the qualifying week.
“This is normally the first full week of December. You don’t need to file a claim; you should receive payment automatically.”
Payment usually arrives in bank accounts referencing ‘XB’ or ‘DWP XB’.
Eligible claimants must have received one of the following benefits in the first week of December to be eligible and also be “ordinarily resident” in the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Isle of Man or Gibraltar.
Eligible are recipients of any of the following:
- Adult Disability Payment
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- Attendance Allowance
- Carer’s Allowance
- Carer Support Payment
- Child Disability Payment
- Continuing Attendance Allowance (paid under Industrial Injuries or War Pension schemes)
- Contribution Based Employment and Support Allowance (on entering the main phase of benefit after the first 13 weeks of claim)
- Disability Living Allowance
- Disability Benefit at long-term rate
- Industrial Death Benefit (for widows or widowers)
- Mobility Supplement
- Retirement Age Disability Payment
- Pension Credit – element of guarantee
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance (SADLA)
- Severe Disability Allowance (temporarily protected)
- State Pension (including Progressive Retirement Benefit)
- Unemployment Benefit or Allowance (paid under Industrial Injuries or War Pension schemes)
- War Disability Pension at State Retirement Age
- War Widow’s Pension
- Widow Mother Allowance
- Survivor’s Allowance
- Widow’s Pension
Couples who are married, in a civil partnership or (in certain circumstances) living together will both receive a payment if they both receive one of these qualifying benefits.
There have been calls for the government to increase the bonus in recent years; The £10 denomination has remained unchanged since 1972. This means that after decades of inflation the bonus has lost over £100 in value. To date, no plans to change the payment level have been announced.
There are also a few important dates benefit claimants should be aware of around the Christmas season, which will change when payments are received.
This year, most DWP payments that would have fallen on Christmas Day (Thursday, 25 December) or Boxing Day (Friday, 26 December) must instead be paid on Christmas Eve (Wednesday, 24 December). This has also been the case in previous years but is subject to final approval, which the ministry usually announces in December.
