Christmas Bonus 2026: who gets the £10 payment
Qualifying benefits include State Pension, PIP and Carer’s Allowance, and a partner who gets none can sometimes still qualify, GOV.UK says.
The Christmas Bonus is a one-off, tax-free £10 payment made before Christmas to people who get certain benefits in a qualifying week, normally the first full week of December, according to GOV.UK.
No claim is needed. The money should arrive automatically, GOV.UK says, and it may show up on a bank statement as “DWP XB”. It does not affect other benefits.
Who qualifies?
A person must be present or “ordinarily resident” in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man or Gibraltar during the qualifying week, GOV.UK’s eligibility page says, and must get at least one of these benefits in the same week:
- Adult Disability Payment
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- Attendance Allowance
- Carer’s Allowance
- Carer Support Payment
- Child Disability Payment
- Constant Attendance Allowance, paid under Industrial Injuries or War Pensions schemes
- Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance, once the main phase of the benefit is entered after the first 13 weeks of claim
- Disability Living Allowance
- Incapacity Benefit at the long-term rate
- Industrial Death Benefit, for widows or widowers
- Mobility Supplement
- Pension Age Disability Payment
- Pension Credit, the guarantee element
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance (SADLA)
- Severe Disablement Allowance, transitionally protected
- State Pension, including Graduated Retirement Benefit
- Unemployability Supplement or Allowance, paid under Industrial Injuries or War Pensions schemes
- War Disablement Pension at State Pension age
- War Widow’s Pension
- Widowed Mother’s Allowance
- Widowed Parent’s Allowance
- Widow’s Pension
Anyone who has not claimed State Pension and is not entitled to one of the other qualifying benefits will not get a Christmas Bonus, GOV.UK says.
What about couples?
People who are married, in a civil partnership or living together as if they were, and who both get a qualifying benefit, each receive a payment. A partner who gets none may still qualify if both are over State Pension age by the end of the qualifying week and the partner was present or “ordinarily resident” in the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Gibraltar, a European Economic Area country or Switzerland that week.
One of two further conditions must also apply: the claimant is entitled to an increase of a qualifying benefit for the partner, or Pension Credit is the only qualifying benefit received.
When is it paid?
GOV.UK gives neither a payment date nor exact dates for the 2026 qualifying week, saying only that the bonus is paid before Christmas Day, 25 December 2026. Other benefits follow their own bank holiday rules, set out in our Christmas and New Year benefit payment dates guide.
What if it does not arrive?
A person who has not received an expected bonus by 1 January 2027 can contact the Jobcentre Plus office that deals with their payments, or the Pension Service, GOV.UK says. People who live in Northern Ireland should contact the Northern Ireland Pension Centre, GOV.UK’s contact page says.