Universal Credit, PIP, and other benefit claimants may find their payments affected by bank holidays this week and later in May.

Both May 6 and May 27 are bank holidays, meaning payments from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) won’t be made on these days.

If you are due to receive a DWP benefit payment on either day, you may find you receive it early.

If your payment is due on May 6, you will receive it on May 3, while payments due on May 27 will be sent on May 24.

If you’re payment is due on a different day, it will arrive in your account as normal and the amount you are due to be paid will remain the same.

While being paid earlier sounds like a positive, the money will also have to last you longer, as payment dates will return to normal following the two May bank holidays.

These are the benefits that may be affected by the Easter bank holiday weekend:

DWP Universal Credit holiday warning

Those in receipt of Universal Credit are being alerted that they must inform the DWP if they are planning to travel abroad this year.

Dorset Echo:

Government advice to claimants outlines what changes people receiving Universal Credit must tell the DWP about.

Failing to alert the DWP of key changes to your circumstances could lead to Universal Credit claimants losing their benefit entitlement and having payments either paused or stopped altogether.

Included in the changes that must be reported is leaving the country, or planning to leave the country.

Even if you are leaving for an extended holiday rather than a permanent move, it is a change you must alert the DWP of.

Government advice says: “If you go abroad, you can continue to get Universal Credit for one month.

“You must:

  • be eligible for Universal Credit when you’re going abroad
  • remain eligible for it while you’re abroad
  • tell your work coach that you’re going

“You cannot get Universal Credit if you’re moving abroad permanently.

“You cannot apply for Universal Credit if you’re already abroad.”

In some instances, you will be able to receive Universal Credit while abroad for up to six months.

They include:

  • you go abroad for medical treatment
  • you go abroad for a period of recovery that’s been approved by a medical professional (also known as ‘approved convalescence’)
  • your partner or child is going abroad for medical treatment or ‘approved convalescence’ and you’re going with them

If you are planning a trip, you can inform the DWP on 0800 121 4433 to report a change of circumstances.