It's been a brutal start to the new tax year, with April seeing a range of big increases in various household bills, with May offering little respite for those up against it and trying to keep in the black.

But amongst the fiscal gloom, there is some good news - with various freebies, discounts and handouts you can claim worth up to £2,550.26 per person this May.

Not all of these will be claimable by all people, but one household could theoretically claim all of them at once, if those living in the household they met the eligibility criteria for each of the DWP and HMRC benefits listed and the household was still within the Benefits Cap, which is set at just under £26,000 a year total for those in London, or roughly £23,000 outside the capital.

Universal Credit - up to £628.10 per month

Universal Credit is complicated, because it’s becoming a catch-all replacement for various other benefits. So someone who is claiming for help with childcare costs, for disabled children or as a carer can get more money on top of the standard rates.

All elements of Universal Credit saw their payments increased by 1.7% from April, thanks to automatic uprating of the benefit tied to Consumer Price Index inflation figures.

Looking just at the standard rates element, which is help for general living costs for those on low or no income, it means Universal Credit has risen from £311.68 per month for a single person aged under 25 to £316.90. For single people aged over 25, it rose from £393.45 to £400.14. For a couple under 25, it’s gone from £489.23 to £497.55 and for an over-25 couple, from £617.60 to £628.10.

A 50% cut to the health element of Universal Credit announced by Rachel Reeves will not take effect this tax year so will not be in place before April 2026.

State pension - up to £997 per month

Thanks to the - some would say, increasingly controversial - Triple Lock, state pensions have risen by far more than the CPI inflation rate by which Universal Credit is increased and some pensioners will get their first full increase this month (for example if they are paid monthly and got their last pension payment before April 7, when the rates were increased). The Triple Lock states that pensions must rise by one of three metrics: wage growth, inflation or a flat 2.5%, whichever is highest. Wage growth is highest this year, at 4.1%, so pensions will increase in line with that.

The full new state pension has gone up from £221.20 per week to £230.25, or £997.75 per month on average (the yearly figure, £11,973, divided by 12 months).

The old basic state pension, for those who retired before 2016, increased by the same percentage, but goes from £169.50 per week to £176.45.

Those on the old state pension can boost their pension payout by claiming Pension Credit, which went up to £227.10 per week from April, which is close to the full new state pension amount anyway.

Child benefit - £112.88

Child benefit also rose in line with other benefits. It went up from £25.60 per week to £26.05 per week. Because it's paid as a weekly rate but paid once each month, it averages out to £112.88 per month, or £1,354.60 for a full year.

The amount paid for each additional child also went up from £16.95 to £17.25 per week. There is no limit to the number of additional children, aside from the overall benefits cap, so you could get much more than £112.88 if you had a lot of children, claiming an extra £17.25 per week for each child.

PIP - £812 

Personal Independence Payments also went up in April, again by 1.7% as other benefits did (except Triple Locked pensions of course). The payments, sent to those who face difficulties with everyday living and mobility, are split into four categories: Standard daily living and enhanced daily living, standard mobility and enhanced mobility.

Standard daily living went up to £73.90 per week, up from £72.65, while the enhanced daily living went up from £108.55 to £110.40 per week.

Standard mobility went up from £28.70 per week to £29.20 per week, and enhanced mobility is up from £75.75 to £77.05.

In total, you could get £812.28 a month if you qualified for the enhanced element of both parts and the payments were averaged across 12 months.

Although the Chancellor has announced a consultation on changes to PIP, including stricter tests for eligibility, no such change has yet been put in place so rates and eligibility remain unaffected for April 2025.