Easter is a time of year many of us look forward to, whether we recognise the religious holiday or not. This is because, unusually, we’re given two bank holidays right next to each other – one on Good Friday and the other on Easter Monday. This year, these bank holidays fall on Friday 25th March and Monday 28th March, close to the end of the month.
Whilst having a four-day weekend is exciting, especially around this time of year as spring arrives and the weather improves (we hope!), it can be worrying for those who rely on benefit payments from the government. As banks close on bank holidays and no payments are traditionally made on these days, those expecting payments to come through may need to double-think their budgeting around this time.
Child benefit, housing benefit, tax credits and others are an important support for many households across the UK, so it’s important that everyone in receipt of benefits understands exactly when they will be paid. For the most part, the payments are arranged so that they’ll come in before the bank holidays, rather than afterwards, ensuring that individuals and families are not left with extra days between payments.
If your benefits are due on Friday 25th March, they’ll be paid into your account on Thursday 24th March.
If your benefits are due on Monday 28th March, they’ll also be paid into your account on Thursday 24th March.
PLEASE NOTE: If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, some payments in some areas may be paid at a later date, meaning that there will be more days between payments than usual. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, please check with your local benefits office to find out when your payments are due.
The banks themselves will be closed on the Friday and the Monday bank holidays, but some branches which have Saturday opening hours will still be opening as normal on Saturday 26th March. If you have Direct Debits or similar payments due to come out of your account on the Monday 28th March, these will be taken on Tuesday 29th March instead. This Tuesday after the double bank holiday is traditionally the busiest banking day of the whole year, so if you have to visit your local bank branch for any reason, you may want to wait until later in the week if you can. Online banking services will not be affected by the bank holiday however, and you can still manage transactions as normal online.
When planning for a change like this, it’s important to work out exactly how much you’ll have available and when you’ll next be paid, so that you can make sure your money will last. If you have payments coming out of your account around Easter, it may be worth calling the company or individual involved to double check when this is going to happen. The more you know, the better prepared you can be.