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MPs who lose their seats or step down at the next general election will receive double the current level of financial support.
Winding-down payments are designed to help departing MPs close their office and manage the departure of staff.
Following the previous general election MPs received two months’ wages after losing their seat. This time period has been expanded to four months for the next election, according to a ruling from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), which governs MPs' expenses.
The MPs who opt to stand down before an election period will noy be eligible for receiving the payments, the governing body said.
IPSA said the decision was made because the time to fully close down MPs' parliamentary and financial affairs was longer than the time covered.
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"Former MPs will continue to have access to their normal budgets (pro-rated) for that four-month period, and they will continue to employ staff as needed to assist them in winding up their affairs," the ruling said.
MPs who have served more than two years are entitled to separate "loss of office" payments with longer-serving MPs receiving larger amounts. The payments, similar to redundancy packages, will be available to all eligible MPs who leave Parliament at the next election.
The Commons Administration Committee earlier in February said loss-of-office payments should not be “contingent” on an MP closing down their office and instead should be treated more like a redundancy settlement.
According to the BBC, more than 70 MPs have so far announced they will not be standing for re-election.
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