THOUSANDS of Universal Credit claimants are being forced to pay back benefits due to government mistakes.
Official figures from the Department for Work and Pensions reveal that in one year more than 370,000 Brits were overpaid in error.
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Those claimants have subsequently been chased for the extra cash being told they owe it back.
In order to pay back the “debt“, the DWP deducts a percentage from payments, resulting in less cash for already struggling households.
Between April 2020 and March 2021, there were 370,000 claimants who received overpayments classified as “official error” totalling £228,355,000.
And while you can request that the debt from these errors be wiped, only 10 waivers were granted in the same year, according to the DWP.
That’s what happened to a single mum of two disabled children, reports ITV News.
The woman, known only as “K” fought back against the government after it tried to force her to pay £8,623.20 in debt after she was overpaid Universal Credit in 2019.
K checked her payments with the government multiple times and each time they were confirmed to be correct.
After she was then chased by the DWP for the money it said she owed, K asked to have it waived and was denied – despite the DWP admitting the mistake.
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She told ITV: “I had provided everything that I needed and I felt that this was wrong, I felt it was an injustice.”
K took her case to court and ultimately, the Judge in the case agreed that K had done everything she could to inform the government of her change in circumstances and check that the payments were correct.
The Judge also agreed that the mum had met the criteria to have her debt wiped.
K is not the only one who could qualify to have the cash they owed due to official errors written off.
Official figures, obtained from the court judgment and by ITV News using a Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, show the DWP has been found to rarely waive debt in these circumstances.
In the year to March 2022, only 27 people had their debt caused by government mistakes waived, a total of £226,000 wiped.
In the financial year ending 2023, the DWP received 126 waiver requests for debts arising from official error overpayments, and granted 29, figures obtained by ITV show.
The Sun has contacted the DWP for comment.
If you think you are being ordered to pay for debt that was not your fault, there are steps you can take.
Below we explain what options are available to you and who can help.
What happens if I’m asked to repay benefits?
If you are asked to make a repayment, this will be done in different ways, Turn2Us says:
- Making deductions from your benefit payments
- Taking it out of benefits that are owed to you
- Taking amounts directly out of your wages
- Getting a court order for debt recovery
- The amount taken will be dependent on how much you owe and if you’re still receiving benefits.
You can ask the DWP to reduce the amount you are paying back each month.
The DWP can take you to court if you don’t repay.
If you can’t afford to repay you can ask Citizen’s Advice for help.
If you don’t think you’ve been overpaid and the request for repayment is an error, you can ask for the DWP to look at it again.
Turn2Us says a letter about overpayments should include the following information:
- How much you were overpaid each week
- For what period you were overpaid
- The total that has been overpaid
You can get advice and support for appealing a decision for free from organisations like Citizens Advice and Benefits and Work.
You should keep your contact details up to date so the DWP can get hold of you and you don’t miss any demands.
It’s also important to respond to any calls or emails from the DWP as soon as possible, or there’s a risk your benefit payments could be stopped or changed.
Citizen’s Advice benefits expert Lawrence Barratt previously told The Sun: “If you applied for Universal Credit in the early stages of the pandemic then the DWP may contact you for some additional information to support your claim.”
Meanwhile, more than one million households on Universal Credit have had their payments slashed due to tax errors.
Plus, if you’re struggling here are all the schemes available that could help.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing [email protected]
