The DWP has been warned it needs to halt “aggressive and punitive” moves to recover benefit overpayments from claimants, with the furore dubbed “just like” the Carer’s Allowance scandal
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has received a stern warning about reclaiming funds from benefit recipients it has overcompensated. The DWP has been warned that the uproar is strikingly similar to last year’s Carer’s Allowance debacle. In the UK, approximately 1.1 million individuals are indebted to the DWP due to excess benefit payments.
Typically, an overpayment is flagged by a daunting letter or an unexpected update in a universal credit account stating: “You have been paid more universal credit than you are entitled to. This will now be taken back.”
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Upon discovering these overpayment blunders, which stem from the DWP’s own errors, the department may resort to “sudden and severe” measures to recoup the funds, as highlighted by the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, reports Birmingham Live.
These methods include “aggressive and punitive” debt recovery strategies. Helen Undy, chief executive of MMHPI, criticised the state’s approach, saying: “It cannot be right that the state is lagging far behind the standards that consumer creditors have to meet in treating people fairly and with respect if they fall behind on payments.”
One affected individual shared their struggles with MMHPI: “Having money deducted from my benefits has made it difficult for me to make ends meet,” and added: “Some days I have been not eating because I can’t afford to, which is leaving my mental health in tatters.”
“When people are paid more in universal credit than they are entitled to, it’s often through no fault of their own, and sometimes the first they know of it is when the government takes sudden and brutal steps to claw those payments back,” said Undy.
“Many people we work with are already running out of money for food before the end of the month. Suddenly taking £60 from what they have left plunges them into further financial hardship and needless distress.
“The government has pledged to overhaul how it reclaims carers’ allowance. Now it needs to do the same for how it collects universal credit overpayments,” Undy stated.
“Above all, that means proactively giving people a real chance to negotiate a payment plan that they can actually afford, instead of just taking money out of people’s income with barely any warning.”
