Universal Credit

(asked on 1st May 2018) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her policy that weekly repayments which are deducted from universal credit for past overpayments should be limited to 40 per cent of the standard allowance.


Answered by
Kit Malthouse Portrait
Kit Malthouse
This question was answered on 8th May 2018

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has a duty to protect public funds and an obligation to ensure that, where it is permitted under social security legislation, any overpayment of benefit resulting from claimant error, fraud, or in the case of Universal Credit, official error, is recovered.

For fraud overpayments, the maximum deduction rate is 40% of the appropriate Universal Credit standard allowance.

In all other cases, the maximum deduction rate is 15% of the appropriate Universal Credit standard allowance.

However, these are maximum rates and if an individual has multiple debts, for example utility or rent arrears, we will look to recover ‘in parallel’ in line with the overall priority order of deductions.

If a claimant is having difficulty repaying a benefit overpayment they can request a reconsideration of the amount that is being taken. Any reduction will be based on the individual circumstances of the claimant rather than the amount of the overpayment, which helps to ensure that a sustainable repayment plan based on affordability is put in place.

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