Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the amount of (a) jobseeker’s allowance, (b) universal credit, (c) personal independence payment and (d) disability living allowance to which claimants were entitled but did not claim in each year since 2010.

There are £2.4 billion of unclaimed legacy benefits not going to the people who need them, because they do not know that they are entitled to them or how to claim. Universal Credit makes sure that welfare payments reach those who need them most.

The information requested is not held by the Department for Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment and Disability Living Allowance.

The Department holds information on the amount of Jobseeker’s Allowance that claimants were entitled to but did not claim for the years 2009-2016. More recent data is not held.

Estimated amount of unclaimed JSA

Notes

• Amounts are shown in nominal terms (not adjusted for inflation)
• The figures in the brackets give the 95 per cent confidence intervals. This range around the central take-up estimate is calculated to show, with 95 per cent probability, the range within which the true value of take-up lies. This assumes that there is no non-sampling error such as incorrect reporting of amounts or under-coverage of the range of respondents.
• This information can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-201516