Social Security Benefits: Debts

(asked on 2nd September 2022) - 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 to pause deductions from benefit payments which aim to recover a claimant's debts.


Answered by
David Rutley Portrait
David Rutley
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This question was answered on 13th September 2022

Whilst there are currently no plans to suspend recovery of benefit debts, DWP remains committed to working with anyone who is struggling with benefit debt repayments.

In April 2021, we reduced the cap on standard deductions to 25% of a claimant’s Universal Credit Standard Allowance. This followed an earlier reduction from 40% to 30% in October 2019.

Where a person feels they cannot afford the proposed rate of recovery, and the debt has not arisen as a result of fraud, they are encouraged to contact DWP’s Debt Management team to discuss a temporary reduction in their rate of repayment.

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