The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has hit back at criticisms after sending £500 million in benefits to dead people. Just as worryingly, it has struggled to reclaim millions of pounds from overpaid state pensions and Pension Credit issued to claimants who have passed away.
According to records, approximately £512 million was mistakenly paid out since the fiscal year 2019-20. In the last year alone, £159 million of that amount remained unrecovered.
These findings emerged following a parliamentary question by Reform MP Rupert Lowe. Lowe revealed that over the past five years, £512 million in pensions were paid to deceased individuals, with only £255 million being reclaimed, reports Plymouth Live.
Speaking with The Telegraph, Lowe harshly criticised the current protocols, emphasising the absence of a legal requirement for families of beneficiaries to return the incorrectly allocated funds. He advocated for comprehensive reform, stating: “This is a shocking waste that underlines the contempt with which the Government treats taxpayers’ money. Why is it tolerated?”
Lowe is pushing for more stringent policies, questioning why the return of this money is not mandatory. He raised concerns about potential exploitation, adding: “This is wide open to fraud and abuse. It needs to be clamped down on as part of a wider Government effort to cut down on misspending.”
Mr Lowe emphasised the need for openness, adding: “We must keep pushing for transparent data to uncover the true extent of the waste”. Great Yarmouth’s Labour MP Andrew Western, parliamentary under-secretary at the DWP, said: “Direct Payments made into an account after the death of a customer represent only around 0.1% of total annual expenditure on pensions.”
Furthermore, he explained: “Although these are treated as non-recoverable and are not enforceable by law, we can request the money back as a voluntary payment. So far, we have recovered around half of the overpayments, to avoid this becoming a long-term cost to the taxpayer.”
In England and Wales, it is a requirement to register deaths within five days, and in Scotland, within eight days. Nonetheless, due to system inefficiencies, the DWP sometimes keeps paying out state pensions even after the recipient has passed away.