UC Overpayment

iklepig

Hello,

We have been overpaid UC - this is due to a DWP error and not the result of fraud or anything like that. 

As soon as I realised this, I asked UC to double check the amount due to be paid. They did this and revised it to the correct amount. Despite all this, they still paid the original amount (too much) into our bank account. Now they are contacting us wanting us to repay X amount per
month and it’ll take months for it to sort itself out. I really can’t deal with this stress and upset (that wasn’t even our fault).

My question is: do I HAVE to pay it back?

I'm not really interested in the ethics etc etc of paying/not paying, I would just like to know if there is a situation where I can argue that I shouldn’t have to pay it back. 

My argument is that this was not our fault - it was entirely an admin error at the DWP. I told them as soon as I thought it might be wrong and despite all this, they still paid too much to us. The DWP could have saved us stress if they’d just corrected it when they were told - they had time to do this before making the payment. The repayments are messing us about changing how much we’ll get for months on end - and this messing about isn’t our fault.  We have enough of problems with managing our UC account & managing money (doesn’t everyone in the pittance UC is), we’ve got debts we’re trying to deal with, we struggle with paperwork, the stress & strain on our mental health in trying to manage financially etc etc. They know our mental health is fragile already and being messed around makes things worse. Basically by the DWP messing up our payments, they’re causing more stress and complications

Are there situations where claimants don’t have to pay DWP admin errors back?

Thanks in advance

WelshPaul

You have to pay it back! Nothing you say or do will change that. They did the same to me, but I paid back the overpayment in full the day after I received it.

NedS

The Law was changed when UC was introduced allowing DWP to recover all overpayments regardless of who's fault it was. So yes, all overpayments including those due to official error are recoverable.

peteuk

Even with WTC any overpayment was recoverable because the argument is that the claimant should be checking the details are correct.  Like in this instance with UC the OP has noted this, advised them.  Best think the OP can do is stick the money into a seperate account and wait for UC to ask for it back.

Yamor

There is the possibility for an overpayment to be waived, however the bar for this is notoriously high, and would not seem to be reached in your case.

HillStreetBlues

NedS said:

The Law was changed when UC was introduced allowing DWP to recover all overpayments regardless of who's fault it was. So yes, all overpayments including those due to official error are recoverable.

Not totally true as Court ruled the DWP should wave overpayment in certain circumstances https://gcnchambers.co.uk/official-error-overpayment/
Buy as Yamor has stated it's a very high bar, and I agree not met in this case (but OP has nothing to lose from requesting it).

iklepig

HillStreetBlues said:

NedS said:

The Law was changed when UC was introduced allowing DWP to recover all overpayments regardless of who's fault it was. So yes, all overpayments including those due to official error are recoverable.

Not totally true as Court ruled the DWP should wave overpayment in certain circumstances https://gcnchambers.co.uk/official-error-overpayment/
Buy as Yamor has stated it's a very high bar, and I agree not met in this case (but OP has nothing to lose from requesting it).

Thank you for this - this is exactly the sort of information I had hoped someone on here might have. I have been told that the bar is now extremely high (higher than on legacy benefits?) but equally I don’t think I should just suck up the inconvenience and not fight it when I’ve done everything in my power to prevent an overpayment and I’ve been honest, upfront and timely in all my dealings. If they make these errors, are told of them and then just get the money back without a fight or loss/write-offs then I don’t see where there’s an incentive for them to be more careful to ensure accuracy in the future. 

I also acknowledge it’s probably a lost cause but still…

thanks for everyone’s advice - it really is appreciated. 

8dayweek

If the overpayment notice has been issued, you can contact Debt Management and pay it in a lump sum immediately - so no on-going impact on your future UC awards. In fact, you don’t even need to contact them - you can just pay it to them with your NINo as reference as per the letter. 

Agree with everyone above - the bar is very high and waivers are very rarely granted. 

I’ve worked specifically with vulnerable customer groups for at least the last 7 years (but overall almost 20 years in this field) and I’ve seen ONE and it took months of back and forth with lots of specific supporting evidence from their MH Team etc.

Spoonie_Turtle

Honestly it's probably less stressful to pay back the overpayment in one lump sum if you can.

Otherwise, the rate of deduction should stay the same for however many months they take it, so you can still budget.  (There may be an increase with the annual benefit uprating but the rest of your benefit would have increased too anyway.)

I understand the frustration, and the point that making all overpayments recoverable meaning they lack incentive to get things right is a real concern, but it really does sound like it would be more stressful to fight than to just repay it - which is the most likely outcome in the end anyway.

NedS

A FOI request in 2022 shows the number of waived cases of UC debt in the following years as:

2018/19: 10

2019/20: 8

2020/21: 10

2021/22: 23

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/universal_credit_deductions_data

The number of overpayments that are waived is statistically minuscule (in 2021/22, ~0.04% by value of total debt are waived, or 0.0038% of cases).

HillStreetBlues

NedS said:

A FOI request in 2022 shows the number of waived cases of UC debt in the following years as:

2018/19: 10

2019/20: 8

2020/21: 10

2021/22: 23

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/universal_credit_deductions_data

The number of overpayments that are waived is statistically minuscule (in 2021/22, ~0.04% by value of total debt are waived, or 0.0038% of cases).

Those were all before the court ruling (2023), when the presumption was overpayment could always be recovered.
Will be interesting what happens in future years.