DWP error left thousands of benefit claimants owing £2.6 billion.  

Many claimants on benefits such as Universal Credit have not been paid enough in benefits due to errors, with some facing claw backs from the DWP.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has underpaid benefits claimants £2.6 billion, so check to see if you are owed anything.

The DWP recently revealed that it underpaid 1.2 percent of benefits in the fiscal year ending April 2022.

However, while some claimants received insufficient benefits, others experienced the opposite problem.

In addition, the DWP overpaid benefits by £8.6 billion during the period, the highest rate ever.

Underpayments and overpayments occur as a result of errors made by the DWP, councils, HMRC, fraud, and claimants.

Housing Benefit was paid in excess of £950 million but underpaid by £210 million.

Pension Credit was overpaid by £350 million, but there were also underpayments of £100 million.

What happens if you are not receiving your benefits?

DWP will usually identify the issue and pay you what you are owed in a lump sum.

However, if you believe you have been underpaid and the DWP has not contacted you or corrected the problem, you can contact them.

If you believe you have not received the correct state pension amount, you should contact the DWP’s Pensions Service directly.

If you have been overpaid benefits, the DWP can recover the difference.

If the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has overpaid you for Universal Credit, the money will be deducted from your future payments.

Typically, this is in the range of a 15% to 25% reduction per month.

You can ask if you can avoid paying back the overpayment, but they don’t have to agree.

This is referred to as “exercising their discretion not to recover an overpayment” and is at the DWP’s discretion.

The DWP has been contacted for comment.