The Government is under growing pressure to ease off on reclaiming overpaid Universal Credit as the cost of living crisis puts family budgets under increased pressure.
Almost 15,000 Universal Credit claimants say the Government is wrongly asking them to repay some of their benefits, and shadow work and pensions secretary Jonathan Ashworth has branded the action as 'shameful'. Usual face-to-face identity verification for Universal Credit claimants was paused at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) is now checking to see if any claimants have been paid too much. Some people are being ordered to repay cash, with around 125,000 told they should not have had any Universal Credit at all.
Many claimants allege they are being wrongly asked to repay some of their benefits because they missed a message or phone call from the DWP. Mr Ashworth has joined members of the SNP in criticising the department's actions in pursuing the poorest families as they struggle to make ends meet in the wake of huge hikes in energy costs, food bills and fuel costs. SNP MP Chris Stephens last month called for the Government to accept the responsibility for its own errors by scrapping the deduction of overpayments for which it has been at fault.
