Millions of people claiming Universal Credit will have their benefits investigated by the government, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has said. The DWP is carrying out a Targeted Case Review initiative.
The checks will see if claimants are really entitled to benefit support from the government and, if so, if they are getting the right amount, BirminghamLive reports. Approximately 5.8 million people are currently receiving the benefit, which is awarded to hose who are unemployed, too ill to work, or who do have a job but have a low income, high rent or disabled children.
Recipients also qualified for £650 in cost of living payments in 2022 and will get a further £900 in 2023, with the first instalment of £301 paid out between April 25 and May 17. It comes after Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Jonathan Ashworth asked the government what it was doing to tackle UC underpayments.
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Tom Pursglove, the DWP's Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work, said the department was dedicated to identifying and clearing up errors as quickly as possible. This could identify people being paid too little as well as those getting too much, or other who may not be entitled to the payment.
Mr Pursglove said in his written response this month: "DWP takes benefit correctness extremely seriously and where departmental errors are identified we act swiftly to correct and pay any arrears due. The Government is fully committed to ensuring that historical errors made by successive governments are addressed as quickly as possible and where these are identified, ensure that appropriate action is taken to rectify the claim.
"The department's Quality Framework means we constantly check the accuracy of agents' work, which helps identify any additional training requirements. It also means we can update training material and instructions as required. Alongside the department’s quality checking regime, our Targeted Case Review initiative will review two million UC (Universal Credit) cases over the next five years, checking entitlement and helping ensure people are receiving the right amount of benefit."
Last July, it was reported the DWP had revisited UC claims made during the pandemic when procedure was relaxed because job centers were closed and face-to-face appointments were impossible. After re-examining 1.1 million Universal Credit awards, it found 125,000 had an "element of incorrectness" and some people were asked to pay back their benefits.
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