More than a million people on Universal Credit have had their benefits cuts because they were previously overpaid in mistakes that could date back decades, reports Sky News. For many, the mistakes were made by HMRC and they had no idea anything was wrong.
Figures obtained by Sky News show that last year 1.3 million universal credit claimants had payments docked because of historical tax credit overpayments. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) deducted £373m from claimant.s
The problem relates to tax credits which have been paid since 1999 and are currently being phased out. HMRC says most of the overpayments are down to errors made by claimants or fraud.
One claimant having benefits reduced to pay off a £2,379 overpayment, Michelle Welch, said: "I'm just living day by day. I can't save. I can't go out… I could put that extra money on gas and electric."
She was told to pay back a debt due to a mistake made by HMRC in 2015 and 2016. That debt has now been cancelled.
Another woman was told to pay back £909.29 caused by a "computer glitch".
Sky News says 29,000 cases are now being handled by private debt collection agencies.
The Trussell Trust, which oversees food banks, said the vast majority of its visitors were in debt to the government.
