Thousands of benefits claimants could be in line for a backdated payout if it turns out they were underpaid housing benefit.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has identified around 22,500 people who could be affected by the blunder, which could date back to 2011. The DWP has already identified around 118,000 people with disabilities and health conditions who had their benefits slashed in error when they were moved from legacy incapacity benefits to Employment and Support Allowance ( ESA ).
A system error discovered in 2016 meant that some claimants receiving ESA, which is paid to those who are ill or disabled, were not being paid enough. It has since corrected the error and so far handed out backpay totalling £613m to those affected. ESA is currently worth up to £74.70 a week, and those affected were paid what they should have received in the first place.
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One woman affected got nearly £20k in backpay and also successfully won compensation for the error on top after taking her case to the ombudsman. And now the DWP has told local authorities to look at who could be owed backdated housing benefit payments for the period between 2011 and 2019.
The investigation is because those in receipt of ESA should get the maximum housing benefit, but anyone who didn't get the correct ESA could have missed out on housing benefit at the highest amount too. Councils will be looking at those potentially affected between now and the end of June.
This had originally been due to happen in 2020 but was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. A DWP spokesperson said: “As part of the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) underpayment exercise, we informed local authorities of any new and past awards of income-related ESA so that local authorities can consider the impacts on Housing Benefit and pay any arrears due.”
How to check if you're due any money
Since the ESA underpayment blunder was uncovered, the DWP has been contacting claimants, with the most serious cases, including terminally ill claimants, prioritised first. If you’re potentially due cash back, you should have heard by now, but if you haven’t been told that your case is being looked into, you can contact the DWP on 0800 169 0346 for more information.
The average payout from underpaid ESA in arrears is £5,000. But some on a severe disability premium could be owed £11,500 each and a “small number” could get around £20,000. Of the 118,000 so far identified as affected by the ESA underpayment error, around 22,500 of them could also be owed backpay from housing benefit too.
Some claimants affected by the ESA error were getting the maximum amount, so will not be owed money, but others are owed the difference between that and the amount they did get at the time. How much that is depends on your circumstances.
