The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has reportedly paid out a whooping £500 million to dead people in a shocking revelation by the government. The department is unable to recover millions of pounds in overpaid state pension and Pension Credit payments from the families, it has been warned.
Since 2019-20, approximately £512 million has been overpaid in State Pension and Pension Credit to deceased claimants, with an astonishing £159 million issued to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in the past year alone.
Following a Parliamentary Question asked by Reform MP Rupert Lowe, it was finally revealed that £512m in pension payments was delivered to deceased claimants in the last five years, with only £255m being returned.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Mr Lowe called on the system to be overhauled due to families of claimants having no current legal obligation to give the money back to the DWP.
He explained: “This is a shocking waste that underlines the contempt with which the Government treats taxpayers’ money. Why is it tolerated?
“Why is the return of this money not enforceable? This is wide open to fraud and abuse. It needs to be clamped down on as part of a wider Government effort to slash down on misspending.
“We must keep pushing for transparent data to uncover the true extent of the waste.”
In response to the Great Yarmouth MP’s call for reform, DWP’s parliamentary under-secretary Andrew Western said: “Direct Payments made into an account after the death of a customer represent only around 0.1% of total annual expenditure on pensions.
“Although these are treated as non-recoverable and are not enforceable by law, we can request the money back as a voluntary payment. So far, we have recovered around half of the overpayments, to avoid this becoming a long-term cost to the taxpayer.”
Under current law, deaths in England and Wales must be reported within five days of the person’s death or the discovery of their body, and within eight days in Scotland.
However, despite these requirements, a claimant’s final state pension payment from the DWP often includes amounts covering days beyond their date of death.
