Member News
By Ruth McKee - 21st January 2011
Tax payers are funding benefit overpayments of £1.1bn due to "customer error" in their claims, according to a report published today.
The National Audit Office slammed the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for failing to produce any "discernible decrease" in overpayments since the launch of a five year strategy to tackle error in 2007.
DWP was also responsible for underpayments totalling £800m in 2009/10, causing considerable hardship to many families.
The report estimated the average weekly underpayment for families on income support was £24, roughly 29 per cent of the average weekly payment.
Housing benefit was singled out for particularly poor performance which saw the department shell out £420m in overpayments in 2009/10 and underpaid low income families by £220m in the same year.
It said that the scale of overpayments and underpayments demonstrate a "clear imperative for improvement".
The spending watchdog pointed out that mistakes were hard to prevent and very difficult to detect adding that claimants were often confused about when they should update changes in their circumstances and who they should notify.
Blaming the complexity of the welfare system for the high level of errors, the head of the National Audit Office, Amyas Morse, said: "The benefits system is complicated and it is inevitable that mistakes occur.
"The DWP, therefore, faces a significant challenge in tackling error by claimants.
"The department has demonstrated a firm commitment to tackling administrative error, while its resolve to tackle customer error has so far been less evident.
"It now needs to bring its focus on customer error to the same level. The key to success in each area is a coherent strategy supported by good information on what works to deliver the best results."
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