New and existing Universal Credit claims under review for ‘incorrect payments'
Reasons your Universal Credit may be cut by DWP
More than £1 billion in incorrect Universal Credit payments have been blocked by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in a drive to stop people falling into financial difficulties. The milestone was reached after a programme to review payments was ramped up by the Labour Government when it first came into power last summer, with more than one million cases now looked at.
Overpayments can ultimately lead to financial difficulties for claimants by causing them to fall into debt. The 'Targeted Case Review' was introduced in 2022 to detect incorrect payments, with around 25,000 claims reviewed in the first year.
Since July 2024, DWP has nearly doubled the number of people working in its Universal Credit Targeted Case Review team to 6,000.
The Department said this significant increase in staff has boosted the number of existing claims reviewed to over one million, saving £1 billion in incorrect payments by detecting historic errors and preventing future overpayments that can result in debts accruing.
The number of claim reviews will continue to ramp up now the department has reached its staff target, with nearly 6,000 staff to review claims with forecasted savings of £13.6 billion by 2030.
Minister for Transformation, Andrew Western, said: 'This target could not have been reached without this significant boost to staffing numbers - meaning we now have forecasted savings of £13.6 billion by 2030.
'This is a vital programme not only ensuring overpayments are corrected but also makes certain people who are being underpaid receive the money they are entitled to.
'We will not tolerate fraud, error or waste and are committed to safeguard taxpayers' money so it can be invested in the public services we all deserve.'
What is a Targeted Case Review?
The 'Targeted Case Review' team reviews payments to prevent customers falling into or accumulating further debt, identify unreported changes in circumstances, correct claims retrospectively, and refer suspected cases of fraud for investigation.
Reviews verify claimants' eligibility for the benefits they receive by sending a notification to their online account to request proof of identity and other documentation.
In the Autumn Budget, the Labour Government committed to the continuation of Targeted Case Review activity for a further two years, with learnings used to prevent error from entering the welfare system in the first place.
The aim is to help provide a fair, high-quality service that ensures customers receive their full entitlement and avoid unnecessary debt.
These major milestones come as the UK Government outlines further plans to strengthen its ability to reduce fraud and error through the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill.
DWP said: 'This is alongside its work to support people into work and become less reliant on the benefit system to drive productivity and unlock growth as part of its Plan for Change.'
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The Sun
12 minutes ago
- The Sun
Dragon's Den star & gold medal-winning athlete took out £100k in fraud loans despite £75k show investment
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- Scottish Sun
Major update as 600,000 households owed up to £12k in PIP cash following errors – could you be owed cash?
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Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Dragons' Den entrepreneur used Covid business loans to buy £1.8m mansion
A business owner who secured investment on BBC's Dragons' Den illegally pocketed two Covid-19 business loans to buy a £1.8m mansion. Rick Beardsell, 46, who is also a world sprinting champion, fraudulently used £100,000 of taxpayers' cash to finance the purchase of a five-bedroom property in Prestbury, Cheshire. Beardsell, who secured a £75,000 investment from Dragons Tej Lalvani and Deborah Meaden for his protein shake bottle business ShakeSphere in 2017, had applied for the loans for his other business, Sports Creative, which sold sportswear, but put none of the money towards it. Under the loan rules, Beardsell was only entitled to one Bounce Back loan of a maximum £50,000. However, he fraudulently applied for two and inflated his annual turnover by up to 23 times. At Chester Crown Court, Beardsell - who won seven gold medals for GB in World Masters Athletics Championships - was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for two years, for two charges of fraud. Beardsell had appeared on Dragons' Den to get investment for his shaker bottle manufacture firm ShakeSphere. He claimed the support of Meaden and Lalvani subsequently helped him get sales of over 1 million shakers worldwide. Geoff Whealan, prosecuting, said Beardsell made fraudulent applications for Bounce Back Loans to HSBC in December 2020 and then to the NatWest in January 2021 for Sports Creative. He said: ''The defendant stated on the HSBC form that the turnover of Sports Creative was £485,000 and on the NatWest form said it was £320,000 - but unaudited financial statements showed turnover for the year end February 2020 was £20,622. The court heard the HSBC and NatWest money landed in Sports Creative's account in January 2021 but was then transferred to other bank accounts, including Beardsell's personal account. In September 2021, a sum of £431,160.80, which included the remaining bounce back loan funds, was transferred to a firm of solicitors for the purchase of a house. Mr Whelan said he had 'in effect' used the loan for the house purchase and added it was Beardsell's 'intention to use the bounce back loans for this purpose at the time he made the application for it'. Beardsell claimed he was advised the loan could be used for 'the coverage of overhead expenses or outstanding liabilities, as well as the investment in company assets or property' and that the funds transferred to his personal account 'constituted a director's loan'. His counsel Nichola Cafferkey said that a year prior to his loan application, Beardsell was diagnosed with an aggressive form of testicular cancer and that the offences were 'out of character'. She added: 'He has taken responsibility and repaid the money back. He knows that it's his own fault. He has brought shame on his family and brought shame on himself. Beardsell was also ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work and paid prosecution costs of £11,142.70. SportsCreative was wound up in 2022 but ShakeSphere which he runs with his wife is still operating successfully. Sentencing Judge Simon Berkson told him: ''You fraudulently lied and lied again in your applications for these loans. He said it was not a 'victimless crime', adding: 'People were in lock down, people were dying and people were very ill at the time when people required their public services. You used fraudulently obtained public funds for your own use, depriving honest people of the scheme's funds when the country was in crisis.'
