Universal Credit crackdown: Thousands of Brits to be slapped with fines for fiddling their benefits
THOUSANDS of Brits will be slapped with fines for fiddling their benefits under a fresh Universal Credit crackdown.
A new crack squad team of experts at the Department for Work and Pensions will get a raft of tough new powers to make arrests, search homes and seize evidence as part of a major new drive to clamp down on fake claims.
Two thousand specialists will probe more than two million people on the flagship benefits system over the next five years to check if their claims are right.
A new plan aims to deter criminals and root out fraud in the system, which is thought to have soared during Covid.
Investigators will be able to probe thousands of bank accounts to find out if people have too much money in savings or are living abroad - which would make them ineligible for extra help from the state.
A new civil penalty will be introduced for cases of lower level fraud which didn't make it to court.
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It could see Brits get fined a percentage of the amount they have incorrectly claimed.
DWP chief Therese Coffey hopes the move will save taxpayers £2billion over the next two years.
She will pump in another £600million of cash to bolster the counter-fraud hotline for Brits to shop in their neighbours if they reckon they are trying to pull a fast one.
She said last night: “The welfare system is there to help the most vulnerable.
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"It is not a cash machine for callous criminals and it’s vital that the government ensures money is well spent.
"Thousands of trained specialists, combined with targeted new tools and powers, will mean we can keep up with fraud in today’s digital age and prevent, detect and deter those who would try to cheat the system.”
Minister for Government Efficiency, Jacob Rees-Mogg added: "Taxpayers must have confidence that money spent on welfare reaches those who really need it."
Any change to rules on how the DWP can investigate benefit fraud would need to be put into law first, something which would take time to implement.
Rules for claiming benefits like having face-to-face meetings were relaxed during the pandemic due to Covid lockdowns.
The DWP has since started re-examining claims over the period, for example asking for additional documents, in a bid to crackdown on fraud.
The government is estimating that £8.4 billion of benefits were overpaid in the twelve months to the end of March 2021.
It estimates £6.3 billion of the overpayments are believed to be fraudulent, primarily arising from Universal Credit claims.
Your rights if benefits are overpaid
Benefit fraud is committed if you provide false information of don’t report a change in your circumstances.
You may be visited by a department for work and pensions official or asked to attend an interview if fraud is suspected plus any benefits may be suspended during the investigation.
If you are found to have committed benefit fraud, you will need to pay back the overpaid money and could be fined between £350 and £5,000.
Your benefits may also be reduced or stopped.
Overpayments aren’t always fraudulent and could be down to a mistake either by you or the DWP.
In this case you would just need to give the money back or it may be taken from future payments.
The DWP can still charge a £50 civil penalty if it thinks you have been negligent or aren’t cooperating.
You can appeal a decision within one month by asking for a mandatory reconsideration.
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If your appeal is rejected you can take the DWP to an independent tribunal within one month.
The DWP will then have 28 days to respond and explain its reasoning for the tribunal to consider.
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