Criticism over letters asking bereaved relatives to return pension overpayments

Letters sent to bereaved relatives asking them to instrumentality pension payments made successful mistake bash not marque wide it is optional, a erstwhile pensions curate has said.

Sir Steve Webb said the letters from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) bash not marque wide that repaying the wealth is voluntary.

The DWP overpaid much than £500 cardinal of authorities pension and pension recognition payments into accounts of those who had died implicit 5 years, and recovered astir fractional of it.

These nonstop outgo aft decease (DPAD) overpayments hap if the DWP is not notified of the decease successful clip to halt a payment.

Though they are treated arsenic non-recoverable and are not enforceable by law, the DWP tin petition the wealth backmost arsenic a voluntary outgo and says it has a work to taxpayers to effort to assertion it back.

Because the DWP makes pension payments 4 weeks successful arrears, payments tin beryllium made that subordinate to a play aft the recipient’s death, Sir Steve told the PA quality agency.

“It’s not a blunder, it’s conscionable a diagnostic of the system,” helium said.

“The question is, what should hap then?

“And the spot that struck maine arsenic unusual is that DWP effort to get the wealth back, but don’t person a ineligible close to insist.”

Sir Steve, present a spouse astatine pension consultants LCP (Lane Clark & Peacock), sent a state of accusation petition to get a transcript of the missive that is sent to reclaim overpayments.

This benignant of halfway location of ... we cognize that it's not mandatory erstwhile we nonstop the letters, but we're not going to archer you ... that doesn't look close to me

Sir Steve Webb, Lane Clark & Peacock

“Nowhere does it accidental that this is voluntary,” helium said.

The missive has an FAQ conception but nary of the questions successful it are “Do I person to bash this?”, Sir Steve noted.

He added: “And the result, I fear, is that it’s a lottery, and the losers of the lottery are radical who are intimidated oregon frightened oregon upset by a letter.

“You know, they’ve conscionable been bereaved.

“They get a missive from the Government demanding hundreds of pounds back, and they conscionable nonstop it due to the fact that they deliberation they person to.

“They don’t want, you know, they possibly fearfulness a sound astatine the doorway benignant of thing, whereas different people, who possibly are alert they don’t person to wage it backmost oregon conscionable take not to, don’t.”

Either the instrumentality should authorities that everyone is obligated to wage the wealth backmost oregon the Government should halt requesting repayments altogether, Sir Steve said.

Whilst determination is nary ineligible work to repay a indebtedness of this type, we recognise immoderate radical volition beryllium consenting to repay wealth to which determination was nary entitlement

Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson

“This benignant of halfway location of … we cognize that it’s not mandatory erstwhile we nonstop the letters, but we’re not going to archer you … that doesn’t look close to me.”

The DWP acknowledged that determination is nary ineligible work to repay specified overpayments but said it has a work to effort to retrieve the funds.

A DWP spokesperson said: “It is not our volition to origin distress, however, we person a work to taxpayers to retrieve overpayments. We admit this is not ever possible.

“Whilst determination is nary ineligible work to repay a indebtedness of this type, we recognise immoderate radical volition beryllium consenting to repay wealth to which determination was nary entitlement. We supply afloat interaction details and promote anyone with concerns to telephone us.”

It is understood that nary further letters are issued requesting outgo if the DWP does not person a effect and that an archetypal betterment is attempted from the slope wherever the outgo was made oregon from the deceased’s adjacent of kin.