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<p>The Department takes benefit fraud very seriously and is committed to taking appropriate
action when it is detected.</p><p> </p><p>If a claimant has been the victim of fraud,
and has not benefitted financially in any way, they will not be asked to repay the
money. The Department considers all cases on their individual merits and decisions
are made on the strength of the evidence provided.</p><p> </p><p>The Department has
been working to improve knowledge and awareness of advances fraud amongst Jobcentre
and Service Centre staff. Guidance has also been issued to ensure that staff are aware
how to refer cases of suspected fraud to the Department’s Counter-fraud team.</p><p>
</p><p>Most welfare losses, across Government, arise from claimants failing to report
changes of circumstances, Universal Credit (UC) provides a single, digital interface
through which claimants can more easily report these changes. As such, once UC is
fully rolled out, we expect cross-welfare losses to fraud, error and overpayments
to be reduced by around £1 billion per year.</p>
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