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<p>The Department seeks to recover benefit overpayments as quickly as possible without
creating any undue financial hardship to the claimant. The initial rate of repayment
applied for the recovery of a benefit overpayment is calculated based on three factors:</p><p>
</p><ul><li>How the overpayment occurred (through either fraud or error).</li><li>Whether
the claimant is in work.</li><li>Whether any other deductions are applied to their
Universal Credit award which might affect the amount that can be deducted.</li></ul><p>The
Department understands that claimants’ individual circumstances can vary widely. If
a claimant contacts the Department to say that they cannot afford the proposed rate
of repayment, we will discuss this with the claimant and can re-evaluate their repayment
rate. This re-evaluation will be based on income and expenditure, alongside internal
data and the industry standard credit information we can access, with the aim of agreeing
a sustainable rate of repayment.</p>
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