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<p>For Universal Credit claims with a payment due during May 2021, £67,800,000 was
deducted to repay Government debt, of which:</p><p> </p><p>(a) 56% (£37,700,000 )
for Tax Credit Overpayment (non-fraud)</p><p>(b) 30% (£20,500,000) for DWP Benefit
Overpayment (non-fraud)</p><p>(c) 5% (3,500,000) for Housing Benefit Overpayment (non-fraud)</p><p>
</p><p>As a Department, we carefully balance our duty to the taxpayer to recover overpayments,
with our support for claimants. Processes are in place to ensure deductions are manageable,
and in April we further reduced the cap on deductions from Universal Credit awards.</p><p>
</p><p>Customers can contact DWP if they are experiencing financial hardship in order
to discuss a reduction in their rate of repayment, or a temporary suspension, depending
on their financial circumstances.</p><p> </p><p>Fraud and error in the benefit system
is rare, with 95% of benefits worth more than £200bn paid correctly and just 0.4%
of benefits being overpaid due to DWP error.</p><p> </p><p><strong><em>Notes</em></strong></p><p><em>1)
Figures are provisional and subject to retrospective change as later data becomes
available.</em></p><p><em>2) Amount deducted rounded to the nearest 100,000 and percentage
rounded to the nearest percent.</em></p><p><em>3) Government debt includes: DWP Benefit
Overpayment (fraud and non-fraud), Tax Credit Overpayment (fraud and non-fraud), Housing
Benefit Overpayment (fraud and non-fraud), Social Fund Loan, Recoverable Hardship
Payment, Administrative Penalty, Civil Penalty, Eligible Loan Deductions, Integration
Loan.</em></p>
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