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<p><del class="ministerial">We do not hold data on actual Universal Credit (UC) overpayments
as requested, as there is no requirement to categorise UC debt (in this way) because
it is all recoverable in law.</del></p><p> </p><p><del class="ministerial">However,
our national statistics on fraud and error in the benefit system provide information
on the estimated value of UC Official Error, both as a percentage of benefit expenditure
and by value.</del></p><p> </p><p><del class="ministerial">For UC, the figures show
that UC Official Error loss has fallen from 1.3% (£700m) in 2019/20, to 0.9% (£800m)
in 2020/21, to 0.7% (£700m) in 2021/22.</del></p><p> </p><p><del class="ministerial">The
statistics do not cover the number of overpayments made, but do indicate how many
cases were estimated to have an overpayment of this type. In 2019/20 the figure stood
at 4.1%; in 2021/22 it was 2.6%.</del></p><p> </p><p><del class="ministerial"><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fraud-and-error-in-the-benefit-system-financial-year-2021-to-2022-estimates"
target="_blank">Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year 2021 to 2022
estimates - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a></del></p><p> </p><p><del class="ministerial">The
DWP remains committed to working with anyone who is struggling with benefit debt deductions
and encourages customers experiencing hardship to contact the DWP to discuss their
repayment plan.</del></p><p><ins class="ministerial">We do not hold data on actual
Universal Credit (UC) overpayments as requested, as there is no requirement to categorise
UC debt because it is all recoverable in law. </ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">
</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">However, our national statistics on Fraud and
Error in the benefit system provide information on the estimated value of UC Official
Error, both as a percentage of benefit expenditure and by value.</ins></p><p><ins
class="ministerial"> </ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial">For UC the figures show
that UC Official Error loss has fallen from 1.3% (£250m) in 2019/20, to 0.9% (£330m)
in 2020/21, to 0.7% (£270m) in 2021/22.</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial"> </ins></p><p><ins
class="ministerial">The statistics do not cover the number of overpayments made across
the year but indicate how many cases were estimated to have an overpayment of this
type, at a point in time. In 2019/20 the figure stood at 4.1%; in 2021/22 it was 2.6%.
</ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial"> </ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial"> <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fraud-and-error-in-the-benefit-system-financial-year-2021-to-2022-estimates"
target="_blank">Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year 2021 to 2022
estimates - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a></ins></p><p><ins class="ministerial"> </ins></p><p><ins
class="ministerial">DWP remains committed to working with anyone who is struggling
with benefit debt deductions and encourages customers experiencing hardship to contact
DWP to discuss their repayment plan. </ins></p>
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