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Baroness Ussher
Type
House
Session
Year
Department
Member
Primary member
Answering member
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Ussher, Baroness (49)
Legislative stage
Legislation
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Publisher
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) which local authorities have requested median rents for local housing allowance for accommodation with six or more bedrooms; and what the median rent for such accommodation was in each case;
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) which local authorities have requested median rents for local housing allowance for accommodation with six or more bedrooms; and what the median rent for such accommodation was in each case;
Asked by
Lord Grayling
(Conservative)
Answered by
Baroness Ussher
(Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
14 January 2009
For answer on
19 January 2009
Answered on
1 June 2009
Local Housing Allowance rates for larger properties are only provided if a local authority requests them. Since Local Housing Allowance was launched in April 2008 156 local authorities have requested a rate for accommodation with six or more bedrooms. The Rent Service has provided Local Housing Allowance rates for properties over six bedrooms in 114 Broad Rental Market Areas. From April 2009, all new claims to LHA are capped at the five bedroom rate.A full list of monthly Local Housing Allowance rates for properties with five bedrooms or less, together with maps of the Broad Rental Market Areas, are available on the LHA-Direct website at:"lha-direct.therentservice.gov.uk/Secure/Default.aspx"
Subjects
Housing benefit
Date
1 June 2009
Reference
493 c97W; 249338
House
House of Commons
(2) in how many broad market rental areas median rents for accommodation with (a) six, (b) seven, (c) eight, (d) nine and (e) 10 or more bedrooms have been estimated; what those broad market rental areas were; and at what level the median rents for accommodation with six or more...
(2) in how many broad market rental areas median rents for accommodation with (a) six, (b) seven, (c) eight, (d) nine and (e) 10 or more bedrooms have been estimated; what those broad market rental areas were; and at what level the median rents for accommodation with six or more...
Asked by
Lord Grayling
(Conservative)
Answered by
Baroness Ussher
(Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
14 January 2009
For answer on
19 January 2009
Answered on
1 June 2009
Local Housing Allowance rates for larger properties are only provided if a local authority requests them. Since Local Housing Allowance was launched in April 2008 156 local authorities have requested a rate for accommodation with six or more bedrooms. The Rent Service has provided Local Housing Allowance rates for properties over six bedrooms in 114 Broad Rental Market Areas. From April 2009, all new claims to LHA are capped at the five bedroom rate.A full list of monthly Local Housing Allowance rates for properties with five bedrooms or less, together with maps of the Broad Rental Market Areas, are available on the LHA-Direct website at:"lha-direct.therentservice.gov.uk/Secure/Default.aspx"
Subjects
Housing benefit
Date
1 June 2009
Reference
493 c97W; 249372
House
House of Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many consolatory payments have been made by his Department with regard to the operation of his Department's (a) debt management organisations and (b) Recovery from Estates Debt Management Unit in each year since 1997 for which information is available.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many consolatory payments have been made by his Department with regard to the operation of his Department's (a) debt management organisations and (b) Recovery from Estates Debt Management Unit in each year since 1997 for which information is available.
Asked by
Lord Grayling
(Conservative)
Answered by
Baroness Ussher
(Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
14 January 2009
For answer on
19 January 2009
Answered on
17 March 2009
Information is available from April 2007 to date. We are not able to separate the data between payments made for debt management and recovery from estates. Information prior to this period is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate costThe available information is in the following table:
| Number | |
| 2007-08 | 91 |
| 2008¹ | 37 |
| ¹ To January 2009 |
Subjects
Compensation; Department for Work and Pensions
Date
17 March 2009
Reference
489 c1035W;489 c1037W; 249374
House
House of Commons
(3) in how many instances bailiffs have been used to recover repayments of (a) a crisis loan and (b) a budgeting loan in each year since 1997;
(3) in how many instances bailiffs have been used to recover repayments of (a) a crisis loan and (b) a budgeting loan in each year since 1997;
Asked by
Lord Grayling
(Conservative)
Answered by
Baroness Ussher
(Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
14 January 2009
For answer on
19 January 2009
Answered on
3 February 2009
Where a person is in receipt of benefit, recovery is by means of deductions from benefit only.Court action is only taken against those no longer receiving benefits. Such action is taken only should a voluntary arrangement not be possible, or if there is a default on that arrangement. The Department does not seek repossession of items in default cases, neither does the Department take bankruptcy action.The information relating to the number of occasions bailiffs have been used is not available.The number of people subject to a county court claim by the Department for Work and Pensions for defaulting on Social Fund repayments is set out as follows. The information cannot be separated between Budgeting Loans and Crisis Loans. No action has been taken to enforce recovery of outstanding loans through the courts since 2005-06.
As part of the Department's programme to bring increased focus to the management and recovery of debt generally, the decision was made to transfer the management and recovery of social fund off-benefit cases to the Department's specialist Debt Management unit. This commenced in 2005. Referring the outstanding social fund loans to Debt Management has enabled the use of their specialist skills in pursuing recovery from customers who are no longer in receipt of benefit.This transfer of cases to Debt Management has already resulted in significant recoveries on loans from those no longer in receipt of benefit, without a need to refer for court enforcement.
| Number of court claims in social fund cases | |
|---|---|
| Number | |
| 1997-98 | 14,417 |
| 1998-99 | 12,005 |
| 1999-2000 | 15,619 |
| 2000-01 | 10,688 |
| 2001-02 | 7,861 |
| 2002-03 | 5,878 |
| 2003-04 | 6,009 |
| 2004-05 | 3,792 |
| 2005-06 | 1,076 |
| Note: | |
| Data prior to 2003-04 has been supplied by the courts. |
Subjects
Crisis loans; Budgeting loans
Date
3 February 2009
Reference
487 c1012-3W; 249343
House
House of Commons
(2) how many people have had items repossessed following default on repayments of (a) a crisis loan and (b) a budgeting loan in each year since 1997;
(2) how many people have had items repossessed following default on repayments of (a) a crisis loan and (b) a budgeting loan in each year since 1997;
Asked by
Lord Grayling
(Conservative)
Answered by
Baroness Ussher
(Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
14 January 2009
For answer on
19 January 2009
Answered on
3 February 2009
Where a person is in receipt of benefit, recovery is by means of deductions from benefit only.Court action is only taken against those no longer receiving benefits. Such action is taken only should a voluntary arrangement not be possible, or if there is a default on that arrangement. The Department does not seek repossession of items in default cases, neither does the Department take bankruptcy action.The information relating to the number of occasions bailiffs have been used is not available.The number of people subject to a county court claim by the Department for Work and Pensions for defaulting on Social Fund repayments is set out as follows. The information cannot be separated between Budgeting Loans and Crisis Loans. No action has been taken to enforce recovery of outstanding loans through the courts since 2005-06.
As part of the Department's programme to bring increased focus to the management and recovery of debt generally, the decision was made to transfer the management and recovery of social fund off-benefit cases to the Department's specialist Debt Management unit. This commenced in 2005. Referring the outstanding social fund loans to Debt Management has enabled the use of their specialist skills in pursuing recovery from customers who are no longer in receipt of benefit.This transfer of cases to Debt Management has already resulted in significant recoveries on loans from those no longer in receipt of benefit, without a need to refer for court enforcement.
| Number of court claims in social fund cases | |
|---|---|
| Number | |
| 1997-98 | 14,417 |
| 1998-99 | 12,005 |
| 1999-2000 | 15,619 |
| 2000-01 | 10,688 |
| 2001-02 | 7,861 |
| 2002-03 | 5,878 |
| 2003-04 | 6,009 |
| 2004-05 | 3,792 |
| 2005-06 | 1,076 |
| Note: | |
| Data prior to 2003-04 has been supplied by the courts. |
Subjects
Crisis loans; Budgeting loans
Date
3 February 2009
Reference
487 c1012-3W; 249341
House
House of Commons
(4) how many bankruptcy orders have been issued following default on repayments of a (a) crisis loan and (b) budgeting loan in each year since 1997.
(4) how many bankruptcy orders have been issued following default on repayments of a (a) crisis loan and (b) budgeting loan in each year since 1997.
Asked by
Lord Grayling
(Conservative)
Answered by
Baroness Ussher
(Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
14 January 2009
For answer on
19 January 2009
Answered on
3 February 2009
Where a person is in receipt of benefit, recovery is by means of deductions from benefit only.Court action is only taken against those no longer receiving benefits. Such action is taken only should a voluntary arrangement not be possible, or if there is a default on that arrangement. The Department does not seek repossession of items in default cases, neither does the Department take bankruptcy action.The information relating to the number of occasions bailiffs have been used is not available.The number of people subject to a county court claim by the Department for Work and Pensions for defaulting on Social Fund repayments is set out as follows. The information cannot be separated between Budgeting Loans and Crisis Loans. No action has been taken to enforce recovery of outstanding loans through the courts since 2005-06.
As part of the Department's programme to bring increased focus to the management and recovery of debt generally, the decision was made to transfer the management and recovery of social fund off-benefit cases to the Department's specialist Debt Management unit. This commenced in 2005. Referring the outstanding social fund loans to Debt Management has enabled the use of their specialist skills in pursuing recovery from customers who are no longer in receipt of benefit.This transfer of cases to Debt Management has already resulted in significant recoveries on loans from those no longer in receipt of benefit, without a need to refer for court enforcement.
| Number of court claims in social fund cases | |
|---|---|
| Number | |
| 1997-98 | 14,417 |
| 1998-99 | 12,005 |
| 1999-2000 | 15,619 |
| 2000-01 | 10,688 |
| 2001-02 | 7,861 |
| 2002-03 | 5,878 |
| 2003-04 | 6,009 |
| 2004-05 | 3,792 |
| 2005-06 | 1,076 |
| Note: | |
| Data prior to 2003-04 has been supplied by the courts. |
Subjects
Crisis loans; Budgeting loans
Date
3 February 2009
Reference
487 c1012-3W; 249345
House
House of Commons
(2) how many people have had items repossessed following default on repayments of overpayments of (a) jobseeker's allowance, (b) income support, (c) incapacity benefit, (d) carers allowance, (e) attendance allowance, (f) pension credit and (g) the state pension in each year since 1997;
(2) how many people have had items repossessed following default on repayments of overpayments of (a) jobseeker's allowance, (b) income support, (c) incapacity benefit, (d) carers allowance, (e) attendance allowance, (f) pension credit and (g) the state pension in each year since 1997;
Asked by
Lord Grayling
(Conservative)
Answered by
Baroness Ussher
(Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
14 January 2009
For answer on
19 January 2009
Answered on
3 February 2009
In cases where there is an overpayment of benefit outstanding, court action is only taken against those no longer receiving benefits. Such action is taken only should a voluntary arrangement not be possible, or if there is a default on that arrangement. The Department does not seek repossession of items in default cases, neither does the Department take bankruptcy action.The information relating to the number of occasions bailiffs have been used is not available.There are two types of actions the Department takes in county courts, depending on whether or not recovery is sought from an estate of a deceased customer.1. Where recovery is sought from the person overpaid:"The action the Department takes in county courts to recover overpayments of benefit is to seek an Order for Recovery of Money Awarded by a Tribunal. This does not result in a county court judgment.""Between 2005 and 2008, no civil action in county courts was initiated by the Department in cases of this type. During this period, resources were concentrated on establishing the newly created Debt Management unit, with new processes, a new structure and new IT. This succeeded in increasing the total amount recovered from £180 million in 2005 to 2006, to just under £272 million in 2007 to 2008.""Some limited court action was taken by the Department's private sector partners during this period. They obtained charging orders in nine high value overpayment cases.""The Department recommenced county court action in overpayment cases from January 2008, and during 2008 1,700 orders were sought from the court. Information relating to the breakdown between benefits is not available.""Information for the period prior to 2005 is not available."2. Where recovery is sought from an estate of a deceased customer:"In cases where there is an overpayment outstanding at a customer's death, or where an overpayment is identified after death based on information that comes to light after death, such as undeclared occupational pensions or under declared savings, recovery is sought from the estate. In certain cases, where repayment is not made, the Department may take the executor to the county court on the basis of maladministration of the estate. Such actions can result in county court judgments.""The Department does not take action through the court to pursue recovery of overpayments arising as a result of a payment made directly into a bank account after death."Details of the number of cases where county court action has been taken are in the table. We are not able to say how many resulted in county court judgments, or say which benefits they related to.Information prior to April 2005 is not available.
| Number | |
| 2005-06 | 47 |
| 2006-07 | 57 |
| 2007-08 | 56 |
Subjects
Overpayments; Social security benefits
Date
3 February 2009
Reference
487 c1017-9W; 249342
House
House of Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many people were subject to (a) a county court claim by his Department and (b) a county court judgement as a result of such a claim for repayments of overpayments of (i) jobseeker's allowance, (ii) income support, (iii)...
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many people were subject to (a) a county court claim by his Department and (b) a county court judgement as a result of such a claim for repayments of overpayments of (i) jobseeker's allowance, (ii) income support, (iii)...
Asked by
Lord Grayling
(Conservative)
Answered by
Baroness Ussher
(Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
14 January 2009
For answer on
19 January 2009
Answered on
3 February 2009
In cases where there is an overpayment of benefit outstanding, court action is only taken against those no longer receiving benefits. Such action is taken only should a voluntary arrangement not be possible, or if there is a default on that arrangement. The Department does not seek repossession of items in default cases, neither does the Department take bankruptcy action.The information relating to the number of occasions bailiffs have been used is not available.There are two types of actions the Department takes in county courts, depending on whether or not recovery is sought from an estate of a deceased customer.1. Where recovery is sought from the person overpaid:"The action the Department takes in county courts to recover overpayments of benefit is to seek an Order for Recovery of Money Awarded by a Tribunal. This does not result in a county court judgment.""Between 2005 and 2008, no civil action in county courts was initiated by the Department in cases of this type. During this period, resources were concentrated on establishing the newly created Debt Management unit, with new processes, a new structure and new IT. This succeeded in increasing the total amount recovered from £180 million in 2005 to 2006, to just under £272 million in 2007 to 2008.""Some limited court action was taken by the Department's private sector partners during this period. They obtained charging orders in nine high value overpayment cases.""The Department recommenced county court action in overpayment cases from January 2008, and during 2008 1,700 orders were sought from the court. Information relating to the breakdown between benefits is not available.""Information for the period prior to 2005 is not available."2. Where recovery is sought from an estate of a deceased customer:"In cases where there is an overpayment outstanding at a customer's death, or where an overpayment is identified after death based on information that comes to light after death, such as undeclared occupational pensions or under declared savings, recovery is sought from the estate. In certain cases, where repayment is not made, the Department may take the executor to the county court on the basis of maladministration of the estate. Such actions can result in county court judgments.""The Department does not take action through the court to pursue recovery of overpayments arising as a result of a payment made directly into a bank account after death."Details of the number of cases where county court action has been taken are in the table. We are not able to say how many resulted in county court judgments, or say which benefits they related to.Information prior to April 2005 is not available.
| Number | |
| 2005-06 | 47 |
| 2006-07 | 57 |
| 2007-08 | 56 |
Subjects
Overpayments; Social security benefits
Date
3 February 2009
Reference
487 c1017-9W; 249340
House
House of Commons
(5) in how many cases his Department has pursued repayment of overpayments of benefit following the death of a claimant through a county court claim in each of the last five years, broken down by benefit type.
(5) in how many cases his Department has pursued repayment of overpayments of benefit following the death of a claimant through a county court claim in each of the last five years, broken down by benefit type.
Asked by
Lord Grayling
(Conservative)
Answered by
Baroness Ussher
(Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
14 January 2009
For answer on
19 January 2009
Answered on
3 February 2009
In cases where there is an overpayment of benefit outstanding, court action is only taken against those no longer receiving benefits. Such action is taken only should a voluntary arrangement not be possible, or if there is a default on that arrangement. The Department does not seek repossession of items in default cases, neither does the Department take bankruptcy action.The information relating to the number of occasions bailiffs have been used is not available.There are two types of actions the Department takes in county courts, depending on whether or not recovery is sought from an estate of a deceased customer.1. Where recovery is sought from the person overpaid:"The action the Department takes in county courts to recover overpayments of benefit is to seek an Order for Recovery of Money Awarded by a Tribunal. This does not result in a county court judgment.""Between 2005 and 2008, no civil action in county courts was initiated by the Department in cases of this type. During this period, resources were concentrated on establishing the newly created Debt Management unit, with new processes, a new structure and new IT. This succeeded in increasing the total amount recovered from £180 million in 2005 to 2006, to just under £272 million in 2007 to 2008.""Some limited court action was taken by the Department's private sector partners during this period. They obtained charging orders in nine high value overpayment cases.""The Department recommenced county court action in overpayment cases from January 2008, and during 2008 1,700 orders were sought from the court. Information relating to the breakdown between benefits is not available.""Information for the period prior to 2005 is not available."2. Where recovery is sought from an estate of a deceased customer:"In cases where there is an overpayment outstanding at a customer's death, or where an overpayment is identified after death based on information that comes to light after death, such as undeclared occupational pensions or under declared savings, recovery is sought from the estate. In certain cases, where repayment is not made, the Department may take the executor to the county court on the basis of maladministration of the estate. Such actions can result in county court judgments.""The Department does not take action through the court to pursue recovery of overpayments arising as a result of a payment made directly into a bank account after death."Details of the number of cases where county court action has been taken are in the table. We are not able to say how many resulted in county court judgments, or say which benefits they related to.Information prior to April 2005 is not available.
| Number | |
| 2005-06 | 47 |
| 2006-07 | 57 |
| 2007-08 | 56 |
Subjects
Overpayments; Social security benefits
Date
3 February 2009
Reference
487 c1017-9W; 249355
House
House of Commons
(3) how many instances bailiffs have been used to recover repayments of overpayments of (a) jobseeker's allowance, (b) income support, (c) incapacity benefit, (d) carers allowance, (e) attendance allowance, (f) pension credit and (g) the state pension in each year since 1997;
(3) how many instances bailiffs have been used to recover repayments of overpayments of (a) jobseeker's allowance, (b) income support, (c) incapacity benefit, (d) carers allowance, (e) attendance allowance, (f) pension credit and (g) the state pension in each year since 1997;
Asked by
Lord Grayling
(Conservative)
Answered by
Baroness Ussher
(Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
14 January 2009
For answer on
19 January 2009
Answered on
3 February 2009
In cases where there is an overpayment of benefit outstanding, court action is only taken against those no longer receiving benefits. Such action is taken only should a voluntary arrangement not be possible, or if there is a default on that arrangement. The Department does not seek repossession of items in default cases, neither does the Department take bankruptcy action.The information relating to the number of occasions bailiffs have been used is not available.There are two types of actions the Department takes in county courts, depending on whether or not recovery is sought from an estate of a deceased customer.1. Where recovery is sought from the person overpaid:"The action the Department takes in county courts to recover overpayments of benefit is to seek an Order for Recovery of Money Awarded by a Tribunal. This does not result in a county court judgment.""Between 2005 and 2008, no civil action in county courts was initiated by the Department in cases of this type. During this period, resources were concentrated on establishing the newly created Debt Management unit, with new processes, a new structure and new IT. This succeeded in increasing the total amount recovered from £180 million in 2005 to 2006, to just under £272 million in 2007 to 2008.""Some limited court action was taken by the Department's private sector partners during this period. They obtained charging orders in nine high value overpayment cases.""The Department recommenced county court action in overpayment cases from January 2008, and during 2008 1,700 orders were sought from the court. Information relating to the breakdown between benefits is not available.""Information for the period prior to 2005 is not available."2. Where recovery is sought from an estate of a deceased customer:"In cases where there is an overpayment outstanding at a customer's death, or where an overpayment is identified after death based on information that comes to light after death, such as undeclared occupational pensions or under declared savings, recovery is sought from the estate. In certain cases, where repayment is not made, the Department may take the executor to the county court on the basis of maladministration of the estate. Such actions can result in county court judgments.""The Department does not take action through the court to pursue recovery of overpayments arising as a result of a payment made directly into a bank account after death."Details of the number of cases where county court action has been taken are in the table. We are not able to say how many resulted in county court judgments, or say which benefits they related to.Information prior to April 2005 is not available.
| Number | |
| 2005-06 | 47 |
| 2006-07 | 57 |
| 2007-08 | 56 |
Subjects
Overpayments; Social security benefits
Date
3 February 2009
Reference
487 c1017-9W; 249344
House
House of Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what the monetary value was of repayments of overpayments requested by his Department following the death of a claimant in circumstances where such repayments were not mandatory under social security legislation and where the family members of the deceased...
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what the monetary value was of repayments of overpayments requested by his Department following the death of a claimant in circumstances where such repayments were not mandatory under social security legislation and where the family members of the deceased...
Asked by
Lord Grayling
(Conservative)
Answered by
Baroness Ussher
(Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
14 January 2009
For answer on
19 January 2009
Answered on
3 February 2009
Unfortunately, through no fault of any individual, overpayments of benefit can arise following the death of a benefit recipient. Such overpayments normally arise as a result of the Department being notified of the death too late to stop an automated payment being made into the deceased's account.We are doing all we can to improve the current process. We now receive electronic notifications of death from the Office for National Statistics on a daily basis. This will assist in enabling a prompt cessation of payments following death and reduce the number of these overpayments occurring.The Department has a duty to seek recovery of all overpaid funds where it is reasonable and cost effective to do so. However, we seek to do this as sensitively as possible, taking account of the fact that this will be a stressful time, particularly if the person contacted is a close friend or family member. Overpayments are written off if the deceased has no estate or there are insufficient funds in the estate.The Department does not have records to answer all the questions in the format asked. However, we do have data on the value and volume of cases of overpayments where recovery has been made, and data on those that have been written off. The details are in the following tables.Direct payments after death—debts written off. These data are only available from 2006, and by benefit only from 2007.
Write off by benefit for fiscal year 2007-08 is in the following table:
The following table details how much has been recovered by benefit. These data are only available from June 2005.
The following table provides the number of cases where a recovery has been made.
| Volume of cases | Value written off (£ million) | |
| 2006-07 | 157,722 | 27.3 |
| 2007-08 | 198,516 | 27.4 |
| Benefit type name | Count of transactions | Transaction amount (£) |
| Attendance allowance | 42,027 | -4,359,425.89 |
| Bereavement allowance | 28 | -5,524.32 |
| Carers allowance | 476 | -59,692.00 |
| Christmas bonus (contributory) | 1,251 | -10,521.18 |
| Christmas bonus (non-contributory) | 335 | -2,530.00 |
| Constant attendance allowance | 11 | -1,591.40 |
| Disability living allowance: care Compnt | 10,563 | -1,973,865.87 |
| Disability living allowance—care/mob | 9,928 | -1,924,048.96 |
| Disability living allowance: mobility com | 3,383 | -425,446.16 |
| Disability working allowance | 6 | -1,044.40 |
| Exceptionally severe disablement allowance | 2 | -258.10 |
| Incapacity benefit | 4,556 | -737,002.81 |
| Income support | 2,012 | -525,965.59 |
| Industrial death benefit | 105 | -15,796.19 |
| Industrial injuries benefit | 33 | -8,488.15 |
| Industrial injuries disablement benefit | 2,313 | -258,131.92 |
| Jobseeker's allowance: contribution based | 2 | -98.48 |
| Jobseeker's allowance: income based | 7 | -716.19 |
| Maternity allowance | 1 | -225.50 |
| Mobility allowance | 6 | -2,218.80 |
| Non-contributory retirement pension | 8 | -931.11 |
| Pension credit | 37,207 | -3,800,062.84 |
| Reduced earnings allowance | 20 | -1,487.47 |
| Retirement allowance | 22 | -572.07 |
| Retirement pension: contributory | 83,661 | 13,170,990.65 |
| Severe disablement allowance | 432 | -55,430.96 |
| Widowed mother's allowance | 9 | -1,972.19 |
| Widowed parent's allowance | 10 | -1,626.99 |
| Widows pension | 101 | -19,124.14 |
| Winter fuel payments | 1 | -200.00 |
| 198,516 | -27,364,990.33 |
| Value of recoveries of payments made after death | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| £ | |||
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | |
| Attendance allowance | 2,978,730 | 4,707,183 | 7,421,303 |
| Carers allowance | 13,468 | 3,828 | 20,165 |
| Constant attendance allowance | 0 | 153 | 1,661 |
| Disability living allowance—care/mob | 1,734,359 | 1,557,216 | 2,307,649 |
| Incapacity benefit | 122,389 | 302,169 | 437,889 |
| Income support | 49,887 | 47,923 | 89,213 |
| Invalid care allowance | 84,926 | 609 | 0 |
| Industrial injuries benefit | 129,433 | 83,822 | 24,892 |
| Industrial death benefit | 52,661 | 28,033 | 34,913 |
| Industrial injuries disablement benefit | 819 | 148,451 | 315,590 |
| Invalidity benefit | 6,357 | 1,626 | 7,350 |
| Jobseeker's allowance | 406 | 235 | 146 |
| Mobility allowance | 5,269 | 2,447 | 506 |
| Pension credit | 1,519,458 | 3,677,487 | 4,614,515 |
| Retirement pension/state pension | 13,793,186 | 27,372,631 | 30,645,177 |
| Severe disablement allowance | 19,419 | 36,254 | 47,752 |
| Widows benefit | 11,467 | 12,020 | 12,604 |
| Widows pension | 0 | 3,671 | 11,563 |
| Other | 7,089 | 17,647 | 57,882 |
| Sum | 20,529,323 | 38,003,406 | 46,050,769 |
| Note: | |||
| Data for 2005-06 are for the period June 2005 to March 2006 only. |
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007/08 | |
| Attendance allowance | 30,665 | 47,757 | 77,013 |
| Carers allowance | 252 | 39 | 213 |
| Constant attendance allowance | 0 | 2 | 19 |
| DLA | 13,015 | 10,987 | 16,561 |
| Incapacity benefit | 975 | 2,226 | 3,188 |
| Income support | 337 | 289 | 531 |
| Invalid care allowance | 3,123 | 5 | 0 |
| Industrial injuries benefit | 1,180 | 670 | 122 |
| Industrial death benefit | 372 | 194 | 209 |
| Industrial injuries disablement benefit | 6 | 1,388 | 2,839 |
| Invalidity benefit | 51 | 21 | 29 |
| Jobseeker's allowance | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Mobility allowance | 176 | 49 | 36 |
| Pension credit | 16,884 | 40,799 | 54,834 |
| Retirement pension/state pension | 81,948 | 164,060 | 183,242 |
| Severe disablement allowance | 124 | 300 | 398 |
| Widows benefit | 57 | 47 | 18 |
| Widows pension | 0 | 23 | 54 |
| Other | 109 | 562 | 3,063 |
| 149,278 | 269,421 | 342,371 |
Subjects
Overpayments; Social security benefits
Date
3 February 2009
Reference
487 c1019-21W; 249353
House
House of Commons
(2) what the monetary value was of repayments of overpayments of benefits requested by his Department following the death of a claimant, where such repayments were not mandatory under social security legislation in each of the last five years, broken down by benefit type;
(2) what the monetary value was of repayments of overpayments of benefits requested by his Department following the death of a claimant, where such repayments were not mandatory under social security legislation in each of the last five years, broken down by benefit type;
Asked by
Lord Grayling
(Conservative)
Answered by
Baroness Ussher
(Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
14 January 2009
For answer on
19 January 2009
Answered on
3 February 2009
Unfortunately, through no fault of any individual, overpayments of benefit can arise following the death of a benefit recipient. Such overpayments normally arise as a result of the Department being notified of the death too late to stop an automated payment being made into the deceased's account.We are doing all we can to improve the current process. We now receive electronic notifications of death from the Office for National Statistics on a daily basis. This will assist in enabling a prompt cessation of payments following death and reduce the number of these overpayments occurring.The Department has a duty to seek recovery of all overpaid funds where it is reasonable and cost effective to do so. However, we seek to do this as sensitively as possible, taking account of the fact that this will be a stressful time, particularly if the person contacted is a close friend or family member. Overpayments are written off if the deceased has no estate or there are insufficient funds in the estate.The Department does not have records to answer all the questions in the format asked. However, we do have data on the value and volume of cases of overpayments where recovery has been made, and data on those that have been written off. The details are in the following tables.Direct payments after death—debts written off. These data are only available from 2006, and by benefit only from 2007.
Write off by benefit for fiscal year 2007-08 is in the following table:
The following table details how much has been recovered by benefit. These data are only available from June 2005.
The following table provides the number of cases where a recovery has been made.
| Volume of cases | Value written off (£ million) | |
| 2006-07 | 157,722 | 27.3 |
| 2007-08 | 198,516 | 27.4 |
| Benefit type name | Count of transactions | Transaction amount (£) |
| Attendance allowance | 42,027 | -4,359,425.89 |
| Bereavement allowance | 28 | -5,524.32 |
| Carers allowance | 476 | -59,692.00 |
| Christmas bonus (contributory) | 1,251 | -10,521.18 |
| Christmas bonus (non-contributory) | 335 | -2,530.00 |
| Constant attendance allowance | 11 | -1,591.40 |
| Disability living allowance: care Compnt | 10,563 | -1,973,865.87 |
| Disability living allowance—care/mob | 9,928 | -1,924,048.96 |
| Disability living allowance: mobility com | 3,383 | -425,446.16 |
| Disability working allowance | 6 | -1,044.40 |
| Exceptionally severe disablement allowance | 2 | -258.10 |
| Incapacity benefit | 4,556 | -737,002.81 |
| Income support | 2,012 | -525,965.59 |
| Industrial death benefit | 105 | -15,796.19 |
| Industrial injuries benefit | 33 | -8,488.15 |
| Industrial injuries disablement benefit | 2,313 | -258,131.92 |
| Jobseeker's allowance: contribution based | 2 | -98.48 |
| Jobseeker's allowance: income based | 7 | -716.19 |
| Maternity allowance | 1 | -225.50 |
| Mobility allowance | 6 | -2,218.80 |
| Non-contributory retirement pension | 8 | -931.11 |
| Pension credit | 37,207 | -3,800,062.84 |
| Reduced earnings allowance | 20 | -1,487.47 |
| Retirement allowance | 22 | -572.07 |
| Retirement pension: contributory | 83,661 | 13,170,990.65 |
| Severe disablement allowance | 432 | -55,430.96 |
| Widowed mother's allowance | 9 | -1,972.19 |
| Widowed parent's allowance | 10 | -1,626.99 |
| Widows pension | 101 | -19,124.14 |
| Winter fuel payments | 1 | -200.00 |
| 198,516 | -27,364,990.33 |
| Value of recoveries of payments made after death | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| £ | |||
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | |
| Attendance allowance | 2,978,730 | 4,707,183 | 7,421,303 |
| Carers allowance | 13,468 | 3,828 | 20,165 |
| Constant attendance allowance | 0 | 153 | 1,661 |
| Disability living allowance—care/mob | 1,734,359 | 1,557,216 | 2,307,649 |
| Incapacity benefit | 122,389 | 302,169 | 437,889 |
| Income support | 49,887 | 47,923 | 89,213 |
| Invalid care allowance | 84,926 | 609 | 0 |
| Industrial injuries benefit | 129,433 | 83,822 | 24,892 |
| Industrial death benefit | 52,661 | 28,033 | 34,913 |
| Industrial injuries disablement benefit | 819 | 148,451 | 315,590 |
| Invalidity benefit | 6,357 | 1,626 | 7,350 |
| Jobseeker's allowance | 406 | 235 | 146 |
| Mobility allowance | 5,269 | 2,447 | 506 |
| Pension credit | 1,519,458 | 3,677,487 | 4,614,515 |
| Retirement pension/state pension | 13,793,186 | 27,372,631 | 30,645,177 |
| Severe disablement allowance | 19,419 | 36,254 | 47,752 |
| Widows benefit | 11,467 | 12,020 | 12,604 |
| Widows pension | 0 | 3,671 | 11,563 |
| Other | 7,089 | 17,647 | 57,882 |
| Sum | 20,529,323 | 38,003,406 | 46,050,769 |
| Note: | |||
| Data for 2005-06 are for the period June 2005 to March 2006 only. |
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007/08 | |
| Attendance allowance | 30,665 | 47,757 | 77,013 |
| Carers allowance | 252 | 39 | 213 |
| Constant attendance allowance | 0 | 2 | 19 |
| DLA | 13,015 | 10,987 | 16,561 |
| Incapacity benefit | 975 | 2,226 | 3,188 |
| Income support | 337 | 289 | 531 |
| Invalid care allowance | 3,123 | 5 | 0 |
| Industrial injuries benefit | 1,180 | 670 | 122 |
| Industrial death benefit | 372 | 194 | 209 |
| Industrial injuries disablement benefit | 6 | 1,388 | 2,839 |
| Invalidity benefit | 51 | 21 | 29 |
| Jobseeker's allowance | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Mobility allowance | 176 | 49 | 36 |
| Pension credit | 16,884 | 40,799 | 54,834 |
| Retirement pension/state pension | 81,948 | 164,060 | 183,242 |
| Severe disablement allowance | 124 | 300 | 398 |
| Widows benefit | 57 | 47 | 18 |
| Widows pension | 0 | 23 | 54 |
| Other | 109 | 562 | 3,063 |
| 149,278 | 269,421 | 342,371 |
Subjects
Overpayments; Social security benefits
Date
3 February 2009
Reference
487 c1019-21W; 249354
House
House of Commons
(4) how many bankruptcy orders have been issued against individuals following their default on repayments of overpayments of (a) jobseeker's allowance, (b) income support, (c) incapacity benefit, (d) carers allowance, (e) attendance allowance, (f) pension credit and (g) the state pension in each year since 1997 for which information is...
(4) how many bankruptcy orders have been issued against individuals following their default on repayments of overpayments of (a) jobseeker's allowance, (b) income support, (c) incapacity benefit, (d) carers allowance, (e) attendance allowance, (f) pension credit and (g) the state pension in each year since 1997 for which information is...
Asked by
Lord Grayling
(Conservative)
Answered by
Baroness Ussher
(Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
14 January 2009
For answer on
19 January 2009
Answered on
3 February 2009
In cases where there is an overpayment of benefit outstanding, court action is only taken against those no longer receiving benefits. Such action is taken only should a voluntary arrangement not be possible, or if there is a default on that arrangement. The Department does not seek repossession of items in default cases, neither does the Department take bankruptcy action.The information relating to the number of occasions bailiffs have been used is not available.There are two types of actions the Department takes in county courts, depending on whether or not recovery is sought from an estate of a deceased customer.1. Where recovery is sought from the person overpaid:"The action the Department takes in county courts to recover overpayments of benefit is to seek an Order for Recovery of Money Awarded by a Tribunal. This does not result in a county court judgment.""Between 2005 and 2008, no civil action in county courts was initiated by the Department in cases of this type. During this period, resources were concentrated on establishing the newly created Debt Management unit, with new processes, a new structure and new IT. This succeeded in increasing the total amount recovered from £180 million in 2005 to 2006, to just under £272 million in 2007 to 2008.""Some limited court action was taken by the Department's private sector partners during this period. They obtained charging orders in nine high value overpayment cases.""The Department recommenced county court action in overpayment cases from January 2008, and during 2008 1,700 orders were sought from the court. Information relating to the breakdown between benefits is not available.""Information for the period prior to 2005 is not available."2. Where recovery is sought from an estate of a deceased customer:"In cases where there is an overpayment outstanding at a customer's death, or where an overpayment is identified after death based on information that comes to light after death, such as undeclared occupational pensions or under declared savings, recovery is sought from the estate. In certain cases, where repayment is not made, the Department may take the executor to the county court on the basis of maladministration of the estate. Such actions can result in county court judgments.""The Department does not take action through the court to pursue recovery of overpayments arising as a result of a payment made directly into a bank account after death."Details of the number of cases where county court action has been taken are in the table. We are not able to say how many resulted in county court judgments, or say which benefits they related to.Information prior to April 2005 is not available.
| Number | |
| 2005-06 | 47 |
| 2006-07 | 57 |
| 2007-08 | 56 |
Subjects
Overpayments; Social security benefits
Date
3 February 2009
Reference
487 c1017-9W; 249373
House
House of Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was recovered by his Department's Recovery from Estates Debt Management Unit in each year since 1997 for which information is available; and what the cost of running the Unit was in each such year.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was recovered by his Department's Recovery from Estates Debt Management Unit in each year since 1997 for which information is available; and what the cost of running the Unit was in each such year.
Asked by
Lord Grayling
(Conservative)
Answered by
Baroness Ussher
(Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
14 January 2009
For answer on
19 January 2009
Answered on
3 February 2009
Recovery from Estates (RFE) is responsible for the recovery of overpaid benefit from the estates of deceased customers in England and Wales. This involves:"checking records of deceased customers against probate records and taking action to recover money incorrectly paid; and""recovering any overpayments that were outstanding on the death of a customer."RFE do not recover:"Overpayments made after death;""Official error overpayments"RFE recovery data is only available from 2003, costing data from 2005.
| Recovery | |
|---|---|
| RFE (£) | |
| 2003-04 | 20,832,955 |
| 2004-05 | 20,846,483 |
| 2005-06 | 18,267,983 |
| 2006-07 | 13,698,328 |
| 2007-08 | 23,283,557 |
| Costs | |
|---|---|
| RFE (£ million) | |
| 2005-06 | 1.4 |
| 2006-07 | 1.3 |
| 2007-08 | 1.4 |
Subjects
Overpayments; Social security benefits
Date
3 February 2009
Reference
487 c1015-7W; 249375
House
House of Commons
(5) in how many cases where his Department requested repayment of overpayments following the death of a claimant where such repayments were not mandatory under social security legislation, such requests were not challenged by family members in each of the last five years.
(5) in how many cases where his Department requested repayment of overpayments following the death of a claimant where such repayments were not mandatory under social security legislation, such requests were not challenged by family members in each of the last five years.
Asked by
Lord Grayling
(Conservative)
Answered by
Baroness Ussher
(Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
14 January 2009
For answer on
19 January 2009
Answered on
3 February 2009
Unfortunately, through no fault of any individual, overpayments of benefit can arise following the death of a benefit recipient. Such overpayments normally arise as a result of the Department being notified of the death too late to stop an automated payment being made into the deceased's account.We are doing all we can to improve the current process. We now receive electronic notifications of death from the Office for National Statistics on a daily basis. This will assist in enabling a prompt cessation of payments following death and reduce the number of these overpayments occurring.The Department has a duty to seek recovery of all overpaid funds where it is reasonable and cost effective to do so. However, we seek to do this as sensitively as possible, taking account of the fact that this will be a stressful time, particularly if the person contacted is a close friend or family member. Overpayments are written off if the deceased has no estate or there are insufficient funds in the estate.The Department does not have records to answer all the questions in the format asked. However, we do have data on the value and volume of cases of overpayments where recovery has been made, and data on those that have been written off. The details are in the following tables.Direct payments after death—debts written off. These data are only available from 2006, and by benefit only from 2007.
Write off by benefit for fiscal year 2007-08 is in the following table:
The following table details how much has been recovered by benefit. These data are only available from June 2005.
The following table provides the number of cases where a recovery has been made.
| Volume of cases | Value written off (£ million) | |
| 2006-07 | 157,722 | 27.3 |
| 2007-08 | 198,516 | 27.4 |
| Benefit type name | Count of transactions | Transaction amount (£) |
| Attendance allowance | 42,027 | -4,359,425.89 |
| Bereavement allowance | 28 | -5,524.32 |
| Carers allowance | 476 | -59,692.00 |
| Christmas bonus (contributory) | 1,251 | -10,521.18 |
| Christmas bonus (non-contributory) | 335 | -2,530.00 |
| Constant attendance allowance | 11 | -1,591.40 |
| Disability living allowance: care Compnt | 10,563 | -1,973,865.87 |
| Disability living allowance—care/mob | 9,928 | -1,924,048.96 |
| Disability living allowance: mobility com | 3,383 | -425,446.16 |
| Disability working allowance | 6 | -1,044.40 |
| Exceptionally severe disablement allowance | 2 | -258.10 |
| Incapacity benefit | 4,556 | -737,002.81 |
| Income support | 2,012 | -525,965.59 |
| Industrial death benefit | 105 | -15,796.19 |
| Industrial injuries benefit | 33 | -8,488.15 |
| Industrial injuries disablement benefit | 2,313 | -258,131.92 |
| Jobseeker's allowance: contribution based | 2 | -98.48 |
| Jobseeker's allowance: income based | 7 | -716.19 |
| Maternity allowance | 1 | -225.50 |
| Mobility allowance | 6 | -2,218.80 |
| Non-contributory retirement pension | 8 | -931.11 |
| Pension credit | 37,207 | -3,800,062.84 |
| Reduced earnings allowance | 20 | -1,487.47 |
| Retirement allowance | 22 | -572.07 |
| Retirement pension: contributory | 83,661 | 13,170,990.65 |
| Severe disablement allowance | 432 | -55,430.96 |
| Widowed mother's allowance | 9 | -1,972.19 |
| Widowed parent's allowance | 10 | -1,626.99 |
| Widows pension | 101 | -19,124.14 |
| Winter fuel payments | 1 | -200.00 |
| 198,516 | -27,364,990.33 |
| Value of recoveries of payments made after death | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| £ | |||
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | |
| Attendance allowance | 2,978,730 | 4,707,183 | 7,421,303 |
| Carers allowance | 13,468 | 3,828 | 20,165 |
| Constant attendance allowance | 0 | 153 | 1,661 |
| Disability living allowance—care/mob | 1,734,359 | 1,557,216 | 2,307,649 |
| Incapacity benefit | 122,389 | 302,169 | 437,889 |
| Income support | 49,887 | 47,923 | 89,213 |
| Invalid care allowance | 84,926 | 609 | 0 |
| Industrial injuries benefit | 129,433 | 83,822 | 24,892 |
| Industrial death benefit | 52,661 | 28,033 | 34,913 |
| Industrial injuries disablement benefit | 819 | 148,451 | 315,590 |
| Invalidity benefit | 6,357 | 1,626 | 7,350 |
| Jobseeker's allowance | 406 | 235 | 146 |
| Mobility allowance | 5,269 | 2,447 | 506 |
| Pension credit | 1,519,458 | 3,677,487 | 4,614,515 |
| Retirement pension/state pension | 13,793,186 | 27,372,631 | 30,645,177 |
| Severe disablement allowance | 19,419 | 36,254 | 47,752 |
| Widows benefit | 11,467 | 12,020 | 12,604 |
| Widows pension | 0 | 3,671 | 11,563 |
| Other | 7,089 | 17,647 | 57,882 |
| Sum | 20,529,323 | 38,003,406 | 46,050,769 |
| Note: | |||
| Data for 2005-06 are for the period June 2005 to March 2006 only. |
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007/08 | |
| Attendance allowance | 30,665 | 47,757 | 77,013 |
| Carers allowance | 252 | 39 | 213 |
| Constant attendance allowance | 0 | 2 | 19 |
| DLA | 13,015 | 10,987 | 16,561 |
| Incapacity benefit | 975 | 2,226 | 3,188 |
| Income support | 337 | 289 | 531 |
| Invalid care allowance | 3,123 | 5 | 0 |
| Industrial injuries benefit | 1,180 | 670 | 122 |
| Industrial death benefit | 372 | 194 | 209 |
| Industrial injuries disablement benefit | 6 | 1,388 | 2,839 |
| Invalidity benefit | 51 | 21 | 29 |
| Jobseeker's allowance | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Mobility allowance | 176 | 49 | 36 |
| Pension credit | 16,884 | 40,799 | 54,834 |
| Retirement pension/state pension | 81,948 | 164,060 | 183,242 |
| Severe disablement allowance | 124 | 300 | 398 |
| Widows benefit | 57 | 47 | 18 |
| Widows pension | 0 | 23 | 54 |
| Other | 109 | 562 | 3,063 |
| 149,278 | 269,421 | 342,371 |
Subjects
Overpayments; Social security benefits
Date
3 February 2009
Reference
487 c1019-21W; 249378
House
House of Commons
(3) in how many cases overpayments of benefit have been reclaimed following the death of a claimant where such repayments were not mandatory under social security legislation in each of the last five years, broken down by benefit type;
(3) in how many cases overpayments of benefit have been reclaimed following the death of a claimant where such repayments were not mandatory under social security legislation in each of the last five years, broken down by benefit type;
Asked by
Lord Grayling
(Conservative)
Answered by
Baroness Ussher
(Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
14 January 2009
For answer on
19 January 2009
Answered on
3 February 2009
Unfortunately, through no fault of any individual, overpayments of benefit can arise following the death of a benefit recipient. Such overpayments normally arise as a result of the Department being notified of the death too late to stop an automated payment being made into the deceased's account.We are doing all we can to improve the current process. We now receive electronic notifications of death from the Office for National Statistics on a daily basis. This will assist in enabling a prompt cessation of payments following death and reduce the number of these overpayments occurring.The Department has a duty to seek recovery of all overpaid funds where it is reasonable and cost effective to do so. However, we seek to do this as sensitively as possible, taking account of the fact that this will be a stressful time, particularly if the person contacted is a close friend or family member. Overpayments are written off if the deceased has no estate or there are insufficient funds in the estate.The Department does not have records to answer all the questions in the format asked. However, we do have data on the value and volume of cases of overpayments where recovery has been made, and data on those that have been written off. The details are in the following tables.Direct payments after death—debts written off. These data are only available from 2006, and by benefit only from 2007.
Write off by benefit for fiscal year 2007-08 is in the following table:
The following table details how much has been recovered by benefit. These data are only available from June 2005.
The following table provides the number of cases where a recovery has been made.
| Volume of cases | Value written off (£ million) | |
| 2006-07 | 157,722 | 27.3 |
| 2007-08 | 198,516 | 27.4 |
| Benefit type name | Count of transactions | Transaction amount (£) |
| Attendance allowance | 42,027 | -4,359,425.89 |
| Bereavement allowance | 28 | -5,524.32 |
| Carers allowance | 476 | -59,692.00 |
| Christmas bonus (contributory) | 1,251 | -10,521.18 |
| Christmas bonus (non-contributory) | 335 | -2,530.00 |
| Constant attendance allowance | 11 | -1,591.40 |
| Disability living allowance: care Compnt | 10,563 | -1,973,865.87 |
| Disability living allowance—care/mob | 9,928 | -1,924,048.96 |
| Disability living allowance: mobility com | 3,383 | -425,446.16 |
| Disability working allowance | 6 | -1,044.40 |
| Exceptionally severe disablement allowance | 2 | -258.10 |
| Incapacity benefit | 4,556 | -737,002.81 |
| Income support | 2,012 | -525,965.59 |
| Industrial death benefit | 105 | -15,796.19 |
| Industrial injuries benefit | 33 | -8,488.15 |
| Industrial injuries disablement benefit | 2,313 | -258,131.92 |
| Jobseeker's allowance: contribution based | 2 | -98.48 |
| Jobseeker's allowance: income based | 7 | -716.19 |
| Maternity allowance | 1 | -225.50 |
| Mobility allowance | 6 | -2,218.80 |
| Non-contributory retirement pension | 8 | -931.11 |
| Pension credit | 37,207 | -3,800,062.84 |
| Reduced earnings allowance | 20 | -1,487.47 |
| Retirement allowance | 22 | -572.07 |
| Retirement pension: contributory | 83,661 | 13,170,990.65 |
| Severe disablement allowance | 432 | -55,430.96 |
| Widowed mother's allowance | 9 | -1,972.19 |
| Widowed parent's allowance | 10 | -1,626.99 |
| Widows pension | 101 | -19,124.14 |
| Winter fuel payments | 1 | -200.00 |
| 198,516 | -27,364,990.33 |
| Value of recoveries of payments made after death | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| £ | |||
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | |
| Attendance allowance | 2,978,730 | 4,707,183 | 7,421,303 |
| Carers allowance | 13,468 | 3,828 | 20,165 |
| Constant attendance allowance | 0 | 153 | 1,661 |
| Disability living allowance—care/mob | 1,734,359 | 1,557,216 | 2,307,649 |
| Incapacity benefit | 122,389 | 302,169 | 437,889 |
| Income support | 49,887 | 47,923 | 89,213 |
| Invalid care allowance | 84,926 | 609 | 0 |
| Industrial injuries benefit | 129,433 | 83,822 | 24,892 |
| Industrial death benefit | 52,661 | 28,033 | 34,913 |
| Industrial injuries disablement benefit | 819 | 148,451 | 315,590 |
| Invalidity benefit | 6,357 | 1,626 | 7,350 |
| Jobseeker's allowance | 406 | 235 | 146 |
| Mobility allowance | 5,269 | 2,447 | 506 |
| Pension credit | 1,519,458 | 3,677,487 | 4,614,515 |
| Retirement pension/state pension | 13,793,186 | 27,372,631 | 30,645,177 |
| Severe disablement allowance | 19,419 | 36,254 | 47,752 |
| Widows benefit | 11,467 | 12,020 | 12,604 |
| Widows pension | 0 | 3,671 | 11,563 |
| Other | 7,089 | 17,647 | 57,882 |
| Sum | 20,529,323 | 38,003,406 | 46,050,769 |
| Note: | |||
| Data for 2005-06 are for the period June 2005 to March 2006 only. |
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007/08 | |
| Attendance allowance | 30,665 | 47,757 | 77,013 |
| Carers allowance | 252 | 39 | 213 |
| Constant attendance allowance | 0 | 2 | 19 |
| DLA | 13,015 | 10,987 | 16,561 |
| Incapacity benefit | 975 | 2,226 | 3,188 |
| Income support | 337 | 289 | 531 |
| Invalid care allowance | 3,123 | 5 | 0 |
| Industrial injuries benefit | 1,180 | 670 | 122 |
| Industrial death benefit | 372 | 194 | 209 |
| Industrial injuries disablement benefit | 6 | 1,388 | 2,839 |
| Invalidity benefit | 51 | 21 | 29 |
| Jobseeker's allowance | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Mobility allowance | 176 | 49 | 36 |
| Pension credit | 16,884 | 40,799 | 54,834 |
| Retirement pension/state pension | 81,948 | 164,060 | 183,242 |
| Severe disablement allowance | 124 | 300 | 398 |
| Widows benefit | 57 | 47 | 18 |
| Widows pension | 0 | 23 | 54 |
| Other | 109 | 562 | 3,063 |
| 149,278 | 269,421 | 342,371 |
Subjects
Overpayments; Social security benefits
Date
3 February 2009
Reference
487 c1019-21W; 249376
House
House of Commons
(4) in how many cases his Department has not pursued requests for repayment of overpayments following the death of a claimant in circumstances where the repayment was challenged by family members and where the repayment was not mandatory under social security legislation in each of the last five years;
(4) in how many cases his Department has not pursued requests for repayment of overpayments following the death of a claimant in circumstances where the repayment was challenged by family members and where the repayment was not mandatory under social security legislation in each of the last five years;
Asked by
Lord Grayling
(Conservative)
Answered by
Baroness Ussher
(Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
14 January 2009
For answer on
19 January 2009
Answered on
3 February 2009
Unfortunately, through no fault of any individual, overpayments of benefit can arise following the death of a benefit recipient. Such overpayments normally arise as a result of the Department being notified of the death too late to stop an automated payment being made into the deceased's account.We are doing all we can to improve the current process. We now receive electronic notifications of death from the Office for National Statistics on a daily basis. This will assist in enabling a prompt cessation of payments following death and reduce the number of these overpayments occurring.The Department has a duty to seek recovery of all overpaid funds where it is reasonable and cost effective to do so. However, we seek to do this as sensitively as possible, taking account of the fact that this will be a stressful time, particularly if the person contacted is a close friend or family member. Overpayments are written off if the deceased has no estate or there are insufficient funds in the estate.The Department does not have records to answer all the questions in the format asked. However, we do have data on the value and volume of cases of overpayments where recovery has been made, and data on those that have been written off. The details are in the following tables.Direct payments after death—debts written off. These data are only available from 2006, and by benefit only from 2007.
Write off by benefit for fiscal year 2007-08 is in the following table:
The following table details how much has been recovered by benefit. These data are only available from June 2005.
The following table provides the number of cases where a recovery has been made.
| Volume of cases | Value written off (£ million) | |
| 2006-07 | 157,722 | 27.3 |
| 2007-08 | 198,516 | 27.4 |
| Benefit type name | Count of transactions | Transaction amount (£) |
| Attendance allowance | 42,027 | -4,359,425.89 |
| Bereavement allowance | 28 | -5,524.32 |
| Carers allowance | 476 | -59,692.00 |
| Christmas bonus (contributory) | 1,251 | -10,521.18 |
| Christmas bonus (non-contributory) | 335 | -2,530.00 |
| Constant attendance allowance | 11 | -1,591.40 |
| Disability living allowance: care Compnt | 10,563 | -1,973,865.87 |
| Disability living allowance—care/mob | 9,928 | -1,924,048.96 |
| Disability living allowance: mobility com | 3,383 | -425,446.16 |
| Disability working allowance | 6 | -1,044.40 |
| Exceptionally severe disablement allowance | 2 | -258.10 |
| Incapacity benefit | 4,556 | -737,002.81 |
| Income support | 2,012 | -525,965.59 |
| Industrial death benefit | 105 | -15,796.19 |
| Industrial injuries benefit | 33 | -8,488.15 |
| Industrial injuries disablement benefit | 2,313 | -258,131.92 |
| Jobseeker's allowance: contribution based | 2 | -98.48 |
| Jobseeker's allowance: income based | 7 | -716.19 |
| Maternity allowance | 1 | -225.50 |
| Mobility allowance | 6 | -2,218.80 |
| Non-contributory retirement pension | 8 | -931.11 |
| Pension credit | 37,207 | -3,800,062.84 |
| Reduced earnings allowance | 20 | -1,487.47 |
| Retirement allowance | 22 | -572.07 |
| Retirement pension: contributory | 83,661 | 13,170,990.65 |
| Severe disablement allowance | 432 | -55,430.96 |
| Widowed mother's allowance | 9 | -1,972.19 |
| Widowed parent's allowance | 10 | -1,626.99 |
| Widows pension | 101 | -19,124.14 |
| Winter fuel payments | 1 | -200.00 |
| 198,516 | -27,364,990.33 |
| Value of recoveries of payments made after death | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| £ | |||
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | |
| Attendance allowance | 2,978,730 | 4,707,183 | 7,421,303 |
| Carers allowance | 13,468 | 3,828 | 20,165 |
| Constant attendance allowance | 0 | 153 | 1,661 |
| Disability living allowance—care/mob | 1,734,359 | 1,557,216 | 2,307,649 |
| Incapacity benefit | 122,389 | 302,169 | 437,889 |
| Income support | 49,887 | 47,923 | 89,213 |
| Invalid care allowance | 84,926 | 609 | 0 |
| Industrial injuries benefit | 129,433 | 83,822 | 24,892 |
| Industrial death benefit | 52,661 | 28,033 | 34,913 |
| Industrial injuries disablement benefit | 819 | 148,451 | 315,590 |
| Invalidity benefit | 6,357 | 1,626 | 7,350 |
| Jobseeker's allowance | 406 | 235 | 146 |
| Mobility allowance | 5,269 | 2,447 | 506 |
| Pension credit | 1,519,458 | 3,677,487 | 4,614,515 |
| Retirement pension/state pension | 13,793,186 | 27,372,631 | 30,645,177 |
| Severe disablement allowance | 19,419 | 36,254 | 47,752 |
| Widows benefit | 11,467 | 12,020 | 12,604 |
| Widows pension | 0 | 3,671 | 11,563 |
| Other | 7,089 | 17,647 | 57,882 |
| Sum | 20,529,323 | 38,003,406 | 46,050,769 |
| Note: | |||
| Data for 2005-06 are for the period June 2005 to March 2006 only. |
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007/08 | |
| Attendance allowance | 30,665 | 47,757 | 77,013 |
| Carers allowance | 252 | 39 | 213 |
| Constant attendance allowance | 0 | 2 | 19 |
| DLA | 13,015 | 10,987 | 16,561 |
| Incapacity benefit | 975 | 2,226 | 3,188 |
| Income support | 337 | 289 | 531 |
| Invalid care allowance | 3,123 | 5 | 0 |
| Industrial injuries benefit | 1,180 | 670 | 122 |
| Industrial death benefit | 372 | 194 | 209 |
| Industrial injuries disablement benefit | 6 | 1,388 | 2,839 |
| Invalidity benefit | 51 | 21 | 29 |
| Jobseeker's allowance | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Mobility allowance | 176 | 49 | 36 |
| Pension credit | 16,884 | 40,799 | 54,834 |
| Retirement pension/state pension | 81,948 | 164,060 | 183,242 |
| Severe disablement allowance | 124 | 300 | 398 |
| Widows benefit | 57 | 47 | 18 |
| Widows pension | 0 | 23 | 54 |
| Other | 109 | 562 | 3,063 |
| 149,278 | 269,421 | 342,371 |
Subjects
Overpayments; Social security benefits
Date
3 February 2009
Reference
487 c1019-21W; 249377
House
House of Commons
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many people were subject to (a) a county court claim by his Department and (b) a county court judgement as a result of such a claim for defaulting on repayments of a (i) crisis loan and (ii) budget...
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many people were subject to (a) a county court claim by his Department and (b) a county court judgement as a result of such a claim for defaulting on repayments of a (i) crisis loan and (ii) budget...
Asked by
Lord Grayling
(Conservative)
Answered by
Baroness Ussher
(Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
14 January 2009
For answer on
19 January 2009
Answered on
3 February 2009
Where a person is in receipt of benefit, recovery is by means of deductions from benefit only.Court action is only taken against those no longer receiving benefits. Such action is taken only should a voluntary arrangement not be possible, or if there is a default on that arrangement. The Department does not seek repossession of items in default cases, neither does the Department take bankruptcy action.The information relating to the number of occasions bailiffs have been used is not available.The number of people subject to a county court claim by the Department for Work and Pensions for defaulting on Social Fund repayments is set out as follows. The information cannot be separated between Budgeting Loans and Crisis Loans. No action has been taken to enforce recovery of outstanding loans through the courts since 2005-06.
As part of the Department's programme to bring increased focus to the management and recovery of debt generally, the decision was made to transfer the management and recovery of social fund off-benefit cases to the Department's specialist Debt Management unit. This commenced in 2005. Referring the outstanding social fund loans to Debt Management has enabled the use of their specialist skills in pursuing recovery from customers who are no longer in receipt of benefit.This transfer of cases to Debt Management has already resulted in significant recoveries on loans from those no longer in receipt of benefit, without a need to refer for court enforcement.
| Number of court claims in social fund cases | |
|---|---|
| Number | |
| 1997-98 | 14,417 |
| 1998-99 | 12,005 |
| 1999-2000 | 15,619 |
| 2000-01 | 10,688 |
| 2001-02 | 7,861 |
| 2002-03 | 5,878 |
| 2003-04 | 6,009 |
| 2004-05 | 3,792 |
| 2005-06 | 1,076 |
| Note: | |
| Data prior to 2003-04 has been supplied by the courts. |
Subjects
Crisis loans; Budgeting loans
Date
3 February 2009
Reference
487 c1012-3W; 249339
House
House of Commons
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many and what percentage of children lived in families claiming out-of-work benefits in 2008, broken down by parliamentary constituency.
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many and what percentage of children lived in families claiming out-of-work benefits in 2008, broken down by parliamentary constituency.
Asked by
Lord Grayling
(Conservative)
Answered by
Baroness Ussher
(Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
14 January 2009
For answer on
19 January 2009
Answered on
28 January 2009
I have been asked to reply.I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 27 October 2008, Official Report, column 702W.
Subjects
Children; Unemployment benefits
Date
28 January 2009
Reference
487 c675W; 249369
House
House of Commons
(2) how many (a) payments and (b) recipients there were of cold weather payments in each constituency in each of the last five years.
(2) how many (a) payments and (b) recipients there were of cold weather payments in each constituency in each of the last five years.
Asked by
Lord Grayling
(Conservative)
Answered by
Baroness Ussher
(Labour)
Answering body
Department for Work and Pensions
Type
Written questions
Status
Answered
Tabled on
15 December 2008
For answer on
18 December 2008
Answered on
26 January 2009
The information requested is not available.
Subjects
Cold weather payments
Date
26 January 2009
Reference
487 c87W; 245141
House
House of Commons