A Universal Credit claimant was left “absolutely devastated” after being inaccurately told she owed more than £12,000 to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The DWP informed Penny Davis she had been paid too much in the benefit payment and had to return the money back or get it deducted from her wages.
However, the department actually owed her payments as Davis missed out on almost £2,000 in Universal Credit and more in cost of living support.
Since making the appeal six months ago, she has yet to receive the money owed despite the DWP admitting that they made a mistake and her debt being written off.
One woman was 'devastated' after the false accusation from the DWP
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Speaking to The Big Issue, the single mother shared: “I’m absolutely devastated because it changed everything for me.
“I’m now in a situation where I have to work four days a week and I still haven’t finished my PhD.
“Getting that letter and thinking that I’d have to pay that back made me very fearful of ever claiming again.”
This error had been made public shortly after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Mel Stride’s “Back to Work” plan was unveiled.
As part of the initiative, the DWP will crack down on benefits fraud and enforce stricter sanctions on claimants.
This mistake took place when Davis took nine months off from her PhD at Loughborough University during the pandemic, choosing to take time off to look after her three children.
Davis previously had doctoral funding which secured her money to cover living costs during her PhD but this was stopped when she stopped studying.
When she started claiming Universal Credit, she was also working full-time so she did not receive the full amount.
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Ms Davis received Universal Credit while on a break from her studies
PALast year, the DWP told Davis she would have to pay back the Universal Credit she got which came to £12,382.45.
She added: “I just stopped in my tracks. I couldn’t believe that they would ask for me to pay it back.” Despite appealing her case, Davis found the process “confusing”.
“They literally sat on it for months and then I got a letter from the DWP from the people that deal with overpayments saying they’re going to start taking the money out of my wages in January,” the benefit claimant explained.
“They didn’t even acknowledge my appeal. I kept ringing the people that deal with the appeal. And they just said that the DWP hasn’t replied. We keep contacting them and they haven’t replied. So that went on for months and months.”
A few days prior to her court hearing, the DWP told the young woman it had made a mistake. In a letter seen by The Big Issue, the department confirmed there was “no overpayment and arrears are due”.
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson told GB News: “We sincerely apologise for this error and the customer is being reimbursed. The rate of Universal Credit overpayments due to official error, such as this, is currently at 0.6 per cent - its lowest ever.
According to the department, the claimant’s student income was incorrectly accounted for by a decision maker during her break from university.
