BENEFIT FRAUD HITS AN ALL-TIME HIGH
THE GOVERNMENT lost £2bn to benefit fraudsters in the last year, the latest figures show - a record high.
A person can receive various types of benefit, including jobseeker’s allowance, disability living allowance, and universal credit.
They are intended to help those in worse off situations than others.
Benefit fraud takes place when a person knowingly claims money to which they are not entitled - but as well as the £2bn lost to fraud, £1.6bn of taxpayers’ money is lost annually to errors by claimants or officials. Of the £2bn fraud bill for 2016/17, some £1bn went on illegal claims for housing benefit. While housing benefit aims to help those who struggle to put a roof over their head, it is actually paid direct to the landlord. A further £300 million was lost to fraudulent claims for employment and support benefit.
Pension fraud cost the taxpayer £120 million, while jobseekers’ allowance fraud cost a further £100m.
The amount of benefit fraud identified by officials has increased in recent years.
In both 2012/13 and 2013/14 the figure stood at £1.2bn, while in 2014/15 it rose fractionally to £1.3bn.
By 2015/16, however, it had risen by £600 million to £1.9bn, and 2016/17 is the first year that it has topped £2bn.
While the figure might seem extremely high, in fact it works out as just 1.1% of the UK’s total welfare bill of £174bn.
Non-fraudulent errors by claimants accounted for £900 million of overpayments, down from £1.4bn in 2011/12.
Some £1.1bn (30.5%) of the £3.6bn overpaid was recovered, while the remaining £2.5bn was not.
Errors by officials were responsible for a further £700 million of overpayments this year.
If a person is found to have committed benefit fraud they may be told to pay back the money, be taken to court and fined, or receive reduced benefits.
Some benefits can be banned for up to three years if a person is convicted of fraud. A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: “We have brought in reforms to improve detection, prevention and recovery and our fraud investigators work tirelessly to bring criminals to justice. “Last year we prosecuted around 5,000 fraudsters and issued around 6,000 administrative penalties and recovered a record £1.1bn in overpaid benefits. “Meanwhile, Universal Credit will reduce fraud and error by £1.5bn when it is fully rolled out.”