Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what her Department's policy is on resolving universal credit overpayments in the event that the overpayment is due to an error by her Department.

Where Official Error overpayments do occur in a very small number of cases, the introduction of the 2012 Welfare Reform Act means that all overpayments of Universal Credit are recoverable.

Where recovery is made by deduction from Universal Credit, there is a limit placed on the overall amount that can be deducted which is currently 25% of the Standard Allowance. Moreover, a priority order is applied, which determines the order in which deductions can be made, with ‘last resort’ deductions, such as rent or fuel costs, taking precedence.

Anyone with overpayment deductions who does experience financial hardship is encouraged to contact the Department’s Debt Management unit. Where a person cannot afford the proposed rate, a lower amount can be negotiated.