UK pays £850m to dead claimants in major error
The UK government has mistakenly paid out £850 million in benefits to people who had already died, exposing major administrative failures inside Department for Work and Pensions.
The payments, uncovered in new data, stem from around 2.6 million errors since 2021, with officials recovering less than half of the total amount so far, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
The overpayments are believed to involve a mix of welfare schemes, including:
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- Mental health-related benefits
- Out-of-work support
- State pensions and other payments
In many cases, the payments continued because death notifications arrived too late or were processed after funds had already been issued.
The issue adds to mounting scrutiny on the UK’s welfare system, which costs taxpayers roughly £300 billion annually.
Pat McFadden is under pressure to recover the funds and tighten controls, while Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces criticism over welfare spending policies.
The controversy comes amid a series of politically sensitive decisions, including:
- Reversing plans to tighten eligibility for disability benefits
- Dropping restrictions on winter fuel payments
- Considering changes to the two-child benefit cap
The revelations follow another financial oversight involving National Savings and Investments, where £476 million owed to bereaved families went unpaid due to system errors.
Critics say the latest case shows the welfare system has “lost control” of basic administration, with calls for urgent reform and tighter monitoring.
Official figures show that £9.5 billion in benefits were overpaid in 2025 alone. While most losses are linked to fraud, around 20% are due to claimant mistakes, and a significant portion now tied to administrative errors.
Separate data also revealed that £27 million in winter fuel payments was sent to nearly 83,000 deceased individuals since 2023.
Officials admit that in some cases, recovering the money may cost more than the overpayments themselves, especially when individual sums are relatively small.
The Department for Work and Pensions says it will continue efforts to reclaim funds where “reasonable and cost-effective,” and urges families to report deaths promptly through its notification system.
By Aysel Mammadzada
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