DWP paid a record £170m to dead pensioners last year; £348m of £673m recovered in five years
The Department for Work and Pensions paid a record £170m in pension payments to people after they died last year. Over five years, £348m of £673m has been recovered and almost £240m written off, according to figures first reported by the Telegraph.
1 / 2
The story, neutrally told
Left · 2The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) paid a record £170m in pension payments to people who had already died last year, according to figures first reported by the Telegraph. MetroLC “A record £170million in pension payments were made to people after they had died last year.” Read at Metro ↗ Daily MirrorL “according to the Telegraph.” Read at Daily Mirror ↗ Left · 2Over the past five years £673m has been paid to dead pensioners, of which £348m has been recovered. MetroLC “Just £348million of the £673million inadvertently paid out to deceased pensioners in the last five years has been recovered by the exchequer.” Read at Metro ↗ Daily MirrorL “The newspaper reports that £673million has been paid to dead pensioners in the past five years but only £348million has been recovered.” Read at Daily Mirror ↗ Left · 2Some £240m of the five-year total has been written off as unrecoverable debt. MetroLC “Of the rest, some £240million has been written off as unrecoverable debt.” Read at Metro ↗ Daily MirrorL “Almost £240million has been written off during this time.” Read at Daily Mirror ↗
Left · 1For last year's payments, the Daily Mirror reports that the DWP has written off £16.5m and is trying to recover £67m; the figures cover state pension and pension credit. Daily MirrorL “is attempting to recover £67million. This includes state pension and pension credit payments.” Read at Daily Mirror ↗ Left · 2The overpayments usually arise from a gap between a person's death and their family notifying the DWP. Metro says relatives must report a death within five days, and that the DWP records a failure to report as fraud or claimant error. MetroLC “The overpayments are usually caused by a lag between a person passing away and their family notifying the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP).”“A failure to report a death is recorded by DWP as a fraud or claimant error.” Read at Metro ↗ Daily MirrorL “Pension payments can sometimes get sent after death if there is a gap between someone dying and the family registering the death and notifying the DWP.” Read at Daily Mirror ↗ Left · 2The DWP treats such overpayments as a debt of the person's estate and has no legal power to force family members to repay. According to the Mirror, next of kin are not normally liable personally unless they committed fraud, deliberately failed to report a death or gave misleading information. Civil servants can only write to families asking for repayment. Daily MirrorL “The DWP treats pension overpayments that have occurred after someone has died as a debt of their estate, though it has no legal powers to force family to repay the money.”“Family and next of kin are not normally liable to pay out of their own pockets unless they have committed fraud, deliberately failed to report a death, or gave misleading information.” Read at Daily Mirror ↗ MetroLC “Grieving families have no legal obligation to give any money back, so civil servants can only write to them requesting repayment.” Read at Metro ↗
Left · 1The Mirror says the DWP writes off debts when the cost of pursuing them exceeds the sum owed, so small overpayments are often written off. Daily MirrorL “The DWP writes off debts if the cost of pursuing it exceeds how much money is owed.” Read at Daily Mirror ↗ Left · 1Sir Steve Webb, a former Liberal Democrat pensions minister, said the amounts would rise as pensioner numbers and pension rates grow, and that a heavy-handed approach to the recently bereaved would go down badly with the public. Shimeon Lee of the TaxPayers' Alliance said the losses, though a small share of total pension spending, are a 'serious weakness' in the system. MetroLC “He added that the number of overpayments would likely increase as the number of pensioners and rates grow.”“they represent a” Read at Metro ↗ Left · 1A DWP spokesperson said it is department policy to recover debt where it is reasonable and cost-effective to do so. The department encouraged bereaved people to use its Tell us Once service and said it acts quickly to update records once notified. Daily MirrorL “It is DWP policy to recover all debt where it is reasonable and cost effective to do so.”“We encourage anyone who has recently lost a loved one to use our Tell us Once service” Read at Daily Mirror ↗
Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.
Left2 outlets
- Framing
- Both outlets relay the Telegraph's figures as a record-loss story, stressing the scale of the sums and how little has been recovered, while noting that families have no legal duty to repay.
- Emphasis
- Metro stresses the five-year recovery shortfall and expert comment (Webb, TaxPayers' Alliance); the Mirror stresses last year's figure, what is written off or being recovered, and the legal position of families.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Neither outlet gives independent figures beyond the Telegraph's, and neither explains why last year's total rose to a record. Metro's headline says 'benefits' although the figures concern pension payments.
- Charged language
- “Grieving families”
- For example
-
“Dead people were paid £170,000,000 in benefits last year” — Metro
“DWP paid out record £170million to dead pensioners last year” — Daily Mirror
Centre0 outlets
No centre outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
Right0 outlets
No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
What every side reports
- A record £170m in pension payments went to dead people last year, as first reported by the Telegraph.
- £673m was paid to dead pensioners over five years, of which £348m has been recovered.
- About £240m has been written off over the five years.
- The DWP cannot legally force families to repay.
Where accounts differ
-
How the payments are described
- Left
- Metro's headline calls them 'benefits', while its text and the Mirror refer to pension payments (state pension and pension credit).
Department for Work and Pensions organisation
The DWP says it pursues debt where it is reasonable and cost-effective, urges bereaved families to use Tell us Once, and says it updates records quickly once told of a death.
“Once we've been notified, we act quickly to update our records and make sure benefits only go to those who are entitled to them.” — Daily Mirror
“It is DWP policy to recover all debt where it is reasonable and cost effective to do so.” — Daily Mirror
Left2 articles
-
MetroLC ·
Dead people were paid £170,000,000 in benefits last year
Critical Presents the sums as a record loss with low recovery, adding comment from a former pensions minister and the TaxPayers' Alliance.
-
DWP paid out record £170million to dead pensioners last year
Neutral Reports the record figure and the share not recovered, then explains the legal position of families and the DWP's write-off policy.
Centre0 articles
No coverage yet.
Right0 articles
No coverage yet.
- 10 Oct 09:40 First MetroLC Dead people were paid £170,000,000 in benefits last year
- 12 Oct 14:22 +52h 41m Daily MirrorL DWP paid out record £170million to dead pensioners last year
Times are when each article was published, or when we first saw it if the outlet gave no time.