Social Security claw back £2.5m in overpaid benefits

Wednesday 11 December 2019

Income Support has clawed back around £2.5million from the island’s lowest earning families this year, after having 'overpaid' their benefits.

The advance payments, made to the lowest income families, are often subject to adjustments due to changes in the household’s earnings after they have received the benefit payment.

Therefore, any ‘surplus’ needs to be paid back to the department and this year alone, the total clawed back is approximately £2,547,000. 

The figure emerged in the Social Security Minister’s response to a written question from Deputy Rob Ward about repaying income support overpayments.

Pictured: The figure emerged as part of a written question tabled at the last States' meeting of the year.

Income support is a benefit scheme which offers low income families advance payments to help them afford to live in times of hardship.

Deputy Ward asked: “How much money was recovered monthly over the last year from Social Security of Income Support claimants through the repayment of overpayments made by the Minister’s department[?]”

In her response, Deputy Judy Martin suggested that the system of making payments in advance creates the need for “adjustments” after that payment is made – which results in overpayments from the Department needing to be repaid by the income support claimants.

She stated: “The income support scheme provides payments in advance to low income families. This ensures that vulnerable households are not left without funds to support their basic needs immediately following a drop in income. 

“A system that makes payments in advance will always require adjustments where household income has increased after a payment has been made.” 

The Minister then gives a month-by-month breakdown of how many overpayments have been clawed back by the department so far in 2019.

Pictured: The monthly breakdown of benefits overpaid and clawed back from those on Income Support.

It indicates repayments of between £178,000 and £360,000 per month from January until November.

Deputy Ward also asked about the number of households that are currently repaying overpaid benefits, to which the Minister stated: “1,172 IS [Income Support] household claims are currently being adjusted for overpayments.”