DWP fraud and error review of State Pension and four benefits, Digi Mart USA News (United Kingdom): The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has confirmed that five major benefits are being assessed for fraud and error during the 2026/27 financial year, with findings due to be published in May next year.
The benefits included in the latest review programme are Universal Credit, Housing Benefit (pension age, non pass-ported cases), Pension Credit, State Pension and Personal Independence Payment (PIP). Details were published in the DWP’s latest Fraud and Error in the Benefit System report for the 2025/26 financial year, which measures how much benefit spending is lost through fraud, claimant error and official error across the welfare system.
Universal Credit is expected to remain one of the main areas of focus, as the latest report showed it continued to account for the largest proportion of benefit overpayments. The DWP estimated Universal Credit overpayments at 10.5 per cent (£9.5 billion) in the year ending April 2026.
By comparison, State Pension recorded the lowest overpayment rate of all DWP benefits at 0.2 per cent (£230m).
However, the report said historic Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) errors remained the biggest reason for State Pension underpayments linked to National Insurance contribution records. The DWP said these errors accounted for “£6 in every £10 underpaid due to Contributions.”
Pension Credit is also expected to remain under close scrutiny, after the latest figures showed overpayments of 9.7 per cent (£620m) and underpayments of 1.3 per cent (£80m). Meanwhile, PIP continues to be included in the DWP’s fraud and error measurement programme as the UK Government examines spending across disability and working-age benefits.
PIP is a key disability benefit that provides between £121.20 and £778.40 every four-week payment period to more than 3.9 million people across England and Wales. The benefit has been replaced in Scotland for more than half a million claimants by the devolved benefit, Adult Disability Payment.
The DWP uses reviews of randomly selected claims, alongside administrative checks and wider analysis, to estimate levels of incorrect benefit payments across the system. The Department stressed that the figures are estimates designed to measure overall levels of fraud and error rather than findings linked to individual claimants.
Evan John, policy adviser at the national disability charity Sense, told the Daily Record: “Fraud is very uncommon amongst people claiming disability benefits, with the vast majority of funds being used as intended: offsetting the additional costs that come with being disabled, and enabling disabled people to afford the essentials. Benefits are an absolute lifeline for disabled people with complex needs.”
Sense is also urging the UK Government “to recognise how important disability benefits are for society, and commit to not making any further cuts to disability benefits during their time in government.”
The DWP defines fraud and error in three types. Fraud applies where the conditions for receipt of benefit, or the rate of benefit in payment, are not being met, the claimant can reasonably be expected to be aware of the effect on their entitlement, and the benefit payment stops or reduces as a result of the review.
Examples include faking an illness or injury to get unemployment or disability benefits, failing to report income from a business or employment, living with someone who contributes to household income without declaring it, and falsifying accounts to make it seem a person has less money than they do.
Claimant error applies where the claimant has provided inaccurate or incomplete information, or failed to report a change in circumstances, but there is no evidence of fraudulent intent. Official error applies where the benefit has been paid incorrectly due to a failure to act, a delay or a mistaken assessment by the DWP, a local authority or HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), to which no one outside that department has materially contributed.
