HC Deb 23 February 1995 vol 255 cc285-6W
Mr. Worthington

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what have been the 10 largest amounts of benefit recovered by the compensation recovery unit in this financial year; and what disease, sickness or disability the person paying benefit suffered from in each case;

(2) how many people have had to pay back benefits to the compensation recovery unit in this financial year, and what is the distribution by the size of the amounts recovered.

Mr. Roger Evans

This is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member with such information as is available.

Letter from Michael Bichard to Mr. Tony Worthington, dated 22 February 1995:

The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions concerning the ten largest amounts recovered by the Compensation Recovery Unit (CRU) this financial year; also how many people have paid back benefits to the CRU this financial year and what is the distribution by size of the amounts recovered.I have provided at Annex A a table relating to the ten largest amounts recovered this financial year.In the period 1 April 1994 to 31 January 1995 there have been a total of 32,829 cases in which benefit has been recouped. The range and number of recoveries within each band are provided at Annex B.I hope you find this reply helpful.

Annex A
Disease/injury Amount recovered £
Back/spinal injury 84,630.01
Multiple injuries 79,186.77
Multiple injuries 79,014.03
Multiple injuries 69,945.16
Miscellaneous1 69,835.23
Miscellaneous1 68,607.50
Chest injury 68,223.99
Multiple injuries 67,843.94
Head/facial injury 66,726.13
Multiple injuries 65,514.13
1 Non-coded injury/disease—includes lacerations/cuts, bruising or any combination where no specific part of the body is mentioned.

Annex B
Range £ Number of cases Percentage of cases
Up to and including 5,000 27,982 85,23
5,000.01-10,000 2,075 6.32
10,000.01-15,000 1,192 3.63
15,000.01-20,000 654 2.00
20,000.01-25,000 418 1,28
Recovery exceeding 25,000.01 508 1.54

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