§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will make a statement on the reasons for the recent overpayment of benefit into recipients' bank and building society accounts; [107543]
(2) what estimate he has made of the extra costs incurred in recovering the overpayment of benefits paid direct into beneficiaries' accounts; and if he will make a statement. [107542]
§ Angela EagleThe administration of benefit payments is a matter for Peter Mathison, the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Paul Burstow, dated 28 January 2000:
The Secretary of State has asked me to respond to your recent questions asking if he will make a statement on the reasons for the recent overpayment of benefit into recipients' bank and building society accounts, and also, what estimate he has made of the extra costs which will be incurred in recovering the benefit overpaid.The problem was caused by an incomplete file being erroneously passed to the Bankers Automated Credit Service for payment on 17 January, compounded by the correct file being reprocessed for payment on 18 January.On 17 January 112,000 customers correctly received a payment into their bank accounts, while 60,000 customers did not receive the payment which was due. The following day, the same 112,000 customers received a duplicate payment into their accounts, while the 60,000 customers received their payment a day late. The value of the duplicate payments amount to £10.5 million.Customers were notified of the problem by letter on 24 January and given details of how to repay the duplicate payment. Dedicated phone lines were set up to receive phone calls from those customers who needed to talk to somebody about how to pay the money back. Customers can also contact their local benefit offices for advice.No estimate is yet available as to the extra costs incurred in recovering the overpaid benefit.I hope this is helpful.
§ Mr. SandersTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how much benefit was overpaid due to a processing error notified to recipients in a letter from the Benefits Agency Central Recovery Group Manager dated 23 January; and if he will make a statement; [107533]
(2) what steps he will take to recover overpaid benefit due to a processing error notified to recipients in January from those people who are unable to pay it back immediately; and if he will make a statement; [107535]
(3) how many people were contacted about benefit overpayments by the Central Recovery Group Manager of the Benefits Agency in letters to recipients in January. [107534]
§ Angela EagleThe administration of benefit payments is a matter for Mr. Peter Mathison, the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
472WLetter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Adrian Sanders, dated 28 January 2000:
The Secretary of State has asked me to respond to your recent questions asking if he will make a statement about how much benefit was overpaid due to a processing error notified to recipients in a letter from the Benefits Agency Central Recovery Group Manager dated 23rd January, how many people received letters and what steps he will take to recover overpaid benefit due to the error from those people who are unable to pay it back immediately.A computer processing problem resulted in a batch of Income Support payments paid by Automated Credit Transfer being duplicated. 112,000 Income Support customers received duplicate payments amounting to £10.5m. The payments were made into customers' bank accounts on 18 January. The duplicate payments made represent a very small proportion of the total number of Income Support payments the Agency makes each year.Customers were notified of the problem by letter on 24 January and given details of how to repay the duplicate payment. Letters were issued to 109,663 customers. Letters were not issued where we had been informed the customer had since died or where the amount paid was less than £5.The Secretary of State has a duty to seek recovery under common law where an overpayment has arisen outside of the provisions of Sections 71 and 74 of the Administration Act 1992. Recovery under common law has been a feature of the social security system since its inception.The BAs Central Recovery Group has set up dedicated phone lines to receive phone calls from customers who needed to speak to somebody about how to pay the money back. Customers can also contact their local benefit offices for advice and guidance.I hope this is helpful.