Benefit Overpayments and Travel Money

Money Box

BBC

Business

4.2 • 804 Ratings

🗓️ 24 August 2024

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Nearly 10,000 people have needed free debt advice because of accidental overpayments by the Department for Work and Pensions in the past 12 months. That's according to figures from Money Wellness, a debt advice company which is funded by the government's Money and Pension Service. It says because most of its clients are low income households these debts can have significant knock-on impacts on the rest of their finances. The DWP says its staff work hard to support customers, and it's important to explore ways to reduce fraud and error so it can support the most vulnerable in society.

What will the new Pensions Bill announced by the Labour government in the King's Speech mean for your finances? We'll discuss plans to bring small pension pots, which people get after short term jobs, together.

Campaigners are calling for bereavement support payments to be extended for longer and for the amount given to families to rise with inflation. At the moment parents under pension age whose partner dies are entitled to bereavement benefits - as much £3,500 followed by 18 monthly payments of up to £350. The charity Widowed and Young would like those payments to be in place for longer. The Department for Work and Pensions told us that it knows losing a loved one is devastating and that it's committed to supporting those most in need through the welfare system.

And what's the best way to pay while you’re on holiday abroad?

Presenter: Paul Lewis Reporters: Dan Whitworth, Sarah Rogers and Jo Krasner Researchers: Immie Rhodes Editor: Jess Quayle

(First broadcast 12pm Saturday 27th July 2024)

Transcript

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0:00.0	You are about to listen to a BBC podcast and I'd like to tell you a bit about what goes into making one.
0:06.5	I'm Sadata Sese, an assistant commissioner of podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:11.2	I pull a lot of levers to support a diverse range of podcasts on all sorts of subjects,
0:16.0	relationships, identity, comedy, even one that mixes poetry, music and inner city life.
0:22.4	So one day I'll be helping host develop their ideas, the next fact-checking, a feature,
0:28.3	and the next looking at how a podcast connects with its audience, and maybe that's you.
0:33.6	So if you like this podcast, check out some others on BBC Sounds.
0:39.5	BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.
0:43.2	Hello, welcome to this Moneybox podcast.
0:46.0	New rules are planned to stop people losing track of their growing number of small pensions.
0:51.3	What's the best way to pay for things if you're going on holiday abroad?
0:55.2	And there are calls for bereavement benefits to be increased with inflation and last longer
1:00.2	than a year and a half. But first, nearly 10,000 people have needed free debt advice in the last
1:05.8	12 months because of mistakes by the Department for Work and Pensions. They've been overpaid because of what is known as official error,
1:13.5	but the department normally demands they pay back the money
1:16.1	it wrongly gave them in the first place.
1:18.5	Those figures have been given exclusively to Moneybox by Money Wellness,
1:22.3	a debt advice provider funded by the government's own Money and Pension Service.
1:26.9	Money Wellness says most of its
1:28.2	clients are households on low incomes, so paying back the money they thought was theirs can
1:32.4	devastate the rest of their finances. That happened to Kevin Hilton, who was told he owed
1:37.7	more than £13,000 after being paid universal credit, which he was then told he shouldn't have
	...

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