The government plans to end child benefit payments for claimants outside the UK for more than eight weeks, except in exceptional circumstances. A specialist team will use travel data to identify claimants abroad and halt payments. A pilot stopped child benefit being incorrectly paid to 2,600 people who had left the UK. A team of 15 investigators recovered around 17m in under 12 months. The unit will expand to more than 200 staff next month. The move aims to save 350m over five years and raise awareness of reporting rules. Overall benefit overpayments due to fraud were estimated at 6.5bn in 2024/25.
A team of 15 investigators stopped around 17m being incorrectly paid out in less than 12 months. From next month, more than 200 people will be working on the team. The government hopes the move will also raise awareness of the rules to avoid people continuing to claim the benefit by mistake when they are abroad for an extended period.
Overall, benefit fraud has increased since the pandemic, although levels have started to drop in recent years, with renewed efforts by government to tackle the issue. There was an estimated 6.5bn in benefit overpayments due to fraud in 2024/25, according to figures from the Department for Work and Pensions, equivalent to 2.2% of all benefit expenditure. Rates of overpayments tend to be higher for means-tested benefits like Universal Credit.
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