Hundreds of thousands of pensioners have collectively incurred more than £100 million in debt because of government errors, according to reports. Figures published by the i Paper following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request revealed that over 220,000 pensioners were overpayed by £109 million in 2024/25, but just 2,861 overpayments were written off by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). It meant only a £3.3 million chunk of the money was disregarded, with the remaining amount incurred as debt by retirees.
“The DWP is on shaky legal ground in demanding repayments of state pensions or benefits caused by its own incompetence, particularly if the errors go back some time,” Dennis Reed, director of the charity Silver Voices, said in response to the findings. The amount levied on pensioners rose measurably in the last year compared to 2023/24, when state pension overpayments totalled around £20 million, of which £4.76 million was written off.
Mr Reed also said that pensioners who had received overpayments should “not be saddled with large debts because the department can’t get its poor administration sorted out” and warned them to make “an immediate repayment and state that the responsibility for the error rests with the DWP”.
The “official errors” are defined by the DWP as those which are “not as a result of a failure to diclose or misrepresentation by the claimant” but “as a result of a departmental error”.
Lucy Bannister, head of policy and influencing at the financial insecurity charity Turn2Us, warned that the “penalisation” of pensioners for such errors could force them to choose between essentials like food and energy bills.
She said: “Like our NHS, our social security system was set up to be there for all of us. It should give us security when we’re not well and help us bounce back when life takes a turn. Claimants should never be penalised for DWP administrative errors. They cause severe distress – often forcing households to choose between essentials like heating or food.”
“A rise in errors like these also increases fear and mistrust in the DWP, making it harder for work coaches and assessors to work with claimants to identify the support they need,” Ms Bannister warned.
“For the government’s ongoing reforms to be successful, it needs to prioritise rebuilding trust and treating everyone with dignity and respect.”
A spokesperson for the department said: “We are determined to tackle fraud, error and debt and through our Fraud, Error and Recovery Bill we are bringing forward the biggest crackdown in a generation.
“Thanks to our reforms, we will save the taxpayer £1.5 billion over the next five years, as part of wider plans that will save £9.6 billion by 2030.”
