DWP Delays UC Backpay

Anger is mounting after it was revealed thousands of people who lost out on vital disability payments have still not been reimbursed nine months on.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) was forced to repay 7,000 claimants who lost out on months-worth of severe disability premium payments as a result of being moved to universal credit.

That was nine months ago and so far not one has been compensated.

Officials at the DWP responding to a written question by SNP MP Ronnie Cowan said repayments could take up to six months to administer once MPs have voted on managed migration regulations, which could take place as late as 28 June.

This could mean people might not receive the monies they are entitled to until December 2019 – almost a year and a half after they were promised repayments by the Tory government.

Cowan said: “While the Tory government continue to delay these repayments, each day thousands of the most vulnerable people in society are missing out on the money they need to live and the money they are entitled to.

“The UK government must stop kicking this issue into the long grass and imminently reimburse the thousands of people who have missed out on vital disability payments.

“This is the third back payment scandal the DWP has overseen in two years – it seems the Secretary of State has not learned any lessons and fails to deliver on the promises she has made.”

Joe McDowie from Stirling has been a prominent campaigner against the move to universal credit for disabled people.

He said: “Despite winning this small concession, disabled people are languishing in very difficult circumstances waiting for payouts. You have to realise that disabled people are so much more heavily disadvantaged than regular benefit claimants. That’s why this delay is particularly – some would say deliberately – cruel.”

Following meetings and correspondence with UK ministers, SNP MP Ronnie Cowan is urging the UK government to make the repayments immediately.