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THE DEPARTMENT HAS BEEN SLAMMED FOR SENDING OUT THE LETTERS 14:46, 09 Feb 2025 The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has been blasted for issuing letters to grieving families over

payments. Former pensions minister Sir Steve Webb hit out at the department for asking families to return overpaid pension payments - without making it clear the repayment was optional. Sir

Steve said the DWP had inadvertently paid out more than £500 million in State Pension and Pension Credit payments to accounts of people who had died. The payments had taken place over five

years, with the DWP managing to recoup about half that amount. Overpayments following a person's death are not legally enforceable. But the DWP attempts to reclaim funds as voluntary

repayments, citing a duty to the taxpayers. READ MORE: MUM OF SOUTHPORT VICTIM REVEALS HEARTBREAKING NINE-WORD COMMENT BEFORE AXEL RUDAKUBANA ATTACK DON'T MISS THE BIGGEST AND BREAKING

STORIES BY SIGNING UP TO THE BIRMINGHAMLIVE NEWSLETTER HERE. Sir Steve said: "It's not a blunder, it's just a feature of the system. The question is, what should happen then?

And the bit that struck me as odd is that DWP try to get the money back, but don't have a legal right to insist." Sir Steve, who is currently a partner at pension consultancy LCP

(Lane Clark and Peacock), raised concerns after submitting a Freedom of Information request to secure a copy of the letter which has been sent out to reclaim overpayments. He said:

"Nowhere does it say that this is voluntary." Sir Steve said the letter includes an FAQ section but does not to ask "do I have to do this?". He said this was problematic,

adding: "And the result, I fear, is that it's a lottery, and the losers of the lottery are people who are intimidated or frightened or upset by a letter. You know, they've

just been bereaved. "They get a letter from the Government demanding hundreds of pounds back, and they just send it because they think they have to. They don't want, you know, they

perhaps fear a knock at the door kind of thing, whereas other people, who perhaps are aware they don't have to pay it back or just choose not to, don't." Sir Steve said there

should be clarity in the law, stating either everyone must repay the money or the Government should stop making repayment requests, Express reports. He said: "This kind of halfway

house of... we know it's not mandatory when we send the letters, but we're not going to tell you... that doesn't seem right to me." The DWP said there was no compulsory

legal duty to repay overpaid funds but insisted its role was to try to recoup the money. A spokesperson said: "It is not our intention to cause distress, however, we have a

responsibility to taxpayers to recover overpayments. "We acknowledge this is not always possible." They added: "While there is no legal obligation to repay a debt of this

type, we recognise some people will be willing to repay money to which there was no entitlement. Article continues below "We provide full contact details and encourage anyone with

concerns to call us." The DWP said it did not send additional payment requests if no acknowledgement is received after the initial contact. Attempts to reclaim the funds are typically

made through the bank involved in the transaction or from the deceased's immediate family, the DWP said.