Social Security Benefits: Debts Written Off
2026-06-29 · Department for Work and Pensions · 14641 · Official question
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate his Department has made of the amount of benefit debt written off in each of the last five years.
Answer
DWP’s overarching policy is that debts should be recovered as quickly and cost effectively as possible without causing financial hardship to customers. To support this, the Department sets limits to how much can be deducted and a “deductions priority orde...