DWP mistakenly accuses disabled woman of owing £28,000 in benefit overpayments

A disabled woman was left in “disbelief” after her benefits were stopped and she was mistakenly accused of owing £28,000 in overpayments to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

In July, Michelle Burns was told she should never have been granted personal independence payment (PIP), six years after she was awarded it.

Her PIP was stopped and the DWP said she would have to return all the money.

After the Big Issue contacted the DWP, they admitted that a mistake had been made in the accusation and apologised to Burns. She has had her PIP reinstated and the benefit overpayment scrapped.

• ‘I have nothing’: DWP takes millions from benefit claimants every year to pay for its own mistakes
• DWP falsely accuses single mum of owing £12,000 – when they actually owe her money

A DWP spokesperson said: “We have apologised to Ms Burns for any distress caused. The overpayment has been cancelled, the PIP award reinstated, and arrears will be issued.”

But this positive outcome followed weeks of anxiety for 46-year-old Burns and her husband James Jolley, who is blind and also receives PIP.

“I’m not sleeping,” Jolley told the Big Issue ahead of the DWP’s apology. “I wake up and I keep having dreams about being arrested for fraud. They’re all nonsense dreams, I know that. But it’s the stress. They infect people’s lives.”

Burns has a number of health conditions, including congenital dislocation of the hip and osteoarthritis. She has learning disabilities and went to a special needs school as a child.

The couple have adaptations in their home in Peterborough to account for both of their physical needs.

In 2018, Burns was awarded the standard rate of PIP for daily living and mobility elements. 

“That all went fine,” Burns said. “I went to this assessment, and it was face to face. I didn’t have any problems. I didn’t have to go to tribunal.”

The DWP rejects nearly half (47%) of claims for PIP, according to its own statistics, and people have told the Big Issue how the assessment and appeals process can be “traumatic”.

Yet for Burns, it had gone smoothly. Her PIP was automatically renewed between 2018 and 2024, as DWP backlogs caused by the pandemic meant there was no time for a reassessment.

Her first reassessment was this year and the DWP asked for it to be over a video call, which disappointed the couple who would have preferred it to be face-to-face. 

Jolley is able to support her with the assessments, but he struggles to set up video calls because of his visual impairment – instead, it was carried out over the telephone.

Still, the assessment seemed to be “fine” and the subsequent report appeared accurate. But in May, the couple received a phone call from the DWP claiming that further evidence was needed.

Burns sent this and received her PIP as normal in June – but then in July the money was not in their bank account. 

The couple called the DWP to query it and claim they were told Burns “was not entitled to PIP at all in 2018” and that she owed more than £28,000 in benefit overpayments.

“They never gave a reason,” Burns said. “I couldn’t believe it. They said they had sent a letter out to us, but we haven’t received it. We haven’t received a letter saying we owe that money.”

Benefits overpayments happen. The DWP overpaid £8.3bn to benefit claimants in the financial year ending 2023. Although alleged fraud accounted for £6.5bn of this, the department has admitted that £600m of this was due to its own mistakes.

In the past, the DWP would pick up the tab if it made the mistake, but now claimants are often expected to pay. This can leave households facing years of debt, with money taken from their benefits each month.

In 2023, Citizens Advice helped 17,090 people with accusations of benefit overpayments.

In some cases, even the allegations of debt are incorrect. The Big Issue previously spoke to a single mother who was left “devastated” after being falsely accused of owing the DWP more than £12,000.

“It changed everything for me,” she said. “Getting that letter and thinking that I’d have to pay that back made me very fearful of ever claiming again.”

The mistaken accusation of debt has had a similar emotional impact for Burns and Jolley. The couple were worried that they would have to use Jolley’s PIP to pay for the benefit overpayment. 

“I am very worried that her money won’t come back,” Jolley said ahead of receiving the DWP’s apology and admission of their mistake. “I am petrified that they will stop our payments, and then we will be in serious trouble.”

It was not until the Big Issue contacted the DWP that they received confirmation that it was a mistake. Burns’s PIP should not have been stopped and she will receive payment in arrears.

Although the couple are relieved, they urged the Big Issue to run the story. Jolley wrote a letter to us after reading our previous coverage of the issue.

He said: “It’s essential that readers know that this kind of mistake can happen.”

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. Big Issue exists to give homeless and marginalised people the opportunity to earn an income. To support our work buy a copy of the magazine or get the app from the App Store or Google Play.