National statistics

Fraud and error in the benefit system: preliminary 2012/13 estimates

Preliminary estimates of fraud and error levels in the benefit system in Great Britain 2012 to 2013.

From:
Department for Work and Pensions
Published
9 May 2013
Last updated
25 June 2013 — See all updates

This publication was withdrawn on

Published more up to date estimates of fraud and error in the benefit system for 2012 to 2013 on 16 January 2014.

Documents

National Statistics fraud and error in the benefit system: preliminary 2012/13 estimates (Great Britain) first release

PDF, 61.5 KB, 4 pages

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Fraud and error in the benefit system: preliminary 2012/13 estimates (Great Britain)

Ref: ISBN 978-1-78153-475-5

PDF, 504 KB, 114 pages

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Supplementary tables: Fraud and error in the benefit system, preliminary 2012/13 estimates (Great Britain)

MS Excel Spreadsheet, 784 KB

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Details

We released the latest National Statistics report, ‘Fraud and error in the benefit system: preliminary 2012/13 estimates’ on 9 May 2013 according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.

The latest report estimates fraud and error levels in the benefit system in Great Britain:

  • for 2012/13 (preliminary) it is estimated that 2.1% of total benefit expenditure was overpaid due to fraud and error, the same as the 2011/12 estimate
  • the estimated value of overpayments is £3.5 billion, which is a rise from the 2011/12 estimated value of £3.4 billion
  • for 2012/13 (preliminary) it is estimated that 0.9% of total benefit expenditure was underpaid due to fraud and error, which is a rise from the 2011/12 estimate (0.8%)
  • the estimated value of underpayments is £1.4 billion, which is a rise from the 2011/12 estimated value of £1.3 billion

Within this publication we are publishing Employment and Support Allowance official error estimates for the first time. Please see sections 1 and 2 for more details.

These statistics have recently been assessed by the UK Statistics Authority.

Next planned release date: ‘Fraud and error in the benefit system: final 2012/13 estimates’ in October/November 2013.

If you have any comments, questions or any general queries regarding our publication, please email catherine.edwards@dwp.gsi.gov.uk from the Fraud and Error Measurement Analysis Team.

Published 9 May 2013
Last updated 25 June 2013 + show all updates

  1. Replaced the Fraud and error in the benefit system: preliminary 2012/13 estimates (Great Britain) PDF.

  2. Revised 'Supplementary tables: Fraud and error in the benefit system: preliminary 2012/13 estimates (Great Britain)' published.

  3. First published.