Nearly £1 in every £10 of Universal Credit was wrongly paid last year

Nearly £1 in every £10 spent on Universal Credit last year was wrongly paid, official figures have revealed.

The Department of Work and Pensions admitted £6.35billion was overpaid in Universal Credit in 2024-25.

This was almost 10 per cent of the £65.3billion of total expenditure on Universal Credit in the last financial year.

The amount that was wrongly paid in Universal Credit included an eye-watering £5.2billion in overpayments due to fraud.

The main cause of fraud overpayments was an under-declaration of income by claimants of Universal Credit, which is paid to those on low incomes or who are out of work.