Low-income savers are being wrongly stripped of thousands of pounds for paying into a pension, an investigation by The Mail on Sunday and This is Money has found.
Vulnerable people who have made payments into private pensions have seen their Universal Credit payments slashed due to blunders by Government workers in a string of cases.
In one, a 55-year-old nursery worker has been underpaid £4,500 over the past five years, while in another an autistic train station assistant has been unfairly denied £2,600 since last autumn.
Under a little-known rule, anyone on Universal Credit should have any pension contributions they make deducted from their income when their entitlement is calculated - which could make them eligible for more benefits.
Some may be surprised to hear that taxpayer-funded payments for those on benefits should leave enough for claimants to save extra into private pensions, rather than cover just the basics.
