The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has mistakenly paid out £500 million in benefits to dead people. And to add to the problem, the DWP has struggled to recover the millions of pounds in overpaid state pension and Pension Credit given to claimants who have passed away.

Records reveal that around £512 million was incorrectly paid out since the 2019-20 financial year, with £159 million of that amount going unrecovered in the last year alone. These figures were uncovered following a Parliamentary Question by Reform MP Rupert Lowe, who found that over the past five years, £512m in pensions were paid to people who had died, yet only £255m has been reclaimed.

Speaking to The , Mr Lowe slammed the current system, pointing out that there is no legal requirement for the families of beneficiaries to return the misallocated funds, and called for a thorough overhaul. He denounced the situation, saying: "This is a shocking waste that underlines the contempt with which the Government treats taxpayers' money. Why is it tolerated?" Mr Lowe is also pushing for stricter policies, questioning: "Why is the return of this money not enforceable?"

Raising concerns about potential exploitation, he added: "This is wide open to fraud and abuse. It needs to be clamped down on as part of a wider Government effort to cut down on misspending."

Mr Lowe hammered home the need for openness, stating: "We must keep pushing for transparent data to uncover the true extent of the waste". The issue has also been taken up by Great Yarmouth's MP, Andrew Western, prompting a response from the DWP's parliamentary under-secretary, who said: "Direct Payments made into an account after the death of a customer represent only around 0.1% of total annual expenditure on pensions.", reports the .

He went on to say: "Although these are treated as non-recoverable and are not enforceable by law, we can request the money back as a voluntary payment. So far, we have recovered around half of the overpayments, to avoid this becoming a long-term cost to the taxpayer."

Current regulations dictate that deaths should be reported within five days in England and Wales, or eight in , but due to system inefficiencies, the DWP sometimes pays out state pensions even after the recipient has passed away.