We asked the Department for Work & Pensions what has happened to the monies for the 40,000 who have died since the delays in providing ESA. This is their reply.
“The Department for Work & Pensions is currently undertaking a wide ranging corrective exercise to check around 600,000 Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claims to review and where necessarily correct affected cases. Around 40,000 people have sadly died before the department commenced this exercise. Due to the complex and sensitive nature of reviewing these cases, the Department has established an intensive checking process to identify instances where deceased claimants may not have received their full ESA entitlement.”
“The Department knows that it is important it gets this right to avoid making undue contact with families and causing further distress, which is why the Department makes initial checks against information held on various departmental administrative systems so that the Department does not contact next of kin unnecessarily.”
Ms. Amber Rudd – Secretary of State for the Department for Work & Pensions
“Then, as part of its commitment to correct all cases affected by this error, the Department attempts to identify and contact the appropriate representative/next of kin of anyone deceased who is potentially affected. This will help the Department obtain the relevant information to enable it to review the case and pay any arrears of past payments that are due.”