Unfulfilled eligibility in the benefit system Financial Year Ending (FYE) 2024
Published 16 May 2024
Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
© Crown copyright 2024
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/unfulfilled-eligibility-in-the-benefit-system-financial-year-2023-to-2024-estimates/unfulfilled-eligibility-in-the-benefit-system-financial-year-ending-fye-2024
These are Official Statistics in Development.
1. Introduction
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) pays welfare benefits to around 22.7 million people. To get welfare benefits people need to meet certain eligibility criteria and the amount of money they receive depends on their circumstances. Sometimes people tell us the wrong information or do not tell us when their circumstances change. Reporting accurate information and providing evidence may change the amount of benefit people are eligible for and in some circumstances, they may be eligible for more money. However, we cannot calculate the correct amount unless people tell us accurately about their circumstances. This means that people are not eligible for increases in the amount of money they receive until we have the correct information.
This publication estimates how much extra money benefit claimants could be getting if they told us accurately about their circumstances. These people are already getting some money on a certain benefit but may not be getting all the money they could be eligible for on this benefit – we call this unfulfilled eligibility.
This publication does not cover take-up of benefits, which is where people could have claimed certain benefits based on their current circumstances but have not done so. Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up is a separate publication about take-up of benefits.
These unfulfilled eligibility estimates are based on information that was previously included in the Fraud and error in the benefit system statistics as Claimant Error underpayments. They were removed and reclassified and are now published separately here following a planned review of the fraud and error statistics that was referred to in its FYE 2023 publication. The purpose of this review was to align the statistics more closely with benefit legislation. The review determined that the estimates now included in this unfulfilled eligibility publication should not be defined as underpayments. In benefit legislation, people are not eligible for increases in the amount of money they get until they tell us all of the correct information.
For this first publication of the unfulfilled eligibility statistics, estimates are available for FYE 2024 and for FYE 2023, to allow comparisons to be made. Estimates of unfulfilled eligibility are not directly comparable to previous estimates of Claimant Error underpayments published in the fraud and error statistics. While the two calculation methodologies are very similar, there is one difference relating to the netting adjustment that has a minimal impact on the estimates. Further details on the difference in methodology are available in the background information document.
Unfulfilled eligibility is calculated as a percentage of the total amount of benefit paid by the department – expenditure. These percentages are referred to as rates throughout this publication. The proportion of benefit claims with unfulfilled eligibility is also reported.
The rates found are then applied to the benefit expenditure for the Financial Year Ending (FYE) 2024 to estimate the monetary amount of unfulfilled eligibility. The benefit expenditure figures used are consistent with Spring Budget 2024.
Estimates in this publication relate to benefit claims sampled between November 2022 and October 2023. See Appendix 1 for specific time periods relating to each reviewed benefit.
Analysis is undertaken to provide assurance that the sampling period is representative of the financial year. However, actions taken by the department within the financial year may not always be fully reflected within the statistics.
The next edition of these statistics will be published in May 2025
2. Main stories
The main story from the publication is:
- the total unfulfilled eligibility rate in FYE 2024 was 1.2% (£3.1bn), compared with 1.0% (£2.3bn) in FYE 2023
3. What you need to know
About this publication
This publication contains estimates of the levels of unfulfilled eligibility in the benefit system. The main measure is the percentage of benefit expenditure that could have been paid to people with unfulfilled eligibility, if they had provided the correct information, referred to as the unfulfilled eligibility rate. This is also expressed as a monetary value in pounds.
DWP measures unfulfilled eligibility to understand the levels, trends, and reasons behind it. This understanding supports decision making on what actions DWP can take to reduce the level of unfulfilled eligibility in the benefit system.
These estimates relate to the levels of unfulfilled eligibility in the benefit system in Great Britain. They are underpinned by reviews of benefit claimants in England, Wales, and Scotland. The benefit expenditure figures used in this publication also include overseas residents who are receiving United Kingdom benefits, except for Financial Assistance Scheme payments which also cover Northern Ireland. All other benefit expenditure on residents of Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive. The benefit expenditure figures do not include amounts devolved to the Scottish Government (which totalled £4.4 billion in FYE 2024).
Published tables and data
The figures in this publication are a selection from the accompanying reference tables. The tables contain detailed breakdowns of the estimates presented in this publication.
How unfulfilled eligibility is measured
A sample of benefit claims is randomly selected from DWP’s administrative systems (around 13,300 were sampled for FYE 2024, or 0.06% of all benefit claims). DWP’s Performance Measurement team look at the data held on the administrative systems and then contact claimants to arrange a review.
As part of the review, claimants are asked to provide evidence such as tenancy agreements, bank account details and other information that could affect their benefit claim.
The claim is assessed to determine whether the claimant is getting the amount of money they are eligible for based on the circumstances they have reported during the review. If the claimant could be getting extra money the amount is calculated.
Any identified unfulfilled eligibility is classified further into reasons for unfulfilled eligibility, which explain what types of information claimants have not provided and why they could be getting more money. Simplified descriptions of the reasons are given in this publication. A more detailed glossary of the reasons can be found in Appendix 3 of the background information document.
Unfulfilled eligibility measures – rates and monetary values
The monetary value of unfulfilled eligibility is calculated using the unfulfilled eligibility rate that was found in the sample for benefits measured this year:
Monetary value = (unfulfilled eligibility rate) x (benefit expenditure)
It is possible for the unfulfilled eligibility rate to decrease whilst the monetary value increases and vice versa. This happens because of changes in benefit expenditure between the years compared.
For example: The unfulfilled eligibility rate on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) was 4.0% in FYE 2024, compared with 4.8% in FYE 2023. The associated monetary value was £870m in FYE 2024, compared with £850m in FYE 2023. The unfulfilled eligibility rate was lower in FYE 2024, whilst the monetary value was higher. This is because of the higher expenditure on PIP in FYE 2024.
The monetary values are not adjusted for inflation.
It is recommended that the rates are used when comparing over time for these reasons, rather than the monetary amounts.
Unfulfilled eligibility measures – proportion of claims with unfulfilled eligibility
The proportion of claims with unfulfilled eligibility is also reported in this publication.
Proportion of claims with unfulfilled eligibility = (number of claims in the sample with unfulfilled eligibility) / (number of claims in the sample)
De Minimis reporting
For the proportion of claims with unfulfilled eligibility, we use a de minimis approach across all benefits. This means that all errors of 10p or less are reported separately to the headline measures of the proportion of claims with unfulfilled eligibility.
Statistical significance and confidence intervals
These estimates are based on a sample of benefit claims receiving a monetary payment. Choosing another sample may have given different estimates. The figures quoted in this publication are the central estimates, which are calculated from the sample. A range around the central estimates, called a confidence interval, is also calculated. This expresses the uncertainty associated with the central estimate. A simplified view is that the confidence interval provides a range of plausible values within which the true value for the population lies. See section 4 of the background information document for further detail.
Changes between years are noted as being statistically significant when the difference observed is likely to reflect a true change at the population level, rather than random variation between the samples. Any statistically significant changes between the years being compared are specified in this publication.
4. Total estimates of unfulfilled eligibility across all benefit expenditure
Total benefit expenditure increased from £233.8bn in FYE 2023 to £266.2bn in FYE 2024. The following estimates are for unfulfilled eligibility across all benefit expenditure.
The total unfulfilled eligibility rate in FYE 2024 was 1.2% (£3.1bn), compared with 1.0% (£2.3bn) in FYE 2023.
In FYE 2024, Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and Universal Credit (UC) account for around three quarters of the total value of unfulfilled eligibility.
FYE 2024 unfulfilled eligibility values, rates, and benefit expenditure by benefit, for PIP, DLA, UC and total
| Benefit | Unfulfilled eligibility value FYE 2024 (£m) | Unfulfilled eligibility rate FYE 2024 (%) | Expenditure FYE 2024 (£bn) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 3,100 | 1.2 | 266.2 | |
| Personal Independence Payment | 870 | 4.0 | 21.6 | |
| Disability Living Allowance | 750 | 11.1 | 6.8 | |
| Universal Credit | 730 | 1.4 | 51.9 |
PIP has the second highest unfulfilled eligibility rate of all benefits and fairly high expenditure, so due to this combination, PIP accounts for around one quarter of total unfulfilled eligibility in FYE 2024. DLA has the highest unfulfilled eligibility rate but relatively low expenditure, so even though its rate is higher than PIP, it accounts for a similar amount of total unfulfilled eligibility in FYE 2024. UC has a lower unfulfilled eligibility rate than DLA and PIP but its high expenditure means that it also accounts for a similar amount of total unfulfilled eligibility in FYE 2024.
Other benefits account for much smaller amounts of total unfulfilled eligibility compared to PIP, DLA, and UC in FYE 2024.
5. Universal Credit unfulfilled eligibility
Universal Credit (UC) is a payment to help with living costs for people who are in work on a low income, or for those who are out of work. Eligibility for UC depends on individual circumstances and location.
The expenditure on UC increased from £43.4bn in FYE 2023 to £51.9bn in FYE 2024.
For Universal Credit, the unfulfilled eligibility rate remained at 1.4% in FYE 2024, the same as in FYE 2023.
The monetary amount of unfulfilled eligibility was £730m in FYE 2024, compared with £610m in FYE 2023, due to the increase in UC expenditure between the two years.
The proportion of claims with unfulfilled eligibility decreased from 9 in 100 claims in FYE 2023 to 7 in 100 claims in FYE 2024. This was a statistically significant decrease. As the unfulfilled eligibility rate remained the same, this means that in FYE 2024 there were higher average amounts of money that could have been paid to people with unfulfilled eligibility if they had provided the correct information.
The award of UC can include several extra elements besides the standard allowance. Unfulfilled eligibility relating to one of these Elements decreased from 0.2% in FYE 2023 to 0.1% in FYE 2024. This was a statistically significant decrease and was due to a fall in the proportion of claims that could have been paid the carer element of UC, if claimants had told us about caring responsibilities.
Housing Costs remained the largest source of UC unfulfilled eligibility, at 0.5% in both FYE 2024 and FYE 2023. Most of this was due to claimants failing to report increases in their rent amount.
6. State Pension unfulfilled eligibility
State Pension (SP) is paid to people who have reached the minimum age to claim (66 years old in FYE 2024) and have enough qualifying years on their National Insurance record.
The expenditure on SP increased from £109.7bn in FYE 2023 to £123.9bn in FYE 2024. SP is the benefit with the highest expenditure and accounts for almost half of total benefit expenditure.
For State Pension, the unfulfilled eligibility rate in FYE 2024 was 0.0% (£20m), compared with 0.1% (£90m) in FYE 2023.
The proportion of claims with unfulfilled eligibility remained rounded at 0 in 100 claims in FYE 2024, the same as in FYE 2023.
All unfulfilled eligibility was within the reason of Other. This category is made up of unfulfilled eligibility due to claimants who failed to report changes relating to marital separation, and claimants who failed to claim an uplift in their SP based on their husband, wife, or civil partner’s National Insurance contributions.
7. Personal Independence Payment unfulfilled eligibility
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) helps with extra costs caused by long-term disability or ill-health. From April 2013, PIP started to replace Disability Living Allowance for people of working age.
The expenditure on PIP increased from £17.7bn in FYE 2023 to £21.6bn in FYE 2024.
For Personal Independence Payment, the unfulfilled eligibility rate in FYE 2024 was 4.0% (£870m), compared with 4.8% (£850m) in FYE 2023.
The proportion of claims with unfulfilled eligibility was 11 in 100 claims in FYE 2024, compared with 13 in 100 claims in FYE 2023.
All unfulfilled eligibility was due to claimants failing to inform the department they needed more help or their condition had deteriorated (Functional Needs).
8. Housing Benefit unfulfilled eligibility
Housing Benefit (HB) can help pay rent for people who are unemployed, on a low income, or claiming benefits. How much they get depends on their income and circumstances. For working age people, HB is being replaced by Universal Credit (UC), so this group will gradually move onto UC. Working age people cannot make new claims for HB unless they are in supported, sheltered, or temporary housing. Pension age people can continue to make new claims for HB.
The expenditure on HB increased from £15.0bn in FYE 2023 to £15.5bn in FYE 2024.
For HB, estimates are published for all of Housing Benefit and also separately for working age and pension age claimants (see the accompanying reference tables). These two groups are made up of “passported” claims (who get HB because they receive another qualifying income-related benefit) and “non-passported” claims (who get HB without one of these qualifying benefits). This means that HB is made up of four groups: passported working age, non-passported working age, passported pension age, and non-passported pension age. The four groups are combined for the total HB estimates.
Only pension age claims were reviewed in FYE 2024. The estimates for the other groups relate to reviews undertaken in previous years; the unfulfilled eligibility rates found when each group was last measured have been applied to the FYE 2024 expenditure.
For Housing Benefit, the unfulfilled eligibility rate in FYE 2024 was 1.1% (£180m), compared with 1.0% (£150m) in FYE 2023.
Since only pension age claims were reviewed in FYE 2024, pension age claimants were behind the changes in total Housing Benefit. For pension age Housing Benefit, the unfulfilled eligibility rate increased from 0.7% (£40m) in FYE 2023 to 1.2% (£80m) in FYE 2024. This was a statistically significant increase.
The proportion of HB claims with unfulfilled eligibility increased from 7 in 100 claims in FYE 2023 to 9 in 100 claims in FYE 2024. This was a statistically significant increase. It was driven by a statistically significant increase in the proportion of pension age HB claims with unfulfilled eligibility, from 7 in 100 claims in FYE 2023 to 12 in 100 claims in FYE 2024.
Housing Costs was the largest source of HB unfulfilled eligibility in FYE 2024, increasing from 0.2% in FYE 2023 to 0.4% in FYE 2024. This was a statistically significant increase. The increase in Housing Costs unfulfilled eligibility for pension age claimants was also statistically significant. Most of this was due to claimants failing to report increases in their rent amount.
Unfulfilled eligibility due to failure to report reductions in income from occupational and personal pensions (Income – Occupational and Personal Pensions) increased from 0.0% in FYE 2023 to 0.1% in FYE 2024. This was a statistically significant increase. The increase in Income – Occupational and Personal Pensions unfulfilled eligibility for pension age claimants was also statistically significant.
9. Disability Living Allowance unfulfilled eligibility
Disability Living Allowance (DLA) helps with extra costs caused by long-term disability or ill-health. From April 2013, Personal Independence Payment (PIP) started to replace DLA for working age people. Adults are still in receipt of DLA but new claims can only be made for children.
DLA has not been measured since FYE 2005. In FYE 2024, the working age group has been excluded from the review as any changes in the benefit would mean that the claimant would need to switch to PIP and their DLA claim would end. This would mean they would not be eligible for more money on DLA due to moving to PIP instead. More information on how working age rates have been estimated can be found in the background information document.
Due to the difference in methodology used to measure DLA in FYE 2005 and FYE 2024, the changes to the benefit between the two years, and the exclusion of the working age group in FYE 2024, a direct comparison of current and previous rates is not appropriate. For the purpose of creating an unfulfilled eligibility estimate across all benefit expenditure for FYE 2023, the Claimant Error underpayment rate found in the FYE 2005 reviews has been used (2.4%).
The expenditure on DLA was £6.8bn in FYE 2024.
For Disability Living Allowance, the unfulfilled eligibility rate in FYE 2024 was 11.1% (£750m).
The proportion of claims with unfulfilled eligibility was at 25 in 100 claims in FYE 2024.
All unfulfilled eligibility was due to claimants failing to inform the department they needed more help or their condition had deteriorated (Functional Needs).
10. Pension Credit unfulfilled eligibility
Pension Credit (PC) provides extra money for people on a low income who have reached State Pension age and reside in Great Britain. It ‘tops up’ other income to a standard minimum guarantee (SMG) level. Additional amounts are available if a person is severely disabled, a carer, or responsible for a child or young person. Guarantee Credit is made up of the SMG and any additional amounts. Claimants who reached State Pension age before April 2016 may also qualify for the Savings Credit part of Pension Credit if they have made some retirement provision of their own (e.g. a private pension).
The expenditure on PC increased from £4.9bn in FYE 2023 to £5.4bn in FYE 2024.
For Pension Credit, the unfulfilled eligibility rate in FYE 2024 was 1.5% (£80m), compared with 1.1% (£50m) in FYE 2023.
The proportion of claims with unfulfilled eligibility increased from 5 in 100 claims in FYE 2023 to 8 in 100 claims in FYE 2024. This was a statistically significant increase.
Claimants failing to inform the department about reductions in financial assets (Capital) was the largest source of PC unfulfilled eligibility in FYE 2024. The rate was at 0.4%, compared with 0.2% in FYE 2023.
11. About these statistics
All the information underlying the tables and figures featured in this publication is included in the accompanying reference tables.
The tables show the rates and monetary values of unfulfilled eligibility for each benefit. More detail about the reason for unfulfilled eligibility (for example: income, savings and who lives in the household) is provided for benefits measured this year. The proportion of claims with unfulfilled eligibility is also estimated.
The background information document provides further information on how the ‘Unfulfilled eligibility in the benefit system’ statistics are calculated and gives a glossary of the reasons for unfulfilled eligibility used in this publication and the reference tables.
The publication strategy provides further information on upcoming plans for future releases of these statistics.
Official Statistics in Development status
Official Statistics in Development are Official Statistics that are undergoing a development; they may be new or existing statistics, and will be tested with users, in line with the standards of trustworthiness, quality, and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics. DWP will seek user feedback alongside the publications to inform the ongoing development of the statistics to enhance their public value.
These statistics are designated as Official Statistics in Development because this is a new publication. We welcome user comments on this publication which should be sent to: [email protected].
Other National and Official Statistics
Read about other National and Official Statistics produced by DWP
12. Contact information
Lead Statistician: Kezia Rapley
Feedback or enquiries about these statistics should be directed by email to:
DWP Press Office: 0115 965 8781
Appendix 1: FYE 2024 unfulfilled eligibility rates and monetary values by benefit
| Expenditure (£m) | Unfulfilled eligibility rate (%) | Unfulfilled eligibility value (£m) | Last measured | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Universal Credit | 51,900 | 1.4 | 730 | Nov 2022 to Oct 2023 | ||||
| State Pension | 123,900 | 0 | 20 | Nov 2022 to Oct 2023 | ||||
| Personal Independence Payment | 21,600 | 4 | 870 | Nov 2022 to Aug 2023 | ||||
| Housing Benefit | 15,500 | 1.1 | 180 | Nov 2022 to Oct 2023 | ||||
| Employment and Support Allowance | 12,700 | 1.4 | 180 | Sep 2021 to Aug 2022 | ||||
| Disability Living Allowance | 6,800 | 11.1 | 750 | Feb 2023 to Sep 2023 | ||||
| Attendance Allowance | 6,700 | 4.2 | 280 | Oct 2020 to Aug 2021 | ||||
| Pension Credit | 5,400 | 1.5 | 80 | Nov 2022 to Oct 2023 | ||||
| Carer’s Allowance | 3,700 | 0 | 0 | May 2019 to Dec 2019 | ||||
| Income Support | 600 | 0.4 | 0 | Oct 2013 to Sep 2014 | ||||
| Jobseeker’s Allowance | 300 | 0.3 | 0 | Oct 2017 to Sep 2018 | ||||
| Incapacity Benefit | 0 | 0 | 0 | Oct 2009 to Sep 2010 | ||||
| Never Reviewed | 17,000 | 0.2 | 30 | |||||
| Total | 266,200 | 1.2 | 3,100 | |||||
| Range | (1.1 to 1.3) | (2,900 to 3,400) |
Notes:
- Rows and columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.
- Approximate 95% confidence interval ranges are given for the totals in the row below them. These also allow for non-sample error in occasionally reviewed benefits and the additional uncertainty that comes from the use of older measurement periods.
- Monetary values associated with Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Incapacity Benefit are displayed as zeros due to rounding. For Carer’s Allowance no unfulfilled eligibility was found in the sample.
- The ‘Never Reviewed’ category includes benefits which were not previously reviewed and have not been historically reviewed in a particular year.
ISBN: 978-1-78659-672-7