New fraud and error powers
The new powers will:
- introduce an administrative penalty of £350 in cases of attempted benefit fraud
- increase rates of administrative penalties providing for a minimum penalty of £350 up to a maximum penalty of £2,000
- enhance loss of benefit provisions for those people who have committed fraud and who have either accepted to pay an administrative penalty or been prosecuted via the courts
- introduce an immediate three year loss of benefit for the most serious/organised fraud cases and repeat offenders
These measures build on the powers already used by our Single Investigation Service which takes a proactive approach to detecting benefit fraud.