New fraud and error powers

The Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015 introduced a number of tougher measures to punish and deter anyone who seeks to commit benefit fraud

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.

Back to top