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Overpayments of Pension Age Disability Payment after the death of an individual
Social Security Scotland will not always be informed of the death of an individual immediately. This could potentially result in an overpayment.
An individual’s estate is liable to Scottish Ministers for any sums paid after death because this assistance was given in error (SS Act 2018, s69(1)). The value of the overpayment is the difference between the assistance given (SS Act 2018, s63(2)(a)) and the value that should have been given if the overpayment had not happened (SS Act 2018, s63(2)(b)).
There may also be occasions when a delay in informing Social Security Scotland of a client’s death is potentially due to fraudulent intent. If there is any suspicion of this, the case should be passed to the Fraud team who will investigate and direct enquiries.
Example: Social Security Scotland is notified of an individual’s death on time
Arlo has been receiving Pension Age Disability Payment at the higher rate under the Special Rules for Terminal Illness (SRTI). He dies on 1 July.
Social Security Scotland is informed of Arlo’s death on 5 July by the Executor of their estate. The client adviser or case manager inputs the date of death into SPM. This will prevent any further payments or notifications being issued. The case manager makes a determination without application that Arlo is no longer entitled to Pension Age Disability Payment from and including 2 July, the day after their death.
Payment has already been made to Arlo, covering the period from 1 July to 7 July. Payment was made weekly in advance as it was under SRTI. The case manager determines that an overpayment has occurred from 2 July to 7 July. They will calculate the overpayment and decide whether it should be recovered. Given the requirement to register a death in Scotland within 8 days, any notification would trigger action to stop payment.
Overpayments of £65 or under will be classified as a ‘small overpayment’ and will not be recovered.
Example: Social Security Scotland is notified of an individual’s death 8 weeks later
Bram was receiving the lower rate of Pension Age Disability Payment. He dies on 24 June.
Social Security Scotland are not notified of Bram’s death until 19 August. The case manager carries out an unscheduled review and determines that:
- Bram is not entitled to Pension Age Disability Payment from and including 25 June, the day after death
- any benefit paid to Bram covering any period after that date is overpaid.
As Bram’s estate is liable for any overpayments, Social Security Scotland will make enquiries to establish whether Bram has an Executor, to ask them to repay any money overpaid from Bram’s estate. The ‘How will Social Security Scotland be able to tell if there is an Executor?’ section of guidance is used to ensure the appropriate steps are taken to discover whether Bram has an Executor for his estate in place.
The Debt Management team will undertake all necessary action to recover overpayments, taking into account both financial and personal circumstances of the person that is deemed to have liability when agreeing how/when the overpayment will be paid back.