The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has been forced to refund thousands in wrongly imposed fines. These were “administrative penalties” (ad pens) issued to people who claimed benefits and were suspected of fraud. They paid a fee so as to avoid prosecution. These payments are 50% of the alleged overpaid amount and are capped at £5,000. It turns out that more than one-fifth of ad pens accepted by individuals receiving benefits in 2023-24 and 2024-25 should not have been given to them. This means nearly 200 people suspected of committing fraud are set to be refunded.
A report stated: “We identified that some administrative penalties that were offered and accepted should not have been offered in the first place and action has been taken to correct this.” It added: “Reasons for this included procedural errors and evidence gathered which, on re-examination, was not deemed sufficient to have a reasonable prospect of securing a conviction or where circumstances of a case were not fully factored into the decision making.”
A DWP spokesperson told Civil Service World: “In an effort to identify opportunities for improvement we proactively reviewed our use of administrative penalties and identified a small number of cases where they were incorrectly applied.
“We have put this right by removing and refunding those penalties, contacting affected customers, and strengthening our processes to ensure decisions are made consistently and appropriately in future.”
The Government says an ad pen “can be offered in cases of benefit fraud where there is clear evidence of criminality”.
In June 2025 it added: “Ad Pens provide a proportionate and cost-effective alternative to pursuing cases through the court system.
“Where a person accepts an Ad Pen, they do so without the admission of committing fraud and accept a penalty of 50% of the overpayment value, up to a maximum of £5,000.”
