Benefit test errors left claimants unpaid

ome vulnerable benefit claimants have had payments stopped because of administrative errors in work assessments, an MPs' report has said.
All 2.6 million people on incapacity benefits are going through work capability assessments to encourage them back into jobs.
But overbooking of slots led to some people being marked as failing to attend, leading to suspended payments.
The Work and Pensions Committee said the process had caused anxiety.
"The government's aim of helping benefit claimants back into work is laudable, but the scale of the challenge should not be underestimated and nor should the level of anxiety which surrounds the process," said Dame Anne Begg, who chairs the committee.
"People are suspicious that the government's only objective is to save money."
Tests The assessments, which began nationwide in April, determine whether applicants are entitled to Employment and Support Allowance - the successor to Incapacity Benefit - or are considered "fit for work", in which case they are put on jobseeker's allowance instead.
The test, first introduced by the last Labour government and being rolled out by the coalition, can also place applicants into a "work-related activity group", where they will be expected to take steps to prepare themselves for work in the medium to long term.
The assessments are carried out by Atos Healthcare. It was criticised in the committee's report, although the committee accepted that some improvements had been made.
"[The service] has often fallen below the standard claimants rightly expect. This has contributed significantly to the widely felt mistrust of the whole process," the report said.
It added that it was unacceptable that some people had found their benefits were stopped as a sanction for failing to attend the assessment when it was no fault of their own.
Cases had been the result of overbooking, administrative errors, or benefits claimants being too ill to attend the test.
Atos declined to comment on the report when contacted by the BBC.
The report called on the government to be more active in explaining the support available to people, irrespective of the outcome of the assessment.
It was also critical of the "irresponsible and inaccurate" media coverage of the issue which labelled some benefit claimants as "workshy".

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