Millions of Ukrainians receive no full payments from the labor authority: How to get more.

According to The Sun: Households receiving certain payments risk losing money due to a trivial mistake.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) pays social benefits to approximately 23.7 million people.

DWP estimates that £3.7 billion could be owed to some households receiving paymentsAlamy

To receive these benefits, citizens must meet certain conditions, and the amount they are entitled to depends on their circumstances.

It is important to inform the DWP about changes in circumstances, as this may affect the amount of payments.

If you do not do so, you may lose access to additional funds that you are entitled to.

DWP estimates that £3.7 billion could be owed to households that have not reported changes in their circumstances.

This point is known as 'unmet entitlement' and is based on data submitted between September 2023 and October 2024.

Those receiving Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and Universal Credit (UC) account for 80% of the total amount that has not been claimed.

About a third of this amount is owed to PIP clients.

Recent data indicates that the unmet entitlement rate for PIP is 4.1%.

This equates to £1.06 billion of unclaimed benefits.

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In terms of Universal Credit, £980 million has not been claimed - with an unmet entitlement rate of 1.5%.

About £850 million was not claimed for people receiving Disability Assistance.

The unmet entitlement rate for this program is 11.1%.

What changes in circumstances need to be reported?

It is important to report any changes in your circumstances. This relates to several reasons.

The amount you receive depends on your situation and may increase or decrease with changes.

If you do not report changes in a timely manner, you may lose the opportunity to receive more or it may lead to overpayments.

Your application may be suspended or reduced if you do not inform about changes as soon as possible.

If you are overpaid, you will have to repay part of the money and pay a penalty of £50.

Purposely hiding changes may be considered fraud.

Here are the changes that must be reported:

• Change of name or gender
• Start or end of a job or change in working hours
• Increase or decrease in income
• Start or end of training or internship
• Moving
• Change in the number of people living with you (e.g., your partner, child, or roommate)
• Death of a partner or someone in your household
• Birth of a child
• Start or end of caring for someone
• Marriage or divorce
• Start or end of a civil partnership
• Planning a trip abroad
• Stay in a hospital, nursing home, or shelter
• Changes in health status or disability
• Change of doctor
• Changes in pensions, savings, investments, or property
• Changes in other sources of income (e.g., student loans or grants, hospital bills, or charities)
• Changes in payments for you or other residents of your house
• Receiving amounts owed to you or your partner (sometimes referred to as 'debts') from wages or income
• Changes in your immigration status if you are not a UK citizen

If you receive child benefit, you must report changes in your child's circumstances.

How to report a change?

How you report changes depends on the type of payments received.

If you receive Universal Credit, use your online account for Universal Credit.

Otherwise, you can call the Universal Credit hotline at 0800 328 5644.

Recipients of retirement credits can call the pension care hotline at 0800 731 0469 or report changes by mail.

Recipients of attendance support can call 0800 731 0122.

Those receiving care benefits can report changes online or by phone to the Care Support Department at 0800 731 0297.

All these phone lines are available Monday to Friday from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM.

For disability payments, such as DLA or PIP, call the Center for Disability Services at 0800 121 4433 (Mon-Fri, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM).

Recipients of child benefits must report changes through the online service, by calling, or by writing to the child benefits office.

If you receive housing benefit, you must inform the local authority.

Missing opportunities to receive assistance?

It's worth using the benefits calculator to check if you are losing money that you are entitled to.

The Turn2Us charity calculator helps you estimate possible financial payments.

The free Entitledto calculator tells you if you qualify for various types of assistance, tax credits, and Universal Credit.

MoneySavingExpert.com and the StepChange charity also have tools that use data from Entitledto.

With the Policy in Practice calculator, you can find out what payments you might receive and how much money you have left after paying housing costs.

Your exact entitlement to payment will only be clear after applying, but the calculators can show what you might hope for.