Claimants struggling on Universal Credit are seeing their benefits cut to pay off old debts - even when it wasn't their fault.
Families are being "pushed over the edge" after the Department for Work and Pensions revealed the vast number of people losing out, Citizens Advice has warned.
More than 570,000 claimants who moved onto the new universal six-in-one benefit from the old-style Tax Credit system are affected, reports The Mirror.
There were 15,197 people in Teesside on Universal Credit as of March this year - one in every 31 people in the region.
The claimants were moved without transition payments because they had a "change in circumstances", like moving house or a break-up.
But the DWP has now admitted the huge number of claimants - around a quarter of all on Universal Credit nationally - were still having Tax Credit overpayments deducted from their benefit, as of April 30.
The average debt is £1,560 (or a £610 median average) and struggling families can have 40% of their UC docked each month.
Of the 570,000, some 410,000 have suffered a deduction for Tax Credit debt in the last month.
That's despite the fact that for many people, overpayments only happened because of an error by HM Revenue and Customs.
For others, the overpayment was their fault or a misunderstanding. There was no further breakdown of the figures.
Citizens Advice chief executive Gillian Guy said deductions "can be from years ago and often come as a surprise."
She added: "They can also come on top of other deductions leaving some people unable to cover their essential costs."
She said half the people the charity helps when they first join UC cannot keep up with bills or rent, "so any deductions can push people over the edge."
A Government spokesperson said: “Where an overpayment of Tax Credits is identified, we work to resolve the matter with the customer as quickly as possible.
"Safeguards are in place to ensure repayments are affordable and we have recently announced we will reduce the maximum amount that can be deducted from someone’s Universal Credit claim.
“Universal Credit is a better, simpler system with monthly assessments which reduce the likelihood of overpayments in future."
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