The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 3 letter word LOSE OUT
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
L
O
S
E
O
U
T
More clues leading to the result LOSE OUT
Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "Fail to benefit" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case fail to benefit = lose out.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.