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Income Support Overpayed £14,000!!! HELP!!
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dannimaycox
Posts: 57 Forumite
Hi, i really need some help here, i am 18 years old and i am disabled, i have a terminal illness & have had it all my life. My mum is my full time carer, i rely on her to do everything for me, including turning me over in the night and looking after my ventilater. I am on Incapacity benifit and my mum is on carers allowance and income support. My mum has always been honest with them and has never claimed anything fraudulently. When i was 16 i started to claim incapacity benefit and we honestly didn't realise that my incapacity would affect my mums income support. A few weeks ago my mum recieved a letter asking her what i am doing now, she wrote on the letter that i have left college and i am claiming incapacity benefit. Today she has received a letter saying that she has been overpaid £14,149.42!! We have NO savings, i really don't know what we can do! This was a total mistake, we didn't realise that my incapacity would affect her income support because if we had known that then we would have told them straight away. What can we do? Will we be able to pay back £5 per week? Please help, i'm so worried!
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September-Avon Lipgloss & £1.50 voucher off mascara :rolleyes:
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Comments
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On the face of it this sounds like its a snafu at the DWP. It looks like they were paying money for you on your mums Income support but also paying Incapacity benefit to you at the same time so there was double money somewhere
I think that, as its the DWP fault, you won't have to pay any money back as there was a recent ruling about this but I may be wrong. If you do have to pay the money back I would have thought, in the circumstances, that any repayments will be pretty minimalThe World come on.....0 -
Firstly you need to check whether this overpayment is correct.
I would advice you to make an appointment at your local CAB for help with this.0 -
Mr_Falling_Star wrote: »On the face of it this sounds like its a snafu at the DWP. It looks like they were paying money for you on your mums Income support but also paying Incapacity benefit to you at the same time so there was double money somewhere
I think that, as its the DWP fault, you won't have to pay any money back as there was a recent ruling about this but I may be wrong. If you do have to pay the money back I would have thought, in the circumstances, that any repayments will be pretty minimal
If the OP's mum did not inform the DWP of the change in circumstances, it is not the fault of the DWP.
OP, I assume the overpayment is due to mum not declaring that you had left full time education? Was she still claiming IS with you as a child dependent, rather than Child Tax Credits? If the figures seem correct, then she needs to call the number on the letter and arrange a repayment plan. If the figures do not seem correct, you need to take further advice from CAB, DIAL etc.Gone ... or have I?0 -
een if it is their fault, they still try and get you to repay. IF ITS THEIR MISTAKE, YOU DONT HAVE TO REPAY.
get to the CAB urgently and take all paperwork with you. they are amazing in situations like this. and try not to worry!!! its hard i know but they cant take what you dont have!!!!!0 -
dmg, on the letter it says that the overpayment is from may 2007-august 2009, i'm pretty sure my mum let them know when i had left full time education and she stopped recieveing child tax credits when i was 16. They want to know all of our incoming and outgoings & now we are worried that we will end up even worse off. This is so stressful!Freebies recieved so far:
September-Avon Lipgloss & £1.50 voucher off mascara :rolleyes:0 -
If you are liable, there will be a deduction from your mum's IS.
If you are unsure whether the amount is correct, you need to take further advice.Gone ... or have I?0 -
She only gets £40 income support a week so really all she can afford is £5. a week because we have bills, petrol etc to pay. I'm so stressed out about this
Freebies recieved so far:
September-Avon Lipgloss & £1.50 voucher off mascara :rolleyes:0 -
sandraroffey wrote: »een if it is their fault, they still try and get you to repay. IF ITS THEIR MISTAKE, YOU DONT HAVE TO REPAY.
get to the CAB urgently and take all paperwork with you. they are amazing in situations like this. and try not to worry!!! its hard i know but they cant take what you dont have!!!!!
Very true, what has not changed is the fact that your Mum is on Income Support and thus can only make minimal payments anyway
I would, as everyone else has suggested, go and see the CAB
The World come on.....0 -
You forgot her Carers allowance aswell.dannimaycox wrote: »She only gets £40 income support a week so really all she can afford is £5. a week because we have bills, petrol etc to pay. I'm so stressed out about this*SIGH*
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DX2, yes, she gets carers allowance but she has to live!! She also has to put £20 a week in the car to get me backwards and forward to the hospital which is an hours drive.Freebies recieved so far:
September-Avon Lipgloss & £1.50 voucher off mascara :rolleyes:0
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