Overpaid

Clark80

hi, hope you can help.

My mother in law has been overpaid.

She doesn't work and is disabled, English is not her first language.

She filled in the form incorrectly - put weekly salary in the salary box and wrote weekly next to it (my father in law works). When it was time to renew she filled in the form exactly the same as the last year and this time the tax office wrote to her to tell her she owes money.

We called them and asked why they didn't work it out annualy if weekly was not acceptable. They said that the form is fed through a machine so it would not have picked up the mistake.

We queried this because this 'machine' picked up the mistake this year?

We have disputed but they are not budging.

Any advice greatfully received.

Thank you.

cattie

What exactly are you disputing? If there has been an overpayment because you MIL gave incorrect information then the overpayment will have to be repaid.

As English isn't her native language she should have taken advice in getting the form filled out. Most official forms come with such advice, stated in a range of different languages, often in a seperate leaflet.

The DWP & tax office can only go on the information that the applicant supplies & the onus is on the applicant to ensure the correct info is given.

System

If you are talking about a tax credit claim then yes the form is scanned electronically. That's why all the information has to be put in little boxes.

As Cattie said below, if your MIL does not have good english then the onus was on her to get help completing the form. Also when the original application was processed both she and your FIL would have recieved award notices showing that the claim was based on the income she put on the form. It was again up to them to spot the mistake and rectify it at that time.