Advice re repaying Pension Credit wrongly clamed by my late mother

Stefano_2

Biggles wrote: »

Pension Credit only came in in Oct 03 and, when I succeeded in an application for my mother, it came with an Assessed Income Period of 5 years.

If that is typical, which I would have thought it was, your mother should have had a letter in Oct 08 asking whether her circumstances had changed. If they had, she should probably have declared her higher savings figure at that point.

Therefore, with any luck, any overpayment would only have been made for a few months.

The only letter I can find - referring to "Assessed Income Period" is one dated April 09.

It says "Because of your current circumstances your Assessed Income Period no longer has an end date".

It goes on to say that changes to savings are not required to be reported (as you stated)

however I can't find anything to say when this Assessed Income Period started !

But there may be some hope from what you say - thanks

Stef

monkeyspanner

Unfortunately DWP may find it easier to chase you as executor than it would have been to chase your Mum.

Firstly DWP need to tell you precisely what overpayment has been made and perhaps more importantly why. If it turns out that the overpayment was made even though the DWP had sufficient information to make a correct calculation, then the normal stance would be to write off the overpayment. You may however have difficulty proving that they did have sufficient information.

If it is a case of your Mum's savings exceeding savings limits then you will have some work to do trying to work out when the savings exceeded the relevant limits. It can easily happen and particularly when benefits are not uppermost in the elderly persons mind. I assume some bright spark in DWP has come up with this method of recovering funds, and recovery targets have been set.

Try not to be intimidated into just paying up, they do have to justify it with detailed figures. I'm sure there is some clause in their client charter or similar document that spells this out.

As to your sister I sympathise with your position.

anmarj

Biggles wrote: »

If that is typical, which I would have thought it was, your mother should have had a letter in Oct 08 asking whether her circumstances had changed. If they had, she should probably have declared her higher savings figure at that point.

.

not everyone AIP ended in October who got it back to October 03, due to the amount they staggered the AIP dates, some are only ending now. From the sound of it the AIP was due to end after April 09 and certain changes came in that meant people over 80 who had little likely hood of having a change were awarded a AIP run on, which has happend in this ladies case.

I should say that the AIP would end if the cusotmer had a life changing event that meant the AIP could be ended earlier than the specified date. the main one is for somebody moving into a care home which then triggers a total review of the Pension Credit

Mojisola

No - she received £49.10 DLA - Mobility AND attendance allowance of £70.35.

You seem determined to contradict me!!
[/QUOTE]

I'm puzzled by this, too. I thought you could get DLA if you applied when you were under 65 and when you reached this age you could choose to continue on DLA or switch to AA. I didn't think you could get both but I'm always willing to learn!

Newly_retired

Could it be that the lady got DLA Mobility component ( not Care component) before she was 65, but after 65 she applied for Care and got AA? Not sure that was appropriate, mind you.
I think I got a similar letter when my mother died. The amount owing was very small ( about £30) so we just paid it. It was only because some of her benefits were paid in advance rather than in arrears.
I think it is unavoidable to make the repayments to DWP. By all means get full details and challenge it if you are not happy with the figures - get the CAB to help you do this- within one month of the letter. (Don't leave it till the last minute as it can take time to get an appointment ). If the sum is large you should be able to negotiate repayment over a period. You may even find if it was their mistake that they write it off but I wouldn't count on it.
If it were me I would inform my sisters of the situation and see how they react.
By rights it should be a shared debt, but as you made the distribution, if they are not willing or able to pay their share, then you will have to do so I'm afraid.

Mojisola

Thank you, oldernotwiser, for starting this thread - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1902693

Stefano - it looks as if your mother should have been getting the Care component of DLA rather than AA but as the amounts would be the same - £70.35 for the highest care - there won't be any repayment involved in that area.

I do hope you can come to some agreement with the DWP. It's so difficult dealing with these matters when you are newly bereaved.

Biggles

Stefano wrote: »

The only letter I can find - referring to "Assessed Income Period" is one dated April 09.

It says "Because of your current circumstances your Assessed Income Period no longer has an end date".

That's promising, anyway. It would look as though her original AIP ended in Apr 09, when she supplied them with more information. If, as it would seem, she hadn't then informed them of the full amount of her savings, with any luck any recovery would only be from Apr to the date of death.

margaretclare

For heaven's sake! I am not 'determined to contradict you'! It is no skin off my nose!

I am only referring to all the information put out by various government sites and the experience gained by some family members who claimed DLA under 65, others failed to claim it until 65+ and then had to claim AA.

This page seems to make it quite clear: http://www.benefitsnow.co.uk/dlanotes/introduction.asp

The criteria for applying for the 2 benefits are not the same, as I was told by a Benefits Adviser at CAB.

Stefano_2

Newly_retired wrote: »

Could it be that the lady got DLA Mobility component ( not Care component) before she was 65, but after 65 she applied for Care and got AA? Not sure that was appropriate, mind you.
.

Yes this is what happened

she had DLA/Mobility (help with getting around) BEFORE she was 65 but as she got older and found things more difficult she got (following a home visit -by whatever the benefits agency was called back then! - AA to cover help with personal care.

Stefano

JuneBow

Stefano, so sorry for you loss, and made worse by your position.
Monkeyspanner is correct, if the department did have enough information to calculate your mum’s pension credit with accuracy, then they cannot recover the overpayment.
You say that you had a letter about the assessed income period no longer having an end date. There must have been a previous assessed income period before that. That obviously would have had an end date. It may be that the previous assessed income period started before her increase in savings, in which case you may not have to repay.
If I was you, I would play for time a bit here, and ask the department to provide you with details of these before you answer any questions about the estate. You may not have the information to hand, but they certainly should.
Newly retired is correct. The mobility component of DLA which your mum received can be paid alongside the Attendance Allowance which she also received. It is only the care component of the DLA which cannot be paid alongside AA.
Sorry if you could not understand this Margaretclare, but it is on the website, and on the leaflets. I do sympathise however, and agree that the rules can be a little difficult to understand for the elderly.
Hope that helps.