Old debt help

SteveMetal

I am after a bit of advice on a letter which my wife received today.

The letter was from Department for Work and Pensions Debt Centre.
It states she owes £*** and they are going to start taking deductions from the money she gets paid each fortnight (she is currently claiming Jobseekers allowance).

She phoned them up to find out what the debt was for. It is dating back to between February and April 2002 from when she was claiming Carer's Allowance for her Mother. Her Mother passed away in October 2001 and that was the last payment she received. Unfortunately she never returned the allowance book as she was under the impression her Father was going to hand it in.

In March 2002 she left home and moved to another part of the country.

It looks like to me that someone else (her Father probably has something to do with it) has been claiming the money by using my wife's name.

When she was on the phone this morning she was told to get in touch with the Carer's Allowance Unit, which she did. They did not believe her and are going to pass it on to the Claims Department to look into it and compare the signatures and will get back in touch with her.

Where does she stand now?

Now I'm assuming that because the debt is over 7 years old they probably won't have any paperwork so won't be able to compare any signatures.

Do they by law have to provide evidence of these claims along with the signatures if we request to see proof of them?

Also, she is hoping to be back in employment very soon, so once she stops claiming Job Seekers Allowance, is she likely to receive a demand for the outstanding amount, and again, can we legally ask for evidence of any paperwork.

The other question is, does the 'Statute Barred' situation apply to this due to the age of it.

Thanks, any help will be appreciated.

poorandindenial

I have not a clue I am afraid but thought I would bump yu back up the board.

Could also be worth a post on the benefits board.

Good luck with getting this resolved.

fatbelly

Hi Steve

Not an easy question...

On the statute barred thing, National Debtline say:

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has six years to take action through the courts to recover benefit overpayments and social fund loans. This time starts running from the date of the final decision made on the overpayment and from when the social fund loan was due to be paid. But the DWP are still allowed to make deductions from your benefit for a debt over six years old as they don't need to go to court to do this. This applies to overpayments of benefit such as Income Support, Jobseeker's Allowance, Pension Credit, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit and paying back social fund loans.

This also does apply to Carers Allowance even though it isn't listed.

But the circumstances of this case appear bizarre. Presumably the payments ceased in October 2001 because the person with a care need was deceased. I'm finding it hard to understand how someone could start getting CA again for that person 4-6 months later.

Even with the Welfare Benefits Handbook in front of me I'm finding this difficult. The guys on the benefits board may have more idea about this, or get your wife to phone CAB. Many bureaux employ benefits specialists on a Legal Services contract (being on JSA she would qualify) and they deal with benefit problems day in, day out, so should give good advice.

SteveMetal

Thanks for your reply,

I'm guessing that the payment book was in the house the whole time, but maybe her Father (who we think is partly responsible) forgot about it and then came across the book in January 2002 so decided to claim a couple of payments.

SteveMetal

The Claims Department has just been back in touch saying that they do not have the signatures for who received the overpaid money. When my wife stated that she did not live there at the dates mentioned they said she still has to pay it back as they don't have any other contact details.

Can they legally do this as it doesn't seem like they have any proof, all they seem to know is that someone received the money but can not prove who.

I'm thinking that it maybe best just to let them take the deductions out of her fortnightly allowance, which hopefully she will not need for much longer.
If they send out a letter once she stops claiming asking asking for repayment, then to maybe send out a letter claiming she did not receive these payments and it would also be Statute Barred.

Does that sound like the best plan?