benefits agency

molly02

Hi I wonder if anyone can help. my granmother died in November we notified all agencys but today the benefits agency told us they had overpaid my gran by £400 and know want it back from my father can they do this. Ta much.

Oldernotwiser

molly02 wrote: »

Hi I wonder if anyone can help. my granmother died in November we notified all agencys but today the benefits agency told us they had overpaid my gran by £400 and know want it back from my father can they do this. Ta much.

Has there actually been an overpayment?

healy

molly02 wrote: »

Hi I wonder if anyone can help. my granmother died in November we notified all agencys but today the benefits agency told us they had overpaid my gran by £400 and know want it back from my father can they do this. Ta much.

Yes they can do this if there has been an overpayment but check that the details are correct and they have not made a mistake.

Macro_3

If there was an overpayment of benefit, then the overpayment was your grandmother's - so they can demand it back from your grandmother's estate, but not from your father.

Whether they would seek repayment of the debt might depend on the size of the estate and the size of the debt. Sadly a lot of people leave very little once their funeral costs have been paid. If this is the case then I would tell the DWP that - they cannot pursue the debt if there is nothing to pay it with (although they can ask). However, if your grandmother left a substantial estate then (whether the DWP decide to force repayment or not) then it would probably be best to repay what she owed.

I'm sorry for your loss.