Incapacity Benefit -- visit from Compliance Officer - why? what?

travelodger

I have been on IC since October 2009.

At that time I was assessed by a doctor and a solicitor (on appeal after being declined IB). Nobody visited me then.

Now out of the blue I have a letter telling me that a "Compliance Officer" is coming to my house Wednesday because "there may have been changes you have not yet told us about".

There haven't been any. I have savings but they are not means tested. I have lodgers, but checked long ago that unearned income isn't taken into account, either. I am allowed to be employed by someone for up to 16 hours a week, but I've never been so employed. Since October I have only worked a total of three hours and was paid a total of £625 for those three hours. I have no need to write to them about it and I assume they don't know.

Why is the Compliance Officer coming? What do they mean by compliance? Is he going to search my house, ask to see my bank statements or check my purse? Will he demand to talk to my lodgers or something? What is he going to ask me? What rights does he have other than (presumably) to enter my home?

I really cannot understand why they are sending someone round. I mean, why not just write and ask me what hours I am working, or if I am earning, or whatever it is that they are coming round to find out.

He cannot be coming to "assess" the nature of my illness, because he is not a doctor and therefore is not qualified to assess whether or not I am still ill enough to receive the benefit. And if that was the purpose of the enquiry, why not just send me a summons to the medical officer?

What is it they need to "see with their own eyes" and therefore cannot accept answers about on paper or with me going for an interview?

I'm just so confused about what this is about, and am already starting to worry about it, even though I have examined every part of my claim/life/the rules and cannot see that I am doing anything wrong.

Thanks to anyone who can help me here.

Invasion

I believe you're only allowed to earn up to £95 a week. I've no idea why they're coming to visit you though!

TOBRUK

Hi travelodger, it's funny that you have posted this today as I had a visit from a 'compliance officer' yesterday! I did post a thread about it here a few days ago as I received a letter last Tuesday that a 'compliance officer' would be visiting Friday (yesterday) between 12.00 and 16.00. The letter didn't say why I was receiving a visit so I had absolutely no idea! At the bottom of the letter it listed a number of things/docs the officer would want to see (which I gathered together before he arrived) such as:

driving licence
utility statements
bank statements
passport etc

He arrived around 1pm, asked if I had received a letter about his visit as everywhere he had visited that morning weren't in! Anyway, he said that he had a letter from another department regarding an overpayment of IS! I suppose they have to hand deliver such things. He looked at my utility bills and driving licence - I had bank statements which he said he didn't want to see. He asked if I lived alone and if anyone was receiving care allowance as I am on DLA etc.

I told him that I was unaware of any overpayment and showed him every letter I had of IS and DLA. The problem was found and it seems it was in January/February when my DLA care dropped but then there was a reconsideration when it went up - they seemed to think that there was an overpayment of £211.00. I told him that I had within the last week been given a payment of arrears from IS as my DLA had gone up and showed him the letter.

Anyway, he wrote a report on events and asked me to sign it and told me that he would consult with the dept to explain and they would probably be in touch within the next 4 weeks. He did say that he didn't think that there had been an overpayment.

I wasn't all that worried about a visit as I had nothing to hide, but I had never heard of a 'compliance officer' visit before this. It is worrying when you have no idea why they are visiting and as you say, you can't see that you have done anything wrong and everything is in order!

Hope this helps.;)

travelodger

Dear Tobruk

So glad you replied.

"he said that he had a letter from another department regarding an overpayment of IS! I suppose they have to hand deliver such things."

I cannot see why they could not simply phone or write to you (us) about such a thing. To send a letter which does not mention it, to go to the huge expense of sending someone round is nonsensical.

"they seemed to think that there was an overpayment of £211".

It would have cost the government about that much to send the compliance officer round. A day's pay, travel expenses, subsistence....

"He looked at my utility bills and driving licence"

That is merely to prove your identity. If he didn't want to see your bank statements or anything else, what was he there for exactly?

Did he talk about your illness or ask to look around the house, ask who you lived with, whether you earned anything, etc?

I haven't had a letter from them since last Oct, there are no over or underpayments, just the exact same sum input to my bank a/c every 2 weeks.

travelodger

according to a thread on this forum (number 10664575) a compliance officer is in fact a fraud investigator.

Only ONE person in my life knows that I am on IB -- my boyfriend.

nannytone_2

i assume they dont phone or send you a letter as they want to see 'evidence'. i'm sure you don't need to worry as you say you haven't acted outside the terms of benefit receipt.
as it's taxpayers money involved they have to be sure that its beibng spent correctly and isnt a personal slur. good luck!

travelodger

Hi Nanny!

Evidence of WHAT please?

TOBRUK

travelodger wrote: »

Dear Tobruk

That is merely to prove your identity. If he didn't want to see your bank statements or anything else, what was he there for exactly?

Did he talk about your illness or ask to look around the house, ask who you lived with, whether you earned anything, etc?

I haven't had a letter from them since last Oct, there are no over or underpayments, just the exact same sum input to my bank a/c every 2 weeks.

I expect he was here to find out my situation and see whether an overpayment had been made - I told him that I wasn't aware that an overpayment had been made between 28th Jan and 28th February just gone, this was news to me. It was a time when I had a renewed DLA award and I asked for a reconsideration and they raised the rate and therefore IS had increased payment accordingly with added disability premium.

I have recevied quite a few letters around the time when it was thought an overpayment had been made, because DLA had reconsidered my award and my rate had increased. He said that IS was not aware of this, I told him that I had received letters from IS and they had increased payments AND I had just received arrears payment from IS in the last week! So it didn't make much sense when he was saying that IS hadn't received this information when infact I had received a letter from them about increased payments!

It was obvious that he was looking into my situation and to find out whether an overpayment had been made.

He didn't ask me about my illness and didn't look around the house. He asked if I lived alone and if anyone claimed carers allowance for me. I suppose he was just checking that they had all the correct details and my status etc!

travelodger wrote: »

according to a thread on this forum (number 10664575) a compliance officer is in fact a fraud investigator.

Only ONE person in my life knows that I am on IB -- my boyfriend.

Fraud investigator! Well it's quite funny really because if there was an overpayment it was through their own doing and I had no idea! My house was in order and if their departments had checked with each other the department in question would have seen that they had just in the past week sent out a letter that I was now entitled to disability premiums and my IS had been increased and I have received arrears payment for the time in question only last week from them!!

The problem is with a lump sum payment of arrears, how can you work out if they have given you the correct amount? I couldn't work it out - all I recevied was a letter from IS to say that a backpayment had been sent into my account for this period.

I just handed him all the letters I had received (and there were a few of them) from DLA and IS since January and this week and let him go through them all. Good job I had them!

TOBRUK

travelodger wrote: »

Hi Nanny!

Evidence of WHAT please?

The only evidence if that's the right word according to the letter they sent me was things they may want to see (as I stated earlier) they listed:
driving licence
utility bills
bank statements etc

Do they list these on your letter? Just gather these items together before the officer arrives, and any correspondece they have sent you.

travelodger

Oh I see!

Surfing the net I have just noticed something.

I have been misreading the rules! When it said you can earn £93 a week for 52 weeks, I took that as meaning every year. From other sites I now see it means just that once, that first year. After that you can only earn £20 a week, which is only £1000 a year.

As my benefit was backdated to February 2009, my year was up in February 2010. So far I've earned £155 in my second year. I published a friend's book for her and since it was published in July 2009 I've earned £441 from it since my 2nd year started in February.

Now, is that earned or UNearned income?

They told me the money I get from lodgers does not count. Do book royalties count?

There's nothing about it on the jobcetnre website.

travelodger

TOBRUK wrote: »

The only evidence if that's the right word according to the letter they sent me was things they may want to see (as I stated earlier) they listed:
driving licence
utility bills
bank statements etc

Do they list these on your letter? Just gather these items together before the officer arrives, and any correspondece they have sent you.

It says they need some proof of ID only, and suggest passprt, DL, bills, etc. I've just got a brand new paassport, so I will show him that.