DWP Investigation after death

cjellwood

Hi,

My mother died 3 months ago due to a surgical blunder while having a hip operation. The solicitor dealing with the estate told me that my mothers bank statements for the past 3 months have been sent to the DWP for inspection, which is according to the solicitor, normal practice after a person dies that is claiming a pension or pension credits. My mother had only been claiming her pension for a year at time of death, she was 65.

My sister who is the executor of the account is not being very helpfull about this and the solicitor likes to make excuses to leave when I start asking him questions. Apparently it was the bank (Barclays) that sent DWP the statements as according to the solicitor it is a legal requirement??

Can anyone please throw some light on this because I dont like the thought of people lurking through my mothers finances when there has not even been an inquest yet. And the apparent fact that the DWP have the power to just summons the statements from a bank without the family being notified seems totally bizarre! I thought only SOCA had the power to do things like that?

Sorry if this is a bit un-ordered. Any light is appreciated on this.

thanks
Chris

cit_k

cjellwood wrote: »

The solicitor dealing with the estate told me that my mothers bank statements for the past 3 months have been sent to the DWP for inspection, which is according to the solicitor, normal practice after a person dies that is claiming a pension or pension credits. My mother had only been claiming her pension for a year at time of death, she was 65.

If the solicitor is saying its a legal requirement he or she will be able to tell you chapter and verse what legislation/law requires it.

Ask them to... Report back with what they say.

cabbage

Hi

its normal for the dwp to write to the personal representative or executor to ask for details of the deceased in case any benefit has been overpaid. Its also usual for DWP to write if there is any formal Trustee Notice in the papers.

I don't think its for the bank or the solicitor (if they are not executors) to ask about your mother's financial affairs.

anmarj

when a person dies if there estate is over a certain amount, it automatically goes to a department of the dwp that deals with estates after death, (sorry can't remember the name) and they have to investigate if there was undeclared capital that should of been declared, ie somebody dies with £350k and had Pension Credit but the claim only showed £500 so they have to find out when the customer had the money and if it should of been reported.

found this from an earlier response that I did on a similar query.

Hi

Just to say that I have found out how from the recovery of estate site at work how this has come about - when somebody applies for probate/letters of administration and the estate is over £5,000 they (recovery of esate) are automatically informed what the estate is worth, they then check to see if the entitlement is correct, so think I can safely say that there would be no overpayment if the capital increased after the start of the Pension Credit claim.

You state that she only claimed her SP at 64? I take it that she got a lump sum payment then? if so then that part is disreagrded for Pension Credit purposes.

cattie

It is perfectly normal. When my mother died it came to light she had been receiving a bit too much Pension credit, so the solicitor had to deduct it from her estate to repay DWP.

Lot's of older people forget to declare all their income, especially if they have a tiny pension from a past employer or there is a very small one from a late spouses former employment. Or sometimes there may be some savings they have forgotten to declare.

Gemstar30

cattie wrote: »

It is perfectly normal. When my mother died it came to light she had been receiving a bit too much Pension credit, so the solicitor had to deduct it from her estate to repay DWP.

Lot's of older people forget to declare all their income, especially if they have a tiny pension from a past employer or there is a very small one from a late spouses former employment. Or sometimes there may be some savings they have forgotten to declare.

Hey I like that ' Or sometimes there may be some savings they have forgotten to declare.'

The old folk (and when I say that - I mean at least 85!) I get involved with know to the penny more or less how much they have and where it is.!!

Mind you they do sometimes like their little jokes about the gold soverigns under the bed in a biscuit tin!!!

cjellwood

Thank you all for the detailed information!

I am not sure if my mum had a lump sum payment of the state pension. Her statements show two payments from DWP, one was around £50 and the other £70 so I guess that was her pension and credits. I am 30 years old so forgive me for not knowing too much about pension payments. Maybe I got her age wrong by 1 year ? :sad:

Even with your explanations it still seems odd that they have this ability after death, where they did not have that right to just go pillaging through statements before her death.

Everything seems to be very cold and commercial in this country. A person can not die without even the banks taking credit card debt from their bank account after death. Thats another story (Barclays!) Grrr!

Could someone point me in the direction of the regulations regarding the DWP's right to do that?

thanks
Chris

Mojisola

cjellwood wrote: »

Even with your explanations it still seems odd that they have this ability after death, where they did not have that right to just go pillaging through statements before her death.

Everything seems to be very cold and commercial in this country. A person can not die without even the banks taking credit card debt from their bank account after death. Thats another story (Barclays!) Grrr!

I'm sorry you're going through such a difficult time. It must be dreadful to lose your mother at such a young age and in such a way.

It looks as if the emotion around your mother's death is affecting the way you are looking at the practical stuff that has to be done after a death. 'Pillaging' is a very emotive word to describe a necessary process.

Anyone who has been in receipt of benefits will have their accounts looked at after their death and there will often be some money to pay back, eg. if the person spent the last few months in a hospice but the DWP wasn't notified. There isn't any nasty intent to it. Why should an overpayment be passed on as an inheritance when it really belongs to the taxpayer?

The same applies to credit card debt. A debt has to be paid. I don't know the circumstances in your case and some banks can be very quick in making sure they get their money but it is usually money they are entitled to take.

McKneff

Good post there Mojisola,
Sensitive and gently to the point.

Hope it helps the OP.

OP sory for your loss, it was the worst thing that has ever happened to me in my life, but I have been fortunate enough not to lose a husband or a child.

My condolences to you.

cjellwood

yes you are correct about the emotional view, I do need to chill out a bit. It just all seems very cold and my mum is not here to defend herself if the DWP make claims. The inquest into her death has been delayed for 3 months already because the hospital have not provided any documentation to the coroners office yet, but the DWP are in there looking for money already!

To be completely upfront here, my concern is about a sum of £300 a month that was being paid into her account by a previous employer who owed her £5000 for a time she did cleaning work for him without pay when his company nearly folded. That was earned prior to her claiming the pension credits and is now being repaid by transfer from Turkey where the boss now lives. Of course the bank is frozen now so those payments will not be received and we cannot contact the boss because we have no contact details for him.

I know the above is a very odd unlikely story but it is true. My mother was either naive and too trusting or simply had good faith when she did this for the boss of whom she had no special relationship with. How can she defend against the innevitable query of those payments? It just seems very odd to be able to investigate a dead persons finances where they are not there to defend or explain. My mum was one of those rare people that do not deserve their fate (i.e. good die young) so I wish to defend her now. The executor (my half sister) has denied that the DWP requested this from her and blamed it on the solicitor so there is just a brick wall to bang my head against at this moment.

This is a link which I am currently reading
http://www.financebanter.co.uk/uk-finance/7716-probate-dwp-2.html

Chris

mum2one

I can't help re the DHSS, but just wanted to send my condensoles (excuse spelling) xx