Paying back a crisis loan 8 years later

xthemogx

my husband has just had a call from Benefits and pensions saying he owes over £1000 borrowed in 2002 as a crisis loan, we have no knowledge of this loan and am fairly sure they would not have lent us this amount, but the fact that it has taken them 8 years to contact him is a joke, can they just phone up and demand a payment like this?

dmg24

You can ask for proof of the debt, but if he does owe it, owing money to the public purse is certainly not a joke.

Loopy_Girl

I'm guessing you are asking in a roundabout way if this debt is statute barred and the answer is that no, DWP debts are not statute barred so they can chase years later.

I would assume you would have remembered if you got a loan for £1000 but if not, ask them for the relevant paperwork.

Just a point that if you ever wanted to claim benefits in the future (and who knows what it holds) and you do suddenly 'remember' then I would get it paid back. They should accept a reasonable payment plan.

bengalknights

Government loans are generally never statute barred, in this case you should contact the DWP for the relevant paperwork and come to some kind of agreement otherwise they may deduct the amount from any benefits you are currently receiveing or will receive in the future

tcr_3

I doubt it's one crisis loan of c. £1,000. It's probably very many applications totalling that amount.

Given that most crisis loans at that time were paid by giro at the local social security office, they would have had proof of the ID & signature provided when collecting the giros.