DWP investigation help please

blaster99999

wife worked for company for 9 years until 1999, was ill and went on incapacity benifit early 99, company she worked for kept her job open incase she was fit again to return but she never did, 2001 company made her redundant and paid out £1900, also unknowing to my wife this company has paid about £300 in total into her bank over 18 months some very small amounts like £2.89 amd £12.88 and a few £97 and £48 and we dont have a clue what these payments are for or how to find out what there are because this company closed and went out of business last year. The dwp are investigating a possible overpayment to my wife of £8000 over 2 years has ni contributions were made by the company she worked for while she was on ib, we have got statments from bank but only cover about half of the time they are investigating but the figures on these statments come to only £300 and then her £1900 redundancy, how can we prove she did not work those years and claimed ib and what do we do about the £300 she did get (could be tax back we have no idea) and also will the redundancy payment be taken into acount?

maow425

I would either get in touch with a solicitor - they will often let you know whether you have a case in a so-called free consultation, or the money saving option is to contact your local Citizens Advice Bureau. They should be able to help, and if not, put you in touch with - or guide you to - someone who can help.

hjb123

As the previous poster suggests get some help from either your local Citizens Advice Bureau or Welfare Rights Service who will be able to help and advice you.

Have you got to attend an interview or what is the situation you are going into now?

You could try speaking to someone at the HMRC to see if they are able to shed any light. Make sure you get any documentation from that time - ie, wages slips or bank statements etc - if you still have them!

blaster99999

the situation is, we recieved a letter from dwp saying we been informed of some information and need to see you, we invite you to a interview, we declined has we had no idea what it was about then they said someone could do home visit and thats what happend, she came out and took a statement from my wife and asked if she did any work over the period they have NI contibutions at same time has on IB, so we said we would try to get bank statements and prove she never recieved any wages, and the statments we got from the bank show she didnt get any regular wages just the very small ammount over 18 months and the redundancy payment, how does she stand regarding these payments, we cant verify what the irregular payments are, we might be able to get 3 or 4 statements from ppl working at same place dureing this period to say she didnt work do you think that might be worth while, we are expecting a follow up call from dwp soon has they have asked for my wife to sign consent to access her bank statments but we already got them , well 6 years worth and not 7 years that they have asked for, whats hmrc and do you have a number

hulltiger_2

As an ex Council investigator i can say that the DWP will have to prove that you or your wife knowingly committed fraud to win their case, so therefore prove that you knew you were receiving monies you were not entitled to. As the Company has folded they will find it very hard to prove you have received the wages anyway , as the other suggest i would seek legal advice and not agree to be interviewed in the future without representation.

blaster99999

do you think we should give them any bank statements we have got or sign to give them authorisation to get bank statments from her bank

Morglin

The amounts in your bank that you speak of would have no impact on any benefits recieved at that time.

I worked for the DWP and it seems to me that someone may have reported that your wife was working during the time she said she wasn't. It happens, and it's often a malcious neighbour or something.

If you wish, you can get copy bank statements for the DWP, but it's them that have to show evidence that your wife was working - and unless they can do that, this enquiry of theirs is going nowhere.

Some solicitors will give you a fixed appointment, but make sure you go to one that is experienced in welfare rights and benefits.

Other than that, go to the CAB who will be able to point you in the right direction.

Lin

Bossyboots

Morglin wrote:

I worked for the DWP and it seems to me that someone may have reported that your wife was working during the time she said she wasn't. It happens, and it's often a malcious neighbour or something.

The OP has stated that for some reason the firm were paying NI contributions for the wife while she was off, thus making it appear she was working. Therefore no-one needs to have reported it, the "evidence" was there.

There are two difficulties that I can see. One is that the NI contributions were paid and secondly that sums of money went into her account from this company over an extended period and no-one took the time to find out what they were.

I don't know if they could make a case to a magistrate of guilty beyond all reasonable doubt, but they certainly have some strong ammunition at the moment.

Is there no way of tracking down the owners or someone in accounts/payroll from the company she worked for to get a letter confirming she wasn't working and to confirm what those payments were. I agree they may have been tax refunds in the tax year in which she stopped work, but not for the whole period being talked about.

blaster99999

we are trying to track someone down to verify her story but we are talking of over 7 years ago who is going to remember anything like this over 7 years ago, do you think we should do as much as poss to help the dwp by giving them evidence of the bank accounts and hope they see these small amounts without any problems, we are quite conserned that these amounts are on her statements but with no wage slips or anything else and these payments made about every 6 to 8 weeks we were completely unaware of these payments

maow425

Anyone can make NI contributions while they are not working, can't they? I get a letter from HMRC about once a year saying that I can pay NI contributions even though I am not working, as this will be beneficial to me when I retire should I need to rely on a state pension. Does this mean that if I do pay these contributions, the DWP will assume that I'm working and therefore come down on me like a ton of bricks calling me a criminal and benefit fraud? If that's the case then I'll never pay when the letter comes through my letterbox!

I would definately seek professional legal advice in your case blaster! And soon! The sooner you get to speak to someone who really knows what they're talking about, the sooner you'll be able to sort this out and get the burden of worry off your back! Otherwise it may just grind you down, and you'll be even worse off.

Good luck!

hjb123

Even if the company is no longer wont there still be records etc of that company being in existence from that time and/or wont htey have to keep documents for a certain length of time even if the business is no longer?!