100 year old grannioe being asked to repay £17k

anmarj

boozzie wrote: »

As she can claim Disability living allowance if this flat was my Uncles.

she could of claimed DLA regardless if the property was her or uncles, as it about her disability not income or status


see page 24-27 for info about the SDP - http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/dmgch78.pdf

krisskross

anmarj wrote: »

she could of claimed DLA regardless if the property was her or uncles, as it about her disability not income or status

Was there DLA 35 years ago?

sunnyone

krisskross wrote: »

Was there DLA 35 years ago?

No their wasnt, it started in todays form in 1992 but there was a another benefit previously, mobility allowance and care allowance someone mentioned before.

FifiMo

What a dreadful situation to find yourselves in. My advice would be to look up Advocacy Services on google and find someone who will represent this lady's interests. These are normally done free of charge by volunteers. In addition, and before the appeal, I would be asking for the SW Dept to carry out a Needs assessment and also a carer's assessment for your uncle too. They are both entitled to ask for this to be carried out. All of this might help when the overall situation is presented as part of the appeal. What you might find is that she may have been overpaid but equally they might choose to offset this against other entitlements which she could have had but didn't !

If all else fails, then i'd be off to the local press - I'm sure they'd be interested in a 100 yr old being treated in this way.

Fi

viktory

FifiMo wrote: »

If all else fails, then i'd be off to the local press - I'm sure they'd be interested in a 100 yr old being treated in this way.

Why do you consider it reasonable that age precludes repayment of a benefit overpayment? Money that has been incorrectly, possibly fraudulently, claimed?

dmg24

FifiMo wrote: »

What a dreadful situation to find yourselves in. My advice would be to look up Advocacy Services on google and find someone who will represent this lady's interests. These are normally done free of charge by volunteers. In addition, and before the appeal, I would be asking for the SW Dept to carry out a Needs assessment and also a carer's assessment for your uncle too. They are both entitled to ask for this to be carried out. All of this might help when the overall situation is presented as part of the appeal. What you might find is that she may have been overpaid but equally they might choose to offset this against other entitlements which she could have had but didn't !

If all else fails, then i'd be off to the local press - I'm sure they'd be interested in a 100 yr old being treated in this way.

Fi

Yep, the Daily Mail would love to report on yet another claimant trying to avoid an overpayment! :T

Oldernotwiser

Asking for the money to be repaid out of her estate is the most sensible thing that's been suggested; expecting it to be wiped off on grounds of age is ludicrous.

CouponWoman

Your nan would have been sent letters re the amount of benefit she receives, this would be at least on a yearly basis if not more.

The letters clearly state what must be notified as a change of circumstances and what would affect her benefit.

As its looks like a simple case of error not an attempt at fraud, it would probably be in your nans best interest to offer to repay, say £5 a week from her benefit and then agree that the DWP should put a charge on the flat.

Your uncle was living there as a carer maybe, but he should really have contributed to the household bills including food, gas, electricity etc, your nan should not be subsidising him even though he is helping her.

Try not to worry about all this, it must be scary but you might find it helpful to contact Social Services and get them to help sort it out.

By the way, when someone is in receipt of DLA middle or higher care, or Attendance Allowance (which your nan was probably on) they can only get the higher rate of benefit called Severe Disability premium if they live alone (or if with someone they too get AA or DLA middle or higher rate care) and no one claims Care Allowance for looking after them.

good luck

eskimo26

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Strangely, not everyone tells the truth when it's to their financial advantage.;)

Or disadvantage as is the case with the DWP in this situation. Ordinarily they would claw your eyes out to get that money back but with the right pressure you can make it go away. I'd be surprised if this was pursued but regardless....

Firstly get help the aged involved straight away, this is exactly what there here for, in situations where the elderly may be punished for not being able to follow such a convoluted benefits system. (I've lost count of how many of these posts start with,'we phoned the benefits people and they said such and such and now it turns out that was inaccurate so we are now in trouble.....').

If push comes to shove write to your MP and ask for his help, they're behaviour tends to change drastically when the local MP gets involved in situations like this.

In future NEVER trust their word over the phone always get it in writing so you have evidence!

This will resolve the situation from ever happening in the first place, and believe me it happens a lot for the very reason you described. (lost count of how many posts on here start with,' we phoned the benefits people for advice and they said such and such and now we are in trouble because that was inaccurate...').

ALIBOBSY

Just a thought, if they had been known about the sdp ending surely they would have been able to claim carrers allowance (had a different name but still existed). Perhaps they could offset what could have been paid against what was to reduce the overpayment?

I would doubt you will be able to find a recording or transcript of the call. When I finished at the DWP just a few years ago we still didn't have our calls recorded or monitored although many centralised benefits did. Anything over about 5 years ago is highly unlikely to have be recorded, unless a note was made somewhere on either the paperwork or online and has been kept.

ali x