social fund loans

liannee22

hiya im not sure if ive posted this in the right forum (mods please feel free to move it!)

Anyway, i recieved a letter last september from the department of work and pensions stating that i owed them £368 from an over payment! I have not been on any benefits for over 12 years! so i called them and they said i had recieved 3 social fund loans in 1996 and 1997 and they wanted the money back in full :eek:
I do not remenber these loans, i was only 16 at the time, so i asked them to send me proof to try and jog my memory, so i recieved that in oct it was for a single bed, duvet etc in 1996, 1997 was for a double bed, duvets etc and the 3rd was for pots and pans, crockery etc. this made me even more dubious as why would i buy a single bed then 2 months later buy a double bed?? so i called again and asked for proof that i had cashed the giros they stated they has sent, and i never heard anythink else untill now, ive just had a debt collector letter saying they want full and final payment by 12pm tomorrow or a bailif will come around. Does anyone know where i stand? ive spoken to CAB and they seem to think any debt unclaimed over 6 yrs is wiped away but DW&P have just told me that government money can be claimed for upto 20 yrs so i just have to pay?? any advice would be greatly appreciated! x

geoffky

bump this...anyone help the op...maybe copy and paste into the benefits section..

iluvmarmite

I copied this from a benefits forum, hope it helps



There is no time limit with government debts. If the time of six years (five in Scotland) has elaspsed with no acknowledgement and no communication then they cannot take recovery action through the courts, but can ask you to repay it. And any time you begin to receive benefit they have the right to reclaim it via your benefit, as benefit is public funds as are Social Fund payments. So in short you can't not repay it, or appeal it, as at the time you took out the loan you would have signed a declaration and agreed to make the repayments.

However, if you don't believe you took the Crisis Loan out, then you will need to dispute this in writing, stating that you do not believe the loan to have been taken out by yourself. What they will then do, is request your original paper file from their remote storage facility and check the declaration which a customer has to sign agreeing to the loan and repayments when the loan is taken out. In the meantime they will still recover the amounts and have the right to do so. Government debts are not like debts to DCA's, and the applicable legislation is different. If they discover the loan is not yours, they will refund the repayments they took from your benefit.

If you are worried about them not taking you seriously, get your MP involved. They may try to fob you off, but an MP usually gets them moving

liannee22

iluvmarmite wrote: »

I copied this from a benefits forum, hope it helps



There is no time limit with government debts. If the time of six years (five in Scotland) has elaspsed with no acknowledgement and no communication then they cannot take recovery action through the courts, but can ask you to repay it. And any time you begin to receive benefit they have the right to reclaim it via your benefit, as benefit is public funds as are Social Fund payments. So in short you can't not repay it, or appeal it, as at the time you took out the loan you would have signed a declaration and agreed to make the repayments.

However, if you don't believe you took the Crisis Loan out, then you will need to dispute this in writing, stating that you do not believe the loan to have been taken out by yourself. What they will then do, is request your original paper file from their remote storage facility and check the declaration which a customer has to sign agreeing to the loan and repayments when the loan is taken out. In the meantime they will still recover the amounts and have the right to do so. Government debts are not like debts to DCA's, and the applicable legislation is different. If they discover the loan is not yours, they will refund the repayments they took from your benefit.

If you are worried about them not taking you seriously, get your MP involved. They may try to fob you off, but an MP usually gets them moving

thanks for the reply, ive not heard anythink till last year, ive had all the original paperwork but there are no signatures, i have requested a copy of the signed cashed giro cheques. the debt collector letter i recieved today states i have to pay in full by midday tomorrow or they will start legal proceedings and send out bailifs!!!

[Deleted User]

You need to get advice pronto try CAB,loans from the dwp cant be statute barred,but its unusal for them to sell them on to a DCA
tbh they wont have copies of the signed giros after all this time
if it were me i`d check with the dwp tomorrow that they have indeed passed this to a DCA,and i`d be suspicious of the DCA thretening court action and balliffs

fatbelly

I was a bit confused by you saying that the DWP had written about an overpayment, then a DCA approached you about social fund loans. These are two separate things.

But in both cases, two facts apply:

• There has been a period of more than six years since the 'debt' was acknowledged so it cannot be pursued through the court, and hence, no bailiff action is possible.
  
• If you need to go back on a means-tested benefit at any time, there will be deductions applied in order to repay these sums.

You can ignore the rantings of whichever low-life DCA is sending stupid letters. But if you want to send a statute barred letter, here it is:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2606811

Tygermoth

Hi liannee22

I have had the same. A letter out of the blue re a loan. They state it was taken nearly 13 yrs ago! for the sum of £45.

As I have not ever had a loan from them I was a touch supprised Lol.

I disputed the loan and asked for paperwork... they advised they have none, nothing, nada.... But i have to pay anyway.

Shoveitupyourchocolatewizzwang is what i said.

I took the advice here and asked them to take from future benefits.

They refused and appt a DCA. Each time they send a letter i send a 'take it from future benefits' letter and i know you cant take me to court letter.

I would pay asap if i thought for a second i had had this money but i have not!

liannee22

thanks for the replys, they said the letter i recieved saying id had an overpayment was a fixed format letter, hence why i called to query it as im not on benefits, ive spoken to the CAB they were no use, and the debt company they are using to try and get the money of me are called ccscollect, apparently according to the job centre i spoke to yesterday they are the only ones used to recover government money.... looks like im stuffed then and im gonna have to pay!:mad:

liannee22

Tygermoth wrote: »

Hi liannee22

I have had the same. A letter out of the blue re a loan. They state it was taken nearly 13 yrs ago! for the sum of £45.

As I have not ever had a loan from them I was a touch supprised Lol.

I disputed the loan and asked for paperwork... they advised they have none, nothing, nada.... But i have to pay anyway.

Shoveitupyourchocolatewizzwang is what i said.

I took the advice here and asked them to take from future benefits.

They refused and appt a DCA. Each time they send a letter i send a 'take it from future benefits' letter and i know you cant take me to court letter.

I would pay asap if i thought for a second i had had this money but i have not!

its madness isint it! im really worried about this, ive never had a debt collector letter and dont want it to effect my credit rating!!! x

CHR15

And you genuinely have zero recollection of obtaining these loans to buy beds and pots with?

Tygermoth

It cant touch your credit rating.

The DCA has been writing to me for over a year and there is no note on my credit files

I do tell them each time it is not cost affective to keep writing to me as it must have cost them in excess of the £45 and i have already said they can collect from any future benefits.

HeyHo.