I owe how much???.....

fiestychick

Hi,

I would appreciate any help/response/support.

I'm sitting here shaking and crying and panicking.

My partner and I had an over payment from last year when we didn't send our renewal form off. Initially it was because they changed they way they did it and usually you didn't do anything if it was right. We then got a few letters but we were going through a very volatile time and it wasn't dealt with. My partner then moved out and I applied singly. He then moved back in (its embarrassing enough havi to explain the ins and outs about your private relationship on the phone when claiming) and was told I now had an overpayment of £1800. This was because I phoned tghem in Feb and said hes moving back in at the wekend and was told they couldnt do future dated claims and to ring back when he had ac tually moved in (seems set up to overpay you). They sent me a form out wheich I filled out and forgot about in my drawer at work. Admittedly I carried on spending the money weekly but then when I sent the form in got the overpayment. My partner has moved out agian. I didn;t want to ring to claim because its embarrassing but I'm not sure how amicable it will be. Our relationship is this way because I'm bad with money and it makes things very stressful. In the convsation I said I just want to make sure I'm not overpaid again as I need to sort these things out. I then explained that everything wiull be pretty much the same for now i.e. he will pay mortgage bills etc and I mentioned childacre comes from my wage via vouchers. There was a massive intake of breath and she said 'you should not be claiming anything with us - how long have you had them'. I said it was a while and she said in her words I would 'owe ALOT of money back'. She says you cant have both. I absolutely genuinely didn't knowe. She says I was told on the phone.

I'm so scared of being saddled with more debt and it now looks like any chance of future reconcilliation with my partner is gone. This wouyld be the final straw.

I feel very alone and don;t know what to do.

fiestychick

Additionally I wrote a letter 2 months ago asking them to clarify the overpayment and how I can pay it back and she told me they don't reply to letters (?) and a response on the phone is all they can do.

I'd spoken before to a guy who phoned from the debt side and said I'd like a written explanation of what I owe and why before I pay anything and he said he can't tell me when they will respond to my letter. I then said but its impossible to get through on the phone and he said to 'take it up with your MP'.

I don't know what to do. I have 2 small children and I feel like I'm just making such a mess of eveything. I'm sorry to go on but any advice pleasE?

dmg24

If you know that you owe the money (and it sounds like you do), make an arrangement to repay it. If you really don't believe that you owe the money, then write to them by Recorded Delivery and ask for a breakdown of the amount.

compoff

Yes, first of all, ensure your current claim is correct, get the details checked and ensure you are not claiming for childcare costs that you pay using vouchers. Once this is sorted you can then deal with your overpayments. Any overpayments from your joint claim will be between you and your ex to pay back between yous. Request written details of the overpayments and take it from there. However, I can see no reason why any of your overpayments would be wiped off, as it seems most of the errors were on your part. Suitable repayment plans can be set up by the debt management section, who can look at your income and outgoings in order to settle on a figure.

fiestychick

Agreed - I will pay back what I owe.

It is the childcare voucher situation I'm panicking about abd the comment that I owe A LOT of money.I genuinely didn;t know about this. I appreciate your comments but right now I don't know how I will ever get out of this situation. It's easy to say it's your fault you owe it now pay it but I'm a person and right now looking at my sleeping kids and wondering what the hell I a going to do.

I know I sound sorry for myself but I feel it.

In terms of requseting a breakdown I've been advised that they don't reply to letters so that's out of the window.

Thanks for replying I thought others might have been here and could tell me theres a light at the end of the tunnel.

Thabnks for your comments tho and for replying.

dmg24

There is a light at the end of the tunnel - you will pay back the money eventually. The fact is that, however you dress it up, it is your fault and you do need to get it sorted. Yes, you are going to have to tighten your belts for quite some time, so take this time to look at your outgoings and see where you can make cutbacks. I don't know what more you want people to say?

fiestychick

I dfon't know either.

Yes I get that it's my fault. Don't worry about it. I don;t know maybe I was hoping someone would be understanding. I have noone else to talk to and this is the only thing I can think of to do.

This has been possibly the worst year of my life I just feel weighed down by the fact that its not going to get any better and I don;t think it ever will.

Anyway like you have all said its my fault, deal with it and what else can anyone say. cheers.

passatrider

I would sit down and go through you income and expenses and come up with a reasonable monthly payment you can offer them. Then give them a call tommorrow and make them an offer - if it takes 5 years then so be it. The main thing is not to ignore it. HMRC will not go away, presuming this is tax credits.

You will get it sorted..

fiestychick

Thank you passatrider. Very much xx

passatrider

fiestychick wrote: »

I dfon't know either.

Yes I get that it's my fault. Don't worry about it. I don;t know maybe I was hoping someone would be understanding. I have noone else to talk to and this is the only thing I can think of to do.

This has been possibly the worst year of my life I just feel weighed down by the fact that its not going to get any better and I don;t think it ever will.

Anyway like you have all said its my fault, deal with it and what else can anyone say. cheers.

Take no notice of some of the negative comments, they get a kick out of putting the boot in it seems!

rogerblack

Something doesn't quite add up.
Are you talking directly to the DWP, not to a third party they may have sold the debt to?
For basically every decision that affects your entitlement to benefits, you can ask for a reason for this decision - a 'statement of reasons'.
The debt collection agency - if that's who you've been talking to - may have little ore than the debt amount - and no other instructions - they certainly are not able to go into the details of your case, and in case of dispute, they are supposed to pass the case back to the DWP/whoever.

Anyway.
Things I would try to do tomorrow.
Phone the DWP directly, and ask for a statement of reasons for the decision to recover the overpayment.
Ask for all details of your interactions with them, as well as any recordings of any calls that may have been made.
You are only required to tell them about changes that you know make a difference to your claim, so if they have not notified you of what you need to disclose, they can't usually pursue you for it.

I'd also be arguing that you 'notified the relevant office' - by calling them and advising them of a change.
The fact that they could not accept changes in the future does not change that.

You can get copies of all the information they hold on you - consider asking for it, as well as all recordings made of calls.
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/privacy-policy/data-protection/
You can similarly do this with the debt collection agency.

The aim here would be to reduce the overpayment to the time your partner was actually present, not any extra - sorry if I've misinterpreted the timeline.

Secondly - you want to see if you can prove that you were not told you could not claim both benefits.

Thirdly - to make it so that you can repay the overpayment over the longest period possible.