Cuts in Old Age Pension

nualadalton

I have just bbeen informed that my Old Age Pension is to cut by £60 per month due to a miscalculation by the Dept. of Works & Pensions. I have paid full NI contributions fo r over 40 yrs.The DWP person who called to see me last week told me that I am not the only pensioner who will be affected as she had many to see.
I have contacted my MP and the DWP to try and find out what is going on but so far have received no more infformation. Has anybody else been affected by this and can anything be done about this appalling situation. Look forward to hearing about any other pensioner in this same position.

dunstonh

Has anybody else been affected by this and can anything be done about this appalling situation.

If you have been receiving too much in error then it is appalling that tax payers have been footing the bill for that. Are they asking you to pay back the extra amount you have been paid too much or do you get to keep it?

jamesd

Sorry to read about your bad news. Is part of that £60 a week reduction to repay the past overpayment? If so you might be able to get them to agree to recover the money over a longer time period so the effect on your income is less.

moonrakerz

If you actually had a visit form the DWP didn't they explain what was going on ? Did they just drop in or was this visit pre-arranged ? Didn't they say why, or you ask ?

It seems odd to be visited in person - then told your pension is being reduced by £60 a month and no reason given - most odd in fact !

Alter_ego

Did you check the identity of the "DWP" person?

johnaka

dunstonh wrote: »

If you have been receiving too much in error then it is appalling that tax payers have been footing the bill for that. Are they asking you to pay back the extra amount you have been paid too much or do you get to keep it?

didn't it occure to you duntonh that he has paid his tax too
like the rest of us.
not all have been scroungers you know.

Jory

I too have been told over the phone that I have been overpaid on my State Pension since I retired 5 years ago because of a DWP error. No details yet as to how much. Like you I have paid NI contrubutions in full. I have told DWP that I don't want an interview until I receive a full explanation in writing with back up calculations - so that I can get legal/accountancy advice if necessary before seeing anyone.. So far (this all started 3 weeks ago) I have received nothing except a second request for an interview date which I have refused. I thought this might be a scam since it is all so odd and unprofessional, but I can't check it out as no DWP telephone numbers given by the so called "local office" in Brixton (which is not where I live) seem to match anything on the official web site.I plan to wait for a couple more weeks to see if any written explanation arrives. If it doesn't I will write to DWP HQ and go from there.

Loughton_Monkey

johnaka wrote: »

didn't it occure to you duntonh that he has paid his tax too
like the rest of us.
not all have been scroungers you know.

A bit unfair.....

I can see no allusion to the OP being tainted as a 'scrounger'. The fact of being a taxpayer does not bring with it the right for state pension any larger than 'full entitlement'. If an HMRC/DWP mistake has been made, resulting in paying money in error to someone, then it must be corrected and dealt with.

This applies whether the over-payed person is a non taxpayer, a small tax payer, or a millionaire.

It is also, I would have thought, plainly "appalling" that these mistakes are made - not least because they cost a lot of money. Surely every tax payer would be appalled. That, however, is no reflection whatsoever on the poor individual who has been the 'victim' of this mistake and who has been led to believe that his income is set significantly higher than is 'right' and that it must somehow be corrected.

How would you feel if DWP made a massive 'decimal point' error on my pension. They infom me I will get £10,500 a week (instead of £105), and indeed make one monthly payment of £42,000 before informing me of an error.... I'm a tax payer. Therefore by your reckoning, it seems I am now entitled to £42,000 a month for life!

johnaka

now don't get ya knickers in a twist monkey face.
I wasn't referring to any one being a scrounger on here just a figure of speech.
get one thing straight as a tax payer myself and has been for over 40 years,do you honestly think that the taxman etc are going to tell you or me that you've paid to much in year so so? not likely its up to you to chase it so why should it be any difference to the pension?
quite happily to take off you but not give.
and don't tell me that you would not take a penny off this government if your not entitled to it.they are all in it from an MP to a rich man. MP's are the biggest fiddlers which recently came to light.
every one is trying to get as much out of the system,
its only when they get caught 'I'm truely sorry'