DWP recovery of Jobseeker payment from estate

jon3409

Wonder if any one has come across this, my father (whom I have had no cantact with) died earlier this year, without leaving a will. The solicitor went through the usual processes all looked ok until dwp sent a letter asking for his last 3 months bank statement. We got these from the bank showing that he had £30k in the bank, with amounts in and out.Dwp asked me for details of transaction but as I had no contact with him I could not give any.
The solicitor recieved a letter last wook from dwp stating that they were looking for the large amount of £13370 back, to be paid by 08th November. The main amount is for job seekers allowance of £11700 paid out between 11/10/96 and 22/03/01. They have att no reasoning behind this calculation.

Any advice or help would be welcome.

cosmic-dust

Having 30K in the bank would mean he wasn't entitled to any jobseekers money, it appears he was defrauding the system and as such the DWP want their money back from his estate.

jon3409

Yes I am, how can they work this amnount out as they only asked for the last 3 months bank accounts, which was at 30k but had been down to -400?

cosmic-dust

jon3409 wrote: »

Yes I am, how can they work this amnount out as they only asked for the last 3 months bank accounts, which was at 30k but had been down to -400?

Where did the 30K come from?

HappyMJ

And when did he get the £30k if he got it after 22/03/01 then it won't affect the claim as he didn't have it during the period of claiming.

Oldernotwiser

jon3409 wrote: »

Yes I am, how can they work this amnount out as they only asked for the last 3 months bank accounts, which was at 30k but had been down to -400?

The recent bank statement will simply show that there is the money in the estate to repay the debts.

jon3409

We dont know as we cannot get acess that far back for acc details, what gets me is they demand this money back and provide no reason or evidence!!!

cosmic-dust

jon3409 wrote: »

We dont know as we cannot get acess that far back for acc details, what gets me is they demand this money back and provide no reason or evidence!!!

There is no paperwork for £30k :eek:

HappyMJ

cosmic-dust wrote: »

There is no paperwork for £30k :eek:

I personally don't have paperwork going back to 1996-2001. I have destroyed it as per HMRC guidelines of only keeping 6 years worth of records.

I know statute of limitations applies to personal debts but doesn't something apply here when it is impossible to find any information on the facts going that far back.

fluffymovie

It could be that when the DWP weren't able to get the bank statements, they used a service available to Investigators called National Anti Fraud Network (NAFN) who can access bank records.

It could be that they accessed this and could see a large amount of capital had not been declared thereby throwing into question entitlement for the entire period.

Whenever an overpayment is created, the relevant parties should be notified, in this case, solicitors I believe.

HappyMJ

Tory70 wrote: »

Surely the bank will have details of the money? All that is needed really, is the date when of the OP's father went over the savings limit for payment of means tested benefits. It really is that simple. If he had £6k+ and was claiming JSA then he owes the DWP the overpayment. If he didn't then he doesn't.

I can appreciate the frustration experienced by the OP in respect of the DWP demands with no explanation. Personally, I'd be on the phone to the bank and the DWP asap.

The bank can also only go back 6 maybe 7 years depending on when they destroy the information or take it offline. Try asking the bank for a statement from 1996 and they will tell you they can't.