Recovery of JSA overpayment

stressed21

Hi there, looking for some advice in regards to DWP trying to claim back money in JSA overpayment (supposedly!).

My partner was claiming Jobseekers Allowance on behalf of himself and me as a joint claim whilst working 15 hours a week. As you know there is entitlement to claim JSA as long as you are working within 16 hours a week only.

To do this he was to take his payslip every month when he signed on, which he did without fail. After roughly 5 months or so the amount dropped from something like £201.90 a fortnight (this is JSA x2 for both of us) to £59.58 because they had "paid us too much money", bearing in mind my partners wages/hours had not been changed. in the following 2 months it then dropped again to £28.82 then finally to 40-odd pence!

We were due to go on holiday and obviously he had to sign off, to which he did, partly because of the holiday and partly because signing on for 40 pence a week was very much pointless as it wouldn't even get us a loaf of bread!

In the following months we received letters from the DWP claiming we owe them £355 because they paid us too much. I sat and went through our bank statements and worked out that from the time they started cutting the benefits to the time we signed off they had cut, in total, £2153.85, or there abouts. I am extremely confused as to how we owe them money if theyve dropped that amount from the benefits!

They have since sent this to NDR for recovery but are firmly standing our ground and refuse to pay them anything back. I did inform them in writing that they would not get a penny for us and we are now waiting for them to take us to court.

If anyone has any similar issues like this or has any advice that could help us i would be very grateful!

bobajob_1966

First rule of managing debt - throwing your dummy out and saying 'I'll see you in court' will lead to ... a CCJ!

Have you asked for a breakdown of the overpayment? How long were you claiming for and how much income from employment did you have?

Lady_gaga

They may not take you to court but they WILL recover it from ANY future benefit claim...

cosmic-dust

stressed21 wrote: »

My partner was claiming Jobseekers Allowance on behalf of himself and me as a joint claim whilst working 15 hours a week. As you know there is entitlement to claim JSA as long as you are working within 16 hours a week only.

To do this he was to take his payslip every month when he signed on, which he did without fail. After roughly 5 months or so the amount dropped from something like £201.90 a fortnight (this is JSA x2 for both of us) to £59.58 because they had "paid us too much money", bearing in mind my partners wages/hours had not been changed. in the following 2 months it then dropped again to £28.82 then finally to 40-odd pence!

Even though he was working under 16 hours per week the DWP disregard the first £10 from wages then they deduct £1 for £1 after that from your benefits. How much wages per week was your partner earning?

stressed21

My partner was earning £85 something per week. The joint claim lasted roughly 9 months. What confuses me was that they were 'overpaying' us but my partner was handing in his payslips every month and they're basically trying to say this is our fault?

bobajob_1966

stressed21 wrote: »

My partner was earning £85 something per week. The joint claim lasted roughly 9 months. What confuses me was that they were 'overpaying' us but my partner was handing in his payslips every month and they're basically trying to say this is our fault?

It sounds like the £28.82 would have been the correct amount. For how long were you receiving more than this?

Shiloe

Regardless of fault sadly if he was earning £85 per week they would take into account £75 so you said you were getting £201.90 forthnightly which is £100.95 per week so £100.95 minus £75 would be £25.95 per week you should have been getting.

So you were being over paid by £150 fortnightly so to be honest I'm surprised its not alot higher overpayment you have been whacked with.

cosmic-dust

You could of course appeal the overpayment on the grounds that you did everything correctly, and it was not your fault that the overpayment has arisen. Your partner informed the jobcentre that he was in fact working and he did submit wage slips. It was then the job of the DWP to adjust your payments accordingly. I can't see how much more you could do.

stressed21

I see. But surely they should have picked up on this? If they had it wouldnt have come to this now. They're basically asking for a full months wage which is impossible what with bills, food etc to pay, especially as it is our only source of income. We are practically in limbo because we cannot afford to pay out anything more than what we already do. Appreciate the advice also, thanks!

stressed21

cosmic-dust wrote: »

You could of course appeal the overpayment on the grounds that you did everything correctly, and it was not your fault that the overpayment has arisen. Your partner informed the jobcentre that he was in fact working and he did submit wage slips. It was then the job of the DWP to adjust your payments accordingly. I can't see how much more you could do.

Thats exactly where i'm coming from cosmic-dust, i probably should have worded it better! Apologies.

bobajob_1966

stressed21 wrote: »

I see. But surely they should have picked up on this? If they had it wouldnt have come to this now. They're basically asking for a full months wage which is impossible what with bills, food etc to pay, especially as it is our only source of income. We are practically in limbo because we cannot afford to pay out anything more than what we already do. Appreciate the advice also, thanks!

You don't have to pay it back all at once, you can come to an arrangement.