DWP appeal time expired. Options?

7mag

I am the carer for a 51 year old disabled woman who has mental health issues. In 2002 she was the subject of a DWP inquiry in relation to her benefit claim; this included a taped interview under caution. They determined that there had been an over-payment, which falls broadly into 2 categories; one of circa £5K, the other of circa £8K. Both are being recovered by deductions from her current benefits.
The £5K figure is not in dispute, and the DWP have provided details of how this figure has been determined. The £8K figure however, based on maintenance which was allegedly received but not declared, is strongly disputed by the woman. I have sought corroboration from the DWP as to how this figure has been calculated. They state that because the woman did not appeal within the 14 months allowed, they no longer have any of the documentation, as no ‘business case’ exists for its retention. Nor is the interview tape/transcript available, for the same reason.
The woman’s mental health is such that she suffers from a considerably impaired ability to communicate, concentrate and comprehend. She was not interviewed in the presence of an appropriate adult, nor would she have understood the significance of the appeal time limit. (She did not have a carer at this time).
I would be less concerned at her not being able to appeal if the £8K figure could be corroborated (as the £5K has been) but the lack of transparency would hardly appear to be fair, given the previous paragraph. I have tried to engage with DWP but we appear to be dead-locked. What, if any, options might be open and/or who might be able to advise/assist? The woman does not have the means to pay for legal advice.

Cpt.Scarlet

The very maximum appeal time is 13 months, so if it is longer than that , I can't see any way to challenge the decision.

7mag

Many thanks; I feared this might be the case but thought it would be worth asking

speedfreek1000

Your 1st step is to send the DWP a SAR (Subject Access Request) asking for all records clerical and computerised.

It's free and you never know what it might turn up.

Then if anything is returned you would have to check that v's the rules as they were 10 years ago.

TBF after that you'd need specialist legal advice to see what if anything can be done from there. Benefits law is quite complex and changes often but you'll not know until you ask somebody who does.

It's a real long shot but if you think knowing one way or the other would improve her health might be worth the effort.

cosmic-dust

7mag wrote: »

The £8K figure however, based on maintenance which was allegedly received but not declared, is strongly disputed by the woman.

Can you clarify maintenance? Is this child maintenance or something else?

7mag

It allegedly relates to child maintenance

rogerblack

As I understand it, the 13 month time limit would apply to any decision to recover the money.
unfortunately, if it's been going on through deductions for some time, it sounds as if there may have been no recent decision which can be challenged.

The only route out of this would be to either convince the DWP that you are right, and get them to reverse the decision - which is going to be really, really difficult especially as most places with the info will have destroyed it if it's over 6 years old, or compensation for maladministration. (due to not having an appropriate adult)

It is sometimes possible to get deductions reduced - they are not supposed to lead to hardship.
This will not of course make the debt go away.

In addition - benefit maximisation.
Is she claiming all she can?
This, while it may or may not increase the amount, due to the onging deduction - would make the debt go away faster, and bring forward the time at which the benefit would again be payable in full.

ESA, DLA, the appropriate premiums on ESA due to the DLA, carers allowance claimed by anyone appropriate, ...

texranger

speedfreek1000 wrote: »

Your 1st step is to send the DWP a SAR (Subject Access Request) asking for all records clerical and computerised.

It's free and you never know what it might turn up.

where do you get that its free any request for information held about you has a fee of no more than £10

http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_the_public/personal_information/how_manage/access_info.aspx

Cpt.Scarlet

Stated DWP policy is not to charge the fee.

tottybum

rogerblack wrote: »

It is sometimes possible to get deductions reduced - they are not supposed to lead to hardship.


In addition - benefit maximisation.
Is she claiming all she can?
QUOTE]

A few years ago I owed the DWP money because of a failure to notify a change. It was just over £6000.

We didn't appeal as we didn't quite know what our rights were and at the end of the day I possibly did owe it, so it was only right that I paid it back.

Because it was classed as 'fraud' as opposed to me not telling them, they had the right to take 1/3 of my benefits every week off me.
I did ask them about it but they insisted that that is what they must do. Hardship did not come into it, they said that the law was 30%!
Obviously it put us in a very difficult position and for nearly 2 years we suffered with not enough money to live off.

From what they told me when I asked they expected you to have hardship as being part of the punishment.

We thought about trying to see what else we could claim, but all that would have meant would that they would take more back still!

7mag

I say allegedly because (and as I understand it) DWP have based this on verbal claims from the father that he paid £x per week for ? years. I don't think the claims would have withstood scrutiny even then, and possibly explains why they cannot document the alleged overpayment now (as they can with the other amount).
So the fact that it apparently cannot be corroborated (even if it is too late to challenge it) resulted in my posing the above question