Council claiming we owe money...again. help?

wa1987

Hey everyone
Im posting on behalf of my Mum, was wondering if anyone had any advice.

My mum has been receiving benefits and tax credits for years. She began working full time again years back and informed the council about it and did everything by the books, everything has been fine.

Last year, she received letter after letter claiming she owed them thousands of pounds. Literally every day, 3-4 more letters would arrive claiming she owed more and more money. In the end it worked out about £8000.

She contested the repayments but the council insisted she was overpaid. She received court summons numerous times, which she attended0- but the council never showed up so the case was thrown out. She reluctantly paid up the debt with inheritance from her father due to this situation causing her serious stress and health problems.

I can vouch that the letters were bordering, if not being harassment. So we were glad when they stopped.

However, today. She has received another letter. Of a breakdown of benefits, tax credits. Now they are claiming she owes them another £5000 (near enough). She phoned them and they said they have received new information but couldn't give specifics. Her situation hasn't changed and her finances are the same.

The letter is also dated almost a month ago, we only got it today and it states we have 30 days to contest it, which conveniently is up in a few days...

Any advice on what to do? Mum is absolutely positive that she hasn't received any over payments. The amount they've requested amounts to more than her benefit income, so god knows how they think she has received such a large overpayment in less than a year.

Advice anyone?
Thanks

HappyMJ

If the cases were thrown out of court then why did she pay them?

Mara69

And how much is she getting that she managed to save £8k!!!!!

wa1987

the court cases were just a waste of time. she didnt get to see a Judge, it was literally a no show on the councils part. the letters still continued, so did summons and eviction notices

Mara, she received some inheritance from her dad, she used all of that to pay it up

sarahg1969

She needs to get some proper legal advice. Find a local solicitor who specialises in this kind of thing who will offer a free initial interview.

HappyMJ

wa1987 wrote: »

the court cases were just a waste of time. she didnt get to see a Judge, it was literally a no show on the councils part. the letters still continued, so did summons and eviction notices

Mara, she received some inheritance from her dad, she used all of that to pay it up

If the other party doesn't turn up to a court case then claim costs...but you/she probably don't know that. Is this a council house? I'm just guessing as she has been getting eviction notices and no further action has been taken. Should she have been paying her rent whilst working but didn't? Is she working now and paying the rent?

wa1987

HappyMJ wrote: »

If the other party doesn't turn up to a court case then claim costs...but you/she probably don't know that. Is this a council house? I'm just guessing as she has been getting eviction notices and no further action has been taken. Should she have been paying her rent whilst working but didn't? Is she working now and paying the rent?

Could we of done that? We wasn't aware of that.

Yes this is a council house, mum pays rent. She pays everything the council asks her to.

She is working now and is paying the amount the council asks for. Every month on time, without fail.

There is no way she could of amounted to this amount of money in less than a year. Since she already paid off a debt that she was sure she didn't owe. There is no way she owes this. She said she spoke to the council today and quoted the Invoice number for the new "debt" but they had no information on it.

Thanks for the advice about the solicitors. Will definitely check into that

HappyMJ

wa1987 wrote: »

Could we of done that? We wasn't aware of that.

Yes this is a council house, mum pays rent. She pays everything the council asks her to.

She is working now and is paying the amount the council asks for. Every month on time, without fail.

There is no way she could of amounted to this amount of money in less than a year. Since she already paid off a debt that she was sure she didn't owe. There is no way she owes this. She said she spoke to the council today and quoted the Invoice number for the new "debt" but they had no information on it.

Thanks for the advice about the solicitors. Will definitely check into that

I don't think anyone's rent account would get to that in a year if they had also been paying at least some of the rent. Is her rent actually being credited to the right account? It should be as I doubt they would have let rent arrears mount up so high so as you I'm not sure what they are trying to recover.

McKneff

How much is your mum paying per week rent at the moment.

If she is working full time, what benefits and tax credits is she reciveing, maybe the council
didnt recieve her letter and are still paying her benefits from before.

To be honest, I'm really not sure about this one,

I wish DMG24 was here, she could spot them a mile away.

wa1987

McKneff wrote: »

How much is your mum paying per week rent at the moment.

Weekly rent is £102.77 and she receives £39.22 housing benefit.

vax2002

You should contact your local councillor who can demand an explanation from the council, it is what they get £330 a week allowance for.