If the council make a mistake

mynameistallulah

sistafromanothermista wrote: »

Hi, i believe it was 2-3 years :eek:
Obvious to me as i read through all the letters they had sent (the ones which clarify what info the claim is based on ) These letters (and i mean there were at least a dozen) we all un-opened (bar 1) as she didn't understand the jargon and as nothing had changed in her circumstances regarding income assumed it to be correct.

A little bit of background she suffers from severe anxiety and depression whereby if she feels stressed she won't open mail, won't answer phone calls, won't answer the door etc. bit of a nightmare really for all around her trying to pick all these pieces up.
She had an interview with the fraud team and had a panic attack during it.

I assume she does open some post, or she would not have known to attend the interview?

Has she had any reviews in the three year period, been asked to complete any forms?

By how much has she been overpaid? This is key as to whether it should have been obvious or not.

Kimberley

If all she can afford is £10 a week and she gives the Court a run down of her SOA and the Court can see that she can only afford £10 a week then thats all they will ask her to pay.

sistafromanothermista

That's exactly what i thought skintandscared.

I told her she should have checked or at least asked one of us to cast our eye over it if she couldn't understand it.
Ah well, i guess i'll just have to support her with whatever happens.
To be honest what you guys have said i thought already by doing a little research. i just wanted to make sure before she goes to CAB next week.

mynameistallulah

sistafromanothermista wrote: »

Well they are i've read through the whole sorry story letter by letter :mad:

They calculated (afetr the interview) all the ££ she had to pay back and requested it at something ridiculous like £50pw. She filled in an SOA and said she couldn't affor £50 but could pay £10. They said no. Asked her to fill in another means test form and reply within 14 days........she had another head/sand episode and didn't reply :wall:
They then sent out a court summons for non payment -ignored-liabilty order thing applied through court-letter sent saying she needs to seek legal advice.

Please clarify - if she being taken to civil court for the overpayment, or criminal for fraud? The two things are very different!

sistafromanothermista

no, no changes at all. Worked for the same company, no payrise no boyfriend/partner. They also didn't send her any review forms (well not that she's said although.......) in that time.
Since all of this palava i have told her to OPEN ALL MAIL!!! and call me.
The letter just has a court date at the magistrates court.

sistafromanothermista

HB by 3k ish
CT by 1k
It's the overpayment of ctax benefit she's being taken to court over. Sorry i got it wrong

mynameistallulah

sistafromanothermista wrote: »

The letter just has a court date at the magistrates court.

It doesn't "just" state that - under what offence has she been charged? Magistrates primarily deal with criminal cases, so this is likely to be about fraud, not the overpayment itself. Although they do have some civil jurisdiction, so it depends on what else the letter says.

sistafromanothermista

mynameistallulah wrote: »

It doesn't "just" state that - under what offence has she been charged? Magistrates primarily deal with criminal cases, so this is likely to be about fraud, not the overpayment itself. Although they do have some civil jurisdiction, so it depends on what else the letter says.

Hmmm, i'm not to sure then. i'm seeing her this week (she has an apt with CAB to try and source a solicitor) i will read it then (she read it to me over the phone so not 100% sure)

Thanks though...

daimonde

my LA wouldnt take someone to court over a simple overpayment, it sounds like - and LAs do work differently - that there is some fraud involvement.

we wouldnt even interview someone over an overpayment either. as others have said, it would simply be taken from ongoing entitlement week by week if there is one.

if you've read through / got the letters about this, ours would have a line in them indicating investigations / fraud involvement, cant remember the exact wording but it would include 'without prejudice' in it.

if it is just a case of not reading notification letters then its unlikely that would be good enough, again as mentioned the onus is on the customer to read those & point out any discrepancies. But it doesnt sound like this is the case to me, definitely get CAB or legal advice.

mynameistallulah

sistafromanothermista wrote: »

Hmmm, i'm not to sure then. i'm seeing her this week (she has an apt with CAB to try and source a solicitor) i will read it then (she read it to me over the phone so not 100% sure)

Thanks though...

Let us know what they say, but I do agree with those that think you only have half the story. She would not be prosecuted for a £1,000 overpayment alone, she may be prosecuted for the HB, CTB etc as a total amount. Alternatively this may be a simple civil hearing, which is to force her to pay her debt, and far less serious.