Pension Credit - Assessed Income Period

pinklady21

Hi everyone. Got a question re Pension Credit. I am involved in sorting out an estate for a deceased relative who was in receipt of Pension Credit. I know very little about PC, but seem to be learning!
The Assessed Income Period (AIP) for my relative's PC claim has no end date, I assume because the person was over 80 years of age.
The DWP have written to the executors to advise there may be an overpayment of Pension Credit. Not sure how much or for which period.
I know that my relative would have been honest in any claim.

We are still trying to work out what has happened, although I suspect that as Attendance Allowance was also paid to my relative, who was also housebound, the capital held gradually increased due to lower spending overall.

My question is - the AIP means that my relative did not need to advise the DWP of any changes to income or capital. If there has been an overpayment as a result of changes not being reported during an AIP, can the DWP try and recover it, even though there was no duty on the claimant to report changes?

Also - what is the experience of other folks in this situation?
What information do the DWP typically request from executors?
How long do they take to advise what has been overpaid?
Can an alleged overpayment be challenged by the Executors?
Cabn the Executors make a Subject Data Request for the relative's file to see what was claimed and when?

Thanks!
Kind regards

Whiteknight

With an open ended AIP they would not need to inform the Pension Service of any changes in capital unless it was beneficial for them (the savings reduce for example)

They may have had information that shows that the estate of the deceased is worth a lot of money and may just need to check that the capital was never undeclared. I've spoken to people who don't think ISA savings need to be declared because they are tax free.

You also mention Attendance Allowance was in payment so any overpayment could have occurred if the deceased had been in hospital, or if someone else was living in the household and the Pension service were unaware.

If any overpayment is found they will look at it and refer it but I would not worry about it until you know a little more about where they think any overpayment was made.

lld01

As the Pension Credit would have been paid in advance, it may just be that there is an overpayment of a week or two if the next week's payment had already been issued when the Pension Service were informed.

Or as the above person mentioned, any overpayment could relate to any time spent in hospital (or care homes) that they were not aware of. If the person had an AIP then it is unlikely that it relates to capital or income unless it existed and was undeclared before the AIP was set.

Overpayments can be recovered from the estate, but you will obviously be notified of any overpayment and the reason why. They may even decide not to recover the overpayment. Its possible that it may take some time before you hear about it, but try not to worry!

If you disagree with then decision then you should be able to ask for a reconsideration.

A Subject Access Request can be made, yes. It needs to be done in writing - call the Pension Service and they will give you the address (it is generally dealt with by specialist offices).

pinklady21

Thank you for your prompt replies - most helpful!
Kind regards