DWP say paying back an overpayment to THEM is deprivation of capital is this right?

princessdon

handlewithcare wrote: »

They want to take a weekly amount of £100 pounds until its all paid up. i just find this really odd i never knew they could do this

As I said - you can understand why - it's gonna be a while before he gets any money further benefits with that payment plan.

handlewithcare

princessdon wrote: »

But he is doing it to claim benefits again - from THEIR point of view it is collect £23 K now and pay the same out in benefits or take it montly and save on paying the benefits.

They win this way - so you can see why they are doing it. You even say they are doing this so he can claim again.

If they said - We won't pay for 5 years any benefits - he wouldn't be so quick to pay them back.

As harsh as it sounds you can see their view - this saves them money.

Yes i can totally see where they are coming from from a money point of view and it is harsh . He is a very vulnerable person and I'm just so worried about him right now. All he wants to do is the right thing

handlewithcare

princessdon wrote: »

As I said - you can understand why - it's gonna be a while before he gets any money further benefits with that payment plan.

Yes exactly and this is my concern. Im also pretty sure they will prosecute swell as its such a large amount

princessdon

handlewithcare wrote: »

Yes i can totally see where they are coming from from a money point of view and it is harsh . He is a very vulnerable person and I'm just so worried about him right now. All he wants to do is the right thing

The right thing to get some advice about how he spends his money and to not to "tip over into Depravation of assets".

You say he's been living frugally (to save on benefits means he mustn't spend or give away), for him now to be suddenly splashing cash everywhere - *may* again be considered DOC.

handlewithcare

So can I get this right does this mean he will have to live off his savings as well as paying them back on a payment plan until he is under the magic 16k so then he will be able to claim again or is this seen as deprivation also?

princessdon

handlewithcare wrote: »

So can I get this right does this mean he will have to live off his savings as well as paying them back on a payment plan until he is under the magic 16k so then he will be able to claim again or is this seen as deprivation also?

Exactly that - He will be expected to repay at £100 pw and live off his savings. Once his savings reach under £16K he can then claim but the lower threshold is £6K - Between £6K and £16K it tapers off.

They will also look closely at what he spends his savings on and see if it is regular spending or Depravation. Hence why I said to try to see someone about this. Last thing he wants is to give the grandkids some money or whatever and then still have this added to his savings as they deemed it Depravation.

handlewithcare

princessdon wrote: »

Exactly that - He will be expected to repay at £100 pw and live off his savings. Once his savings reach under £16K he can then claim but the lower threshold is £6K - Between £6K and £16K it tapers off.

They will also look closely at what he spends his savings on and see if it is regular spending or Depravation. Hence why I said to try to see someone about this. Last thing he wants is to give the grandkids some money or whatever and then still have this added to his savings as they deemed it Depravation.

Thank you so much for that really appreciate you're help:)

princessdon

It really does need some specialist advice - perhaps CAB or someone in your local area.

He should also be in touch with them anyway - to ensure that the amount is correct on the overpayment and how they calculated it to the penny and in case they do decide to take it futher.

Or maybe someone can post a link so you can read and advise him on DOC as they will still ADD to the savings pot what they believe was DOC whether he has the money or not.

How long until he reaches retirement age? Rules on savings are very different then?

handlewithcare

He's only 40 so quite a way away. I have been trying to get him to go to CAB and will make sure he gets some specialist advice especially if they are thinking about prosecution

puddy

is this just an income support over payment?

if so, then im afraid that if IS is counted as not having been paid for that period, then there will also be a HB and CTB overpayment as they also have savings thresholds. if he is not entitled to IS then it may be the same for HB and CT and therefore his savings will go down very quickly