benefit overpayment/breach of DPA?

stan1

Hi
My daughter left home when she was 17 and has now been housed in a council flat(age 20). The ESA benefit she gets of £55 per week is having £15 per week deducted as they say she had £12,000 in her bank when she was 17 and shouldnt have been claiming.
This is absolute rubbish and why would she want to live in a mouldy towerblock if she had this money.

Turns out they are on about the money my husband (not her father but my new partner) was given to buy a car for us a year ago! by his parents when a relative died and was only in our account a week.
This account is nothing to do with my daughter! she did have one account with our bank as a baby but this has nothing in it as has been spent over the years before she was 17 and is now closed.
We have appealed and sent evidence twice but some jobsworth not reading our letters and just ticking box's keeps saying so just pay up.
How are the benefits office allowed to enter our account and tell my daughter we had this money in there and then deduct her money for it.
My daughter and I have only recently started to speak as these times were terrible for all of us yet I feel so bad for her I need to sort this injustice.
Please help anyone.
Thanks

princessdon

Was this her account = ie your OH a tustee - is her name anywhere on that account?

stan1

no not on that account at all its our current account for just me and spouse.
her baby account was in mine and hers but closed years ago.

ceecee1

I can't figure out how they would think that your account had anything at all to do with your daughter....do you both perhaps have the same name?

You need to contact the debt centre who has organised the deductions and tell them that you have appealed.

midnight_express

Do you have exactly the same name as your daughter ?

McKneff

Has she sent copies of her bank statement for the time they think she had this money.

Did she get into any sort of trouble when they said she claimed when she shouldnt have, that was the time it should have been sorted.
Was she interviewed under caution, that is what usually happens because they look on it as fraud, they are saying it is a fraudulent claim. Have you seen her bank statements for this time.

I dont think they can just up and say 'you shouldnt have claimed, we want our money back' there must have been more to it than that, surely.

missapril75

McKneff wrote: »

... there must have been more to it....

Nail, head hammer.

princessdon

To be fair from the OP I don't think they were in touch and so she only at this point has her daughters word for it and wasn't around during the time, but I agree she needs to be having a serious conversation with her daughter if she is to help.

skintandscared_2

Has your daughter ever had a benefit or income paid into the account in question - maybe when she was in between accounts of her own or something? It just seems strange they would even have these account details to check?!

Dunroamin

This doesn't make sense. The OP says the offence relates to a claim 3 years ago and then says it relates to money that was only given a year ago!

terryw

This is really awful that you daughter has to live in a mouldy tower-block.
There are laws about this. She should send a letter to her landlord pointing out the defects and requesting action be taken. Google shelter for advice.

If nothing happens, contact public health.

Regarding the other minor problem, merely contact the authority who sent the letters and just show them the bank statements. They will sort this out very quickly.