DWP took 11 Weeks to make a decision on DLA which has left me owing over £1000!!!

Arnieboy

My heart is ponding out of my chest as I am so worried!

My son has been receiving DLA, but as he condition has improved I contacted DWP back in June to stop by DLA as I didn't think we would be entitled to it anymore. The said they need to reassess his claim, so I filled the forms within days of being sent them and posted them back.

It has taken them 11 weeks to reach a decision (which is that we are no longer entitled to it) and now I am facing a DLA and Tax Credit overpayment of over £1000 as they have cancelled my claim from June. I'm a mum of 3, my husband works on mimium wage - we can't afford this!!!

I think this is not fair! They should cancel my claim on the day they make the decision surely. It's not my fault they took so long to deal with it, is it???

I did everything I thought I should./ I informed them straight away of my childs health improvements, filled out there forms and submitted reports well within there time limits. Can I appeal? Should I appeal? Has anyone else been in this situation?

Thank you so much for any help you can give me x

Cpt.Scarlet

I am sorry this has happened to you, but when you contacted the DWP, you did say to them that you no longer believed you son met the criteria for DLA, so of course they are going use this date to stop payments from.

Whilst, technically, you can appeal this decision, I can't see how you would win it, given that the decision is based on your own statements.

I can't see why Tax Credits have been over paid, DLA doesn't count towards them.

[Deleted User]

if you received DLA after you knew he no longer qualified then you should have set that money aside in order to repay it

DanE2010

Cpt.Scarlet wrote: »

I am sorry this has happened to you, but when you contacted the DWP, you did say to them that you no longer believed you son met the criteria for DLA, so of course they are going use this date to stop payments from.

Whilst, technically, you can appeal this decision, I can't see how you would win it, given that the decision is based on your own statements.

I can't see why Tax Credits have been over paid, DLA doesn't count towards them.

They would of been recieving the disability element of child tax credit also, that would of been overpaid also.

OP you dont have to pay it back all at once, the child tax credit will be reduced slightly to pay that back, id imagine you can set up a direct debit to pay back monthly the DLA overpayment.

sleepless_saver

Arnieboy wrote: »

I think this is not fair! They should cancel my claim on the day they make the decision surely. It's not my fault they took so long to deal with it, is it???

I did everything I thought I should./ I informed them straight away of my childs health improvements, filled out there forms and submitted reports well within there time limits. Can I appeal? Should I appeal? Has anyone else been in this situation?

When you apply for DLA (or any other benefit come to that) the award is backdated to the date you applied, not the date they make the decision. Would you think it was fair if the money only started when they made the decision, however long it took?

Notifying them of a change works just the same way. No point in appealing.

Richie-from-the-Boro

Arnieboy wrote: »

My heart is ponding out of my chest as I am so worried!

My son has been receiving DLA, but as he condition has improved I contacted DWP back in June to stop by DLA as I didn't think we would be entitled to it anymore. The said they need to reassess his claim, so I filled the forms within days of being sent them and posted them back.

It has taken them 11 weeks to reach a decision (which is that we are no longer entitled to it) and now I am facing a DLA and Tax Credit overpayment of over £1000 as they have cancelled my claim from June. I'm a mum of 3, my husband works on mimium wage - we can't afford this!!!

I think this is not fair! They should cancel my claim on the day they make the decision surely. It's not my fault they took so long to deal with it, is it???

I did everything I thought I should./ I informed them straight away of my childs health improvements, filled out there forms and submitted reports well within there time limits. Can I appeal? Should I appeal? Has anyone else been in this situation?

Thank you so much for any help you can give me x

I'm assuming your correspondence was from ' Green Command' rather than your local office . Even if you did everything asked of you properly and in good faith you have a zero chance of not having to repay it. Recovery Units do have delegated authority to abandon recovery, without requesting repayment, where the amount overpaid is less than the small overpayment limit.

Small in this case means less than £1000.00. There does exist discretion where the repayment will cause severe hardship to consider [ at least HEO grade ] non pursuance of the debt. However this almost never happens unless it is accompanied by additional particularly distressing cases involving exceptional and severe ill-health. Such cases are extremely rare.

These overpayment cases are dealt with by a department that deals directly with the Secretary of State and the Treasury, to even begin to deal with these people I would advise a professional 'welfi' a professional full time welfare specialist. If your correcspondence was from your local office and not yet in the scope of Green command you could try the 'good faith - 'no intent' 'extreme hardship route' but if their claim was for £1000 + it will be refereed to Green Command DM anyway.

Appeal as Cpt.Scarlet states is always open to you - try an appeal. The CAB and others do have pro welfi's scattered around the country but it would have to be a full time officer rather than a volunteer type to deal with this type of case - ask them ! Where you do not have the money, and are in receipt of benefit, and makes a reasonable offer to repay by regular payments, your offer of instalments is normally accepted - try it !