Jobseekers overpayment - advice needed

rainbowdreams

Hi,

As you can see I am new to the forum but am seeking advice desperately on behalf of my mother who is in receipt of Jobseeker's allowance. She has been in receipt of this since March 2009 (before that she was a carer for my dad, when he passed away she began searching for work). As she is quite old, though not yet pension age, she can only work locally and part time.

She also receives a pension which was originally given to my father but since his death, as his widow she receives a quarter of this payment per month. When we made the initial application, we sent all proofs of her income, including the payslips for this pension and the letter detailing the payment amounts etc.

Today, she has received a letter stating that she 'misrepresented her occupational pension' in September 2010 and now owes over £4000. As you can imagine this has come as a complete shock. Her only source of income has been this pension, which works out to around £180 a month and JS allowance, which was actually reduced last year to £28 a week. She does not have any savings and the reason her benefit was reduced was because I was giving her money for bills etc.

What I don't understand is how she could have qualified for the normal payments for over a year and then in 2010, they decided they no longer knew about this pension she was receiving?

I haven't yet told her about this because she suffers from high blood pressure and becomes anxious and worried very quickly and I'm dreading breaking this news to her. I am looking to seek advice from our local rights bureau. Has this ever happened to anyone before? Of course we will look to appeal the decision but I have no idea what the outcome can be.

Please share any thoughts, I would like to try and understand better how this could have happened.

von

How much is the amount of her pension now and by how much is her weekly amount of JSA reduced?

Also, with regards to the overpayment can she prove that she sent in the pension documents when she claimed? Did she declare the pension on the original claim form? If so, ask them to look at the original claim form where she declared the pension, if she did then she should ask them to reconsider the recoverability aspect of the overpayment.

rainbowdreams

^Her pension is now £177 and some pence, it goes up by a few pounds every year. Her benefit is £28 and a few pence per week. She was in receipt of £130 for every two weeks, I believe.

We don't have a copy of her original application but I will request it from them. Will they actually provide me a copy?

antonic

Have a look here : http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/dwp-your-personal-information.pdf

And make your request for this info.

rainbowdreams wrote: »

^Her pension is now £177 and some pence, it goes up by a few pounds every year. Her benefit is £28 and a few pence per week.

We don't have a copy of her original application but I will request it from them but will they actually provide me a copy?

McKneff

Why can she only work 'part time' and 'locally'

If she is of working age, and capable of working full time and getting on a bus, surely that would help her finances.

I'm surprised she is receiving JSA after all this time.
Does she get any other benefits, council tax, housing benefit etc.

Torry_Quine

If she received the letter how come she doesn't know about it but you do. With a pension of that amount I doubt she will be eligible for any JSA.

rainbowdreams

McKneff wrote: »

Why can she only work 'part time' and 'locally'

If she is of working age, and capable of working full time and getting on a bus, surely that would help her finances.

I'm surprised she is receiving JSA after all this time.
Does she get any other benefits, council tax, housing benefit etc.

^She is 58, diabetic with high blood pressure and suffers from swollen feet and a bad knee. Takes regular medication for her diabetes which makes her sleepy and go to the bathroom constantly.

She has made a claim for incapacity benefit in the past but was deemed fit to work.

Torry_Quine

rainbowdreams wrote: »

^She is 58, diabetic with high blood pressure and suffers from swollen feet and a bad knee. Takes regular medication for her diabetes which makes her sleepy and go to the bathroom constantly.

She has made a claim for incapacity benefit in the past but was deemed fit to work.

IB has been replaced by ESA and as she hasn't worked it would be income based so still no elegibility there.

rainbowdreams

Torry_Quine wrote: »

If she received the letter how come she doesn't know about it but you do. With a pension of that amount I doubt she will be eligible for any JSA.

She isn't fluent in English and asked me to read the letter for her.

Torry_Quine

rainbowdreams wrote: »

She isn't fluent in English and asked me to read the letter for her.

Fine, but you have to tell her. What did you say the letter was about then?

rainbowdreams

Torry_Quine wrote: »

Fine, but you have to tell her. What did you say the letter was about then?

I said I'd speak to her about it tomorrow. She hasn't asked me about it again.