Rules about minimum amount needed to live?

Morglin

tinkledom wrote: »

I'm sorry but you are wrong. The DWP debt recovery department will automatically arrange for 30% to be deducted from the highest paying benefit. My wife had an underpayment going back to 1997 and last year they arranged without any reference to her, to start taking 1/3rd of her State Pension off her.


It was only when I complained on her behalf that she was named on a GPC claim that they reduced it to, I think, £10.50 a week instead of the £19.80 they originally wanted. That is the minimum that they will go down to.

The amount a pensioner, or pensioner couple get, as a minimum amount, is higher when they are over pension age, then when they are younger.

That is a fact.

Debt recovery has a formula for deductions to be made.

Lin

Morglin

rogerblack wrote: »

Quite.
However - you need to start from a meaningful basis.
The 'applicable amount' is not defined anywhere in law as the minimum amount you need to live on.
The phrase 'the law states this is the minimum amount you need to live on' - or similar were indeed used - however - as you mention above - this was just the DWPs phrasing in some letters.
It really meant 'You are eligible for a payment of X'.

This could change due to sanctions, disqualification or personal circumstances.
There was never any legislative meaning beyond that.

'Challenge in court' - you cannot challenge in general the amount of benefit you get.
You can only challenge the way it was calculated.

Recovery rate is one decision a tribunal can make.

Yeah, I think applicable amounts have changed meaning in recent years, as when I worked at the DWP, it was considered to be the minimum amount applicable for an individual situation.

Obviously, this was in days, before sanctions etc.,

However, as you say, tribunals can change deduction amounts, and the DWP have to abide by it.

Lin

cattermole

rogerblack wrote: »

Quite.
However - you need to start from a meaningful basis.
The 'applicable amount' is not defined anywhere in law as the minimum amount you need to live on.
The phrase 'the law states this is the minimum amount you need to live on' - or similar were indeed used - however - as you mention above - this was just the DWPs phrasing in some letters.
It really meant 'You are eligible for a payment of X'.

This could change due to sanctions, disqualification or personal circumstances.
There was never any legislative meaning beyond that.

'Challenge in court' - you cannot challenge in general the amount of benefit you get.
You can only challenge the way it was calculated.

Recovery rate is one decision a tribunal can make.

Thank you that's very helpful. So a tribunal can make a ruling then on the amount they feel is reasonable for the person to have deducted off the benefit?

I think what made me think about it is that they also use the same "phrase" when applying it to charges for Social Care although they +25% it for calculation purposes. Although that is tied up in guidance rather than legislation.

elle_may

tinkledom wrote: »

I'm sorry but you are wrong. The DWP debt recovery department will automatically arrange for 30% to be deducted from the highest paying benefit. My wife had an underpayment going back to 1997 and last year they arranged without any reference to her, to start taking 1/3rd of her State Pension off her.


It was only when I complained on her behalf that she was named on a GPC claim that they reduced it to, I think, £10.50 a week instead of the £19.80 they originally wanted. That is the minimum that they will go down to.

Had an overpayment of benefit and they asked if we could pay it upfront. said no. then they said they would take 30% of our income. We said can't aford that, so i had to fill in a form with all our payments that we were paying and i mean everything down to the last penny. then they came back with £10 a week. So dont just take what they first say. Olso if you have a rise in your means tested benefits they will take some of that, we are up to £10.80 wk now.

tinkledom

Morglin wrote: »

The amount a pensioner, or pensioner couple get, as a minimum amount, is higher when they are over pension age, then when they are younger.

That is a fact.

Debt recovery has a formula for deductions to be made.

Lin

Thanks for that. But I am posting on the basis that it is the DWP's debt recovery unit that is saying and taking this action.


They know full well that my wife will be 70 this year but still insisted that they are entitled to deduct 30% from any single benefit of their choosing. They chose her SRP as that is the only benefit she gets!
They did concede that because she is named on a GPC award they are allowed to reduce it down to a fixed amount, which from memory is just over £10 a week which is approx. 15% of her pension.


Unless you can tell me that what the DWP has done or said is wrong, I have no alternative but to accept their decision.

elle_may

Yes, ours was olso by the dwp debt recovery unit, as it was an old overpayment and they had just noticed it, which was a suprise to us.