DWP and now debt agency harrasing over staturred barred debt

des123

Hi
Can someone sort of guide me in the right direction please . I been asppoached by DWP for a debt of 300 pounds which they say is owed by me for a crisis Social fund loan I took over 20 year ago . now I can't rememember Taking This out . I wrote to DWP and asking to provide evidence as I have no account of this and to send me evidence .They kept sending me letters saying that they will take me to court if I don't pay the full amount. I got told by DWP DEBT DEPARTMENT that DWP debts are not stattured barred and they will deduct this off my wages and my pension.I got some legal advise that the debt is staturred barred and government debts also qualify for the time limitation act 1980 if its over six years . I explained this to them in writing the SB LETTER . I Requested proof the debt isd mine and never got anything back from DWP but instead got this other external debt collection agency contacting me saying that they Willl take legal action if I do not pay this debt . they've stated they are acting on their clients behalf , DWP . I sent the staturred barred letter to this agancy as well and they kept sending me letter after letter saying court action is pending . I kept sending letters back to them that its staturred barred and they are breaching OFT guidelines and the banking code by harrasing me . they send me a forth letter saying they will now instruct their solicitor again threatening me with court action . A couple of days past and following this the debt collecting agency send me another letter saying that they have been in contact with DWP now again and in they have found out that in 2008 I have made regular payment of 40 pounds for this debt which was originally 600 pounds and I owe a balance of 300 pounds .

Now alarm bells start ringing something is not right . I did pay something for DWP in 2008 but it was NOT WHATSOEVER related to this debt but was for an overpayment of income support . I cleared this out with this account number . it looks like the debt collection agency has collated my past info from DWP on my past debts and trying to add this to an old debt with different account or reference .This is very deceitful activity i cannot beleive that DWP can alow such illegal activity.The debt agency is mentioning that I made payment to DWP in 2008 and thus the debt is not staturred barred as I have acknowledged it . now I know this is another debt which I know I had but cleared out in 2008 but nothing is related to this social fund loan they are cvlaiming i owe .seems like either the DWP or the debt company are trying to stitch my current debt to this old debt to get out of the time limitation . I don't know if they are allowed to do this and they are not breaching data protection illegal trading . ? They have also stated that under the the New Welfare reform act 2012, DWP can contact an employer to request payments to be deducted from the salary even if staturred barred .

I have written five SB letters to the debt company and to DWP and neither DWP nor the debt comany provided me any written evidence , not one has responded with any written evidence of this debt and its true history .
Can I seek under the freedom information act to provide me written evidence they hold to state this debt exist . can I still challenge this as I have no evidence I owed this debt nor can I remember ever tracking it . can the debt collection agency take any legal action without providing any evidence but just taking DWP 's word and linking a old other debt to this ? Any advise will be truly grateful .

sourcrates

Hi,
They are all wrong, the statute of limitations DOES apply to DWP debts, in there own guidelines it states that if a debt is a certain age (10 to 20 years, it is SB and they wont pursue it) DCA`s do despicable things to try to make there case "look" legit, but mostly there not, you have done all the right things, my only suggestion is that you involve the financial ombudsman who will sort it out one way or another.

des123

Hi
So do I contact the financial ombudsman now and do I ask for all my evidence under the freedom of information of these so called debts by DWP . I do think DWP have anything . do I request all proof of this debt by both DWP and debt agency ,. Can you please tell me if there is a template for this ?thank you

sourcrates

des123 wrote: »

Hi
So do I contact the financial ombudsman now and do I ask for all my evidence under the freedom of information of these so called debts by DWP . I do think DWP have anything . do I request all proof of this debt by both DWP and debt agency ,. Can you please tell me if there is a template for this ?thank you

Right, you need to make a formal data subject access request to the DWP, (template letter in the stickies I think) there is a fee of £10 for this, enclose with your letter, they then have 40 days in order to respond to your enquiry, this will get you all the information they hold on you, from that you should be able to decipher what this money is for, you should then be aware of whats what, and if the debt is owed or not, but this wont help with the SB position, my advice is to ring the ombudsman, they have a helpline number on there website, they may be able to help you, they can write to the DWP and tell them they have a complaint to deal with, I would do this first of all.

double_mummy

you can always put a SARs request in to get all records they have on you and costs £10

when getting in touch with the FOS they will ask what the final response is from the DWP so you will need to put a complaint in to them first

sourcrates

double_mummy wrote: »

you can always put a SARs request in to get all records they have on you and costs £10

when getting in touch with the FOS they will ask what the final response is from the DWP so you will need to put a complaint in to them first

Yes but DWP have not responded to the OP, that's why I suggested calling the FOS who will then write to DWP and tell them to deal with the complaint, its a tactic they use with belligerent creditors who cant be arsed to reply to letters :cool:

fermi

Info here: https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/steps/step3/Pages/Step_3_11a.aspx

DWP do not fall within the remit of the FOS so you cannot complain to them.

sourcrates

fermi wrote: »

Info here: https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/steps/step3/Pages/Step_3_11a.aspx

DWP do not fall within the remit of the FOS so you cannot complain to them.

Good call Fermi, was a bit unsure if they fell within there remit or not, I thought a call would see one way or another, but no need now.

des123

So what do I do now? .so I can't complain to thee ombusdman then ? Where do I go from here. This debt they claiming is not a overpayment butva social fund loan I took out over 20 years ago . I'm a bit stuck of next course of action.

double_mummy

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/complaints-procedure

des123

Thanks for the link butb they to never have a complaints address . but if I write to DWP complaints department that will get it them I suppose . my biggest concern is that they might reply back to state its nothing to do with them. I think there is some serious dodgy happenings with DWP itself when it comes to collecting staturred barred debts . how can DWP not know about staturred barred debts .