DWP Unexpected Knock On The Door.
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SailorSam
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I thought some of you maybe interested to have a read of this. It's part of an email that i've received from Benefits & Work Guides. It's about the increased number of unannounced home visits by the DWP to claimants homes.
It's quite long but has some information in it that you may find of use...........
An unexpected knock at the door. Someone standing there with an ID card claiming they have come to check if you are getting the correct benefits and could they please come in?
What do you do?
You don’t have to be guilty of anything to find the possibility of such a visit very alarming – especially if you have a mental health condition made worse by stress and anxiety.
Last month there was a lot of concern about just such visits, prompted by a change to a page on the DWP website which stated:
You may get a visit from a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) officer to check that your benefits payments are correct.
A Performance Measurement review officer may visit you if you’re claiming:
Employment and Support Allowance
Housing Benefit
Income Support
Jobseeker’s Allowance
Pension Credit
Your name is selected at random to be checked. You won’t always get a letter in advance telling you about the visit.
The concern was the addition of the sentence:
You won’t always get a letter in advance telling you about the visit.
Worries about how to deal with such a visit were posted on various blogs and forums and we received numerous requests from members for guidance on how to deal with these visits.
So Benefits and Work made a Freedom of Information request.
As a result of that request we can now reveal that, in reality, the vast majority of people who get a visit do not get a letter in advance – surprise visits are the rule, not the exception. There’s more on this below.
However, we can also reassure our readers that:
In the members' area we’ve published the letter we got in response to our request and 62 pages of the guidance document issued to officers carrying out these visits - though there are a large number of redactions to the guidance. You’ll find the documents in the DWP Guides section of the ESA download page in the members' area.
Only a tiny percentage of claimants receive one of these visits. But the majority who do get one are not given any warning.
In fact, far from ‘You won’t always get a letter’ , DWP staff are actually told:
‘You must make an un-notified visit to each customer, apart from the exceptions detailed in the subsequent paragraphs. If this is ineffective a second un-notified visit must be made.’
If two un-notified visits are made on the same day then another un-notified visit must be made on another day.
After that a letter has to be sent giving you at least 48 hours’ notice of a visit or 24 hours where the letter is hand delivered.
There are also certain classes of claimant who should never receive an unannounced visit, including:
“customers suffering from depression or a medically defined mental illness
customers with an alcohol or drug-related dependency
disabled customers where there is evidence from the preview information that they may be distressed if an MRO calls unannounced. “
However, where the visiting officer suspects, on the basis of your files, that you may be committing fraud they can still carry out an un-notified visit even if you are in one of the categories above.
And it’s important to be aware that one of the things visiting officers will do is look out for any difference between the details given in your work capability assessment medical report and your behaviour at home. The rather bizarre example given is that of a claimant who is up a ladder washing windows when visited, but their incapacity is listed as vertigo.
So, if your condition is a variable one and you’re having a better day, make that very clear - even if you aren’t asked.
It's quite long but has some information in it that you may find of use...........
An unexpected knock at the door. Someone standing there with an ID card claiming they have come to check if you are getting the correct benefits and could they please come in?
What do you do?
You don’t have to be guilty of anything to find the possibility of such a visit very alarming – especially if you have a mental health condition made worse by stress and anxiety.
Last month there was a lot of concern about just such visits, prompted by a change to a page on the DWP website which stated:
You may get a visit from a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) officer to check that your benefits payments are correct.
A Performance Measurement review officer may visit you if you’re claiming:
Employment and Support Allowance
Housing Benefit
Income Support
Jobseeker’s Allowance
Pension Credit
Your name is selected at random to be checked. You won’t always get a letter in advance telling you about the visit.
The concern was the addition of the sentence:
You won’t always get a letter in advance telling you about the visit.
Worries about how to deal with such a visit were posted on various blogs and forums and we received numerous requests from members for guidance on how to deal with these visits.
So Benefits and Work made a Freedom of Information request.
As a result of that request we can now reveal that, in reality, the vast majority of people who get a visit do not get a letter in advance – surprise visits are the rule, not the exception. There’s more on this below.
However, we can also reassure our readers that:
- you don’t have to let them in; and
- you can insist on being given proper notice;
- you can insist on having the interview at a DWP office instead of in your home.
In the members' area we’ve published the letter we got in response to our request and 62 pages of the guidance document issued to officers carrying out these visits - though there are a large number of redactions to the guidance. You’ll find the documents in the DWP Guides section of the ESA download page in the members' area.
Only a tiny percentage of claimants receive one of these visits. But the majority who do get one are not given any warning.
In fact, far from ‘You won’t always get a letter’ , DWP staff are actually told:
‘You must make an un-notified visit to each customer, apart from the exceptions detailed in the subsequent paragraphs. If this is ineffective a second un-notified visit must be made.’
If two un-notified visits are made on the same day then another un-notified visit must be made on another day.
After that a letter has to be sent giving you at least 48 hours’ notice of a visit or 24 hours where the letter is hand delivered.
There are also certain classes of claimant who should never receive an unannounced visit, including:
“customers suffering from depression or a medically defined mental illness
customers with an alcohol or drug-related dependency
disabled customers where there is evidence from the preview information that they may be distressed if an MRO calls unannounced. “
However, where the visiting officer suspects, on the basis of your files, that you may be committing fraud they can still carry out an un-notified visit even if you are in one of the categories above.
And it’s important to be aware that one of the things visiting officers will do is look out for any difference between the details given in your work capability assessment medical report and your behaviour at home. The rather bizarre example given is that of a claimant who is up a ladder washing windows when visited, but their incapacity is listed as vertigo.
So, if your condition is a variable one and you’re having a better day, make that very clear - even if you aren’t asked.
Liverpool is one of the wonders of Britain,
What it may grow to in time, I know not what.
Daniel Defoe: 1725.
What it may grow to in time, I know not what.
Daniel Defoe: 1725.
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Comments
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It's about time all long term claimants are visited unannounced, giving notice just gives the guilty ones a chance to get their story straight and get rid of anything incriminating.0
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specialboy wrote: »It's about time all long term claimants are visited unannounced, giving notice just gives the guilty ones a chance to get their story straight and get rid of anything incriminating.
However it means fake people can turn up claiming they are interviewers, or that by not knowing people having a good day on disability benefits could be accused of lying.
I know of someone where I grew up who claimed they had a back so bad even getting out of a chair was agony, but had a cash earner buying cheap broken cars then "fixing" them and selling them at auction, he even had a industrial hedge cutter he used on his back, his son who was on disablity for depression had a expensive motorbike and leathers and drank a lot.
Another person I knew was on sickness benefits for health issues but dealt crack and went abroad a lot on holiday, another was on benefits as he was a alcoholic but spend his money in 1 day on booze on pay day, I knew another who claimed health issues but he and his partner (whom he lived in next flat to her but not "together") got benefits for single people and he did a lot of identity fraud, his partner worked on and off and was finally sent down for stealing £30 000 from a woman with dementia when she was her carer!0 -
However it means fake people can turn up claiming they are interviewers, or that by not knowing people having a good day on disability benefits could be accused of lying.
The point is though that they have ID that they should show or at least can be askked for.
It isn't a criminal investigation visit so no one should be accused of lying, but then if it is a good day, this would be on there claim forms, no, so this "good day" could then be explained as such and wouldn't be a problem. Unless of course I am missing the point or the person hasn;t been truthful in the first place.
It seems people always put barriers up about home visits, yet the majority of people I interview always say to me during the interview, why didn't/don't you just come round and check, I have nothing to hide.
Seems people do actually want the DWP/LA's to do that.
What is your suggestion for these types of spot checks?
Surely they need to be done as sometimes these vists can help the claimant get more benefits than they are claiming as it's not always about catching people out. Sometimes the DWP is there to help people!0 -
The point is though that they have ID that they should show or at least can be askked for.
Anyone who has access to a computer and printer could easily make themselves a very official looking ID, there are plenty of reports not just of DWP visitors with fake paperwork.
And i'm sure many people will tell you they don't like unexpected visitors calling at their homes, even if it were only friends or family.Liverpool is one of the wonders of Britain,
What it may grow to in time, I know not what.
Daniel Defoe: 1725.
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specialboy wrote: »It's about time all long term claimants are visited unannounced, giving notice just gives the guilty ones a chance to get their story straight and get rid of anything incriminating.
I have no problem with the theory of this.. but would like some notice so i can book a time when i am prepared.
By that i mean.. not when my carers are here, tablets taken and working, I have had time to rest and haven't dragged myself out of bed to answer the door, not on a week when i have a medical appointment as they take a few days to recover.
So yes it might work for some.. but would leave me in a spin, and increased pain.. I'd still talk to them and answer everything but would be really hard going.0 -
Unless this is a regulated fraud visit, where they have evidence of fraud, and if it is just a compliance visit, and, if you do not wish to let them in, then they are legally bound to make you an appointment, at the office, and leave.
They are not allowed to stop or suspend your benefits just because you do not wish to let them in.
However, you must attend the office visit, or they can suspend your benefits.
It's also the case that the DWP carry out less home visits now than they did 10/20 years ago - shortage of staff, and better access to things like bank accounts, credit agencies etc., has cut down the number of visits they feel they need to make.
Lin
You can tell a lot about a woman by her hands..........for instance, if they are placed around your throat, she's probably slightly upset.
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Give me some free money each month and I'll happily let them in if they knock on the door.."The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money"0
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Anyone who has access to a computer and printer could easily make themselves a very official looking ID, there are plenty of reports not just of DWP visitors with fake paperwork.
Some companies have a system where you give them a password which the person on the doorstep has to know before you let them in, regardless of how good their ID appears to be. Simple to organise.0 -
As long as it's after 10am they're welcome to knock on my door and I'll be more than happy to let them in.It's someone else's fault.0
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I would happily let someone visit me. In fact I wish they would.
Much less stressful than the tribunal that I have had hanging over me for almost 2 years because they believe that i'm still with my ex.0
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