Brown envelope: DWP thinks I was on income-based JSA

poorlittlefish

After having worked and paid NI for many years I was unemployed for five months before getting my current job, so, having paid contributions for all that time, my JSA should have been contribution-based.

I have received a letter today telling me that HMRC have supplied information to the DWP to say that interest was paid on savings which indicate they must have been above £6,000. I'm being asked for bank statements dating back to more than three months before I even made the claim.

From what I've been reading, contributions-based JSA does not take savings into account but is only paid for six months (I signed off after five). Obviously I'm worried about this, particularly why they seem to think I was receiving income-based JSA. I definitely wasn't, because I asked if I was entitled to help with the cost of glasses, dental treatment etc and was told no, because I was on contribution-based JSA.

Am I at risk of having to pay back all the JSA I had for those five months?

pmlindyloo

poorlittlefish wrote: »

After having worked and paid NI for many years I was unemployed for five months before getting my current job, so, having paid contributions for all that time, my JSA should have been contribution-based.

I have received a letter today telling me that HMRC have supplied information to the DWP to say that interest was paid on savings which indicate they must have been above £6,000. I'm being asked for bank statements dating back to more than three months before I even made the claim.

From what I've been reading, contributions-based JSA does not take savings into account but is only paid for six months (I signed off after five). Obviously I'm worried about this, particularly why they seem to think I was receiving income-based JSA. I definitely wasn't, because I asked if I was entitled to help with the cost of glasses, dental treatment etc and was told no, because I was on contribution-based JSA.

Am I at risk of having to pay back all the JSA I had for those five months?

From your previous thread you were discussing not being able to get certain other benefits such as health benefits and support for mortgage interest because you were on contribution based ESA but had less than £6000 in savings and had no other household income (from a partner for example). Have I got that right?

You were told that you could, in fact, claim these extra benefits by having income based JSA as well as your contribution based ESA if you met the assessment criteria for income based JSA.

So did you apply to be assessed for income based JSA and did you receive SMI after 13 weeks?

if you weren't assessed for income based JSA then the fact that they are now saying that you had more than £6000 in savings will not affect your contribution based JSA and you will not have to pay it back (probably an admin error)

So, did you receive any of those extra benefits?

poorlittlefish

Thank you for your reply. I was sent a form for mortgage interest, while I returned but I never heard anything more about it. As I knew I'd have a new job to go to (the start date was several weeks ahead) I didn't bother to follow it up as I knew the amount would be peanuts anyway, especially for such a short period (I'm on a tracker mortgage). I didn't apply to be assessed for income-based JSA.

missapril75

Mortgage interest is only paid as part of an income based JSA claim. It's unlikely they would send such a form if you had not indicated you were applying for it.

So it seems you did apply, even if you didn't follow up that aspect or qualify.

The capital query has probably been triggered because that application makes it "look like" income based.

If it really was Conts based it's probably best just to point that out to them and that you didn't take the mortgage interest any further for the reasons you stated.

TELLIT01

When you made your claim were you asked questions about your partner? If so then you were being assessed for Income Based benefit. It looks very much as if there has been confusion somewhere along the line as mortgage interest isn't applicable to Conts only claims and the forms would not have been issued.
If you applied by phone there should be a recording of the claim.

poorlittlefish

I applied online and at the time I was separated from my husband and had been for quite some time (the divorce has since gone through), so I selected the relevant boxes for that. The mortgage was in my sole name. The form for mortgage interest help came through the post out of the blue, so I just assumed it was part of the process. I never received anything from my mortgage company to say that any payments had been made by DWP, so I think I'll check with them first, then give DWP a call - thanks.

TELLIT01

When you apply on line you have to print off the form and send it in. Did you retain a copy? If you completed the second half of the form ( which applies to IR claims) it's possible that the person processing the claim treated it as an Income Related claim even if you had ticked the box to indicate that you only wanted to claim Conts. That would make it official error.
If you haven't got a copy it doesn't really matter as DWP will (should ) still have your original application form in storage.

poorlittlefish

I chucked everything away when I got the new job - didn't want to be reminded of hard times! I do remember filling in details of my savings etc, so presumably I shouldn't have done? That would make sense. Hopefully it is as simple as that - thanks.

Mersey_2

Yes, it may be an error at the DWP's end. Some claimants also tick both boxes; but, that tends to be if you're unsure whether you have sufficient NI Conts' but the initial letter should also have informed you once your claim was live, ie whether it was income-based JSA or contributions-based JSA.

TELLIT01

If you ticked the box stating you only wanted to claim Conts then that should have been the deciding factor in processing your claim. If you didn't have an entitlement to Contribution based benefit then the processor should really have contacted you before processing as Income Related. It is sometimes obvious that the customer has ticked the wrong box e.g. if they've been on benefit for a long time before claiming ESA, but even then clarification should be sought before processing.
The reality is that staff are under pressure to hit targets (Oh yes they are) and get things wrong. The letter you received would have said which version of the benefit you were being paid, but if you only claimed Conts it's not unreasonable that you wouldn't notice.
If that is the case I think you would have pretty decent grounds to appeal against any recovery action.