Any DWP Experts around?

Kinnairdy

Is/was there ever a policy within the DWP (formerly DSS) that if an overpayment of benefit was made due to an administrative error the recipient was under no obligation to repay said monies?.

Daughter received letter saying she was over paid 1 weeks benefit over 2 years ago.
S-I-L was self employed then, Monumental Stone Mason, (carves names on Headstones) not paid by the hour but by the letter. DWP could not comprehend this and daughter had a nightmare 3 years of producing all receipts monthly, she had to take everyting to local DWP who took photocopies and still got it totally wrong every time, he gave up self employment after 3 years @ loss of + £2000, provided all accounts which were again photocopied by DWP who were kept up to date all the time.

We have gone over the figures and our conclusion is daughter WAS not overpaid at all.
She phoned number on letter to query and was told to send a written appeal giving all info and the guy also said 'if the mistake is an 'internal error' then you would'nt have to pay it back anyway'.

Does anyone know if this is correct?

Cannot be bothered jumping through hoops to prove the point if an 'internal error' is all it takes to stop their attempt to reclaim money they was never an overpayment in the first place.
Thanks

Morglin

Kinnairdy wrote: »

Is/was there ever a policy within the DWP (formerly DSS) that if an overpayment of benefit was made due to an administrative error the recipient was under no obligation to repay said monies?.

Daughter received letter saying she was over paid 1 weeks benefit over 2 years ago.
S-I-L was self employed then, Monumental Stone Mason, (carves names on Headstones) not paid by the hour but by the letter. DWP could not comprehend this and daughter had a nightmare 3 years of producing all receipts monthly, she had to take everyting to local DWP who took photocopies and still got it totally wrong every time, he gave up self employment after 3 years @ loss of + £2000, provided all accounts which were again photocopied by DWP who were kept up to date all the time.

We have gone over the figures and our conclusion is daughter WAS not overpaid at all.
She phoned number on letter to query and was told to send a written appeal giving all info and the guy also said 'if the mistake is an 'internal error' then you would'nt have to pay it back anyway'.

Does anyone know if this is correct?

Cannot be bothered jumping through hoops to prove the point if an 'internal error' is all it takes to stop their attempt to reclaim money they was never an overpayment in the first place.
Thanks

if your daughter gave them all information, left nothing out and provided all evidence requested at that time, then it was "official error" and she should not have to pay it back.

Regulations: That provision allowed for revision on the ground of "official error", which was defined in regulation 1(2) as "an error made by (a) an officer of the DWP acting as such which no person outside that Department caused or to which no person outside that Department materially contributed;


Any Problems, contact the CAB.

Lin

cattie

Yes if DWP make an error resulting in overpayment then there is no compulsion for the recipient to pay back the money, so long as they had provided the correct information at the time of the claim.

Kinnairdy

Thank you both very much for taking the time to reply, it is extremely helpful.

Yes they were provided with all information, receipts/invoices/cheque stubs/bank statements & end of year accounts showing loss were photocopied by DWP Office. Absolutely nothing was left out and still they fouled up at every turn by making payments then immediately cancelling them again.
She had to make an 80 mile round trip approx every 2 -3 weeks to provide the evidence they required and try to sort out their mistakes.
She followed the rules to the letter and 2 years later they are still getting it wrong. :-(

real1314

ah well, that is what usually happens, however that's not the actual legal position, and it's not always the way it's done.
In this case it seems to just be a comment on what would happen, rather than any admission that it was an official error?

kelloggs36

They do have to ask for the repayment of the money though - they rely on people paying up without questioning it! However, just stand your ground and ask them to provide evidence of your neglect and they will soon back down.