Helped I've Just Been Robbed

System

I don't think that comes under the remit of DWP though

NYM

giddypenguin wrote: »

Although I understand what you are saying - but I'd rather they focus their efforts on the billions of tax evaded by corporations and wealthy individuals (who apparently gain the right to negotiate their tax bills) than these often small amounts owed by often vulnerable people.

Surely the focus should be on recovering all money owed?

If I have two clients that are refusing to settle their accounts, I don't ignore the one that owes the least just because it's far less than the other.

billywilly

FBaby wrote: »

So are you agreeing that you still owed some money, just not the full amount? From a principle stand in terms of being robbed, either you owe money still or you don't. If you've gone from saying that you owed nothing to saying oh yes ok, there was £10 left to pay, it does put doubt that you indeed don't owe a few £££ with the crisis loans you took that might indeed amount to £380 in total.

Personally if it was me and I was absolutely certain that I had paid everything, I would have been straight at my bank and getting copies of bank statements to prove all the payments were made, if only for the satisfaction of proving them wrong and getting an apology.

If it is the case that the OP does in fact owe this money I do hope that the DWP will charge interest on the debt at the normal rate of 8% compound. Over 10 years that comes close to doubling the debt with the interest added.

JohnoUK

HI All

Thanks for all the usual information, just an update on the situation.

I have spoken to the Debt Department at the DWP and set up an affordable repayment plan for which they are going to rescind the Attachment of Earnings or DEA. My issue was that I was of the understanding the debts were already paid it was them who told me yesterday that I still had £10 to pay on the loan and a few other crisis loans. My frustration was when I asked them for an account statement showing that I still owed the balances they say, for this I will use a freedom of information request. After speaking with them I asked the question why did you not just ask me for money if they say I owe it to which they informed me they had sent me a single letter in February of THIS YEAR (10 years from the last payment made on my loan) which obviously I hadn't seen as I left that property in August LAST YEAR after 8 years of living at the same address. I further challenged him as to whether government departments shared information the reason for this is I have updated my address with the CSA for my child maintenance payments and updated my address details for the HMRC through my employer (this was done on HMRC forms) all of which were done August / September last year.

They were able to send a DEA to my employer knowing that I work there why not send me a letter at my works address first?

I have no way to prove what payments I made as they were taken as a deduction from benefit which is why I requested a statement of account the person said he will be able to supply a breakdown.

I feel better about the whole situation now after having to speak to a TEAM LEADER at the debt management department of the DWP following a despicable approach to dealing with a persons query in the first instance.

I have no problem paying what I owe I just don't think I actually owe it but I'm hoping the FOI request will shed some light on this.

Thanks Again For Useful Info

giddypenguin

NYM wrote: »

Surely the focus should be on recovering all money owed?

If I have two clients that are refusing to settle their accounts, I don't ignore the one that owes the least just because it's far less than the other.

Of course - but if you have limited resources and can only afford to focus on one (which is the main excuse for not collecting tax due) I'd rather they go after the bigger debt.

billywilly

giddypenguin wrote: »

Of course - but if you have limited resources and can only afford to focus on one (which is the main excuse for not collecting tax due) I'd rather they go after the bigger debt.

Maybe, but the available funding dictates that they go for the easiest to collect first, whether it is the smaller of the two or not..

It's like have 11 people owing you money, 10 owe £10 and the eleventh owes £100.
Those that owe £10 can be caught via a deduction from wages, whilst the one that owes £100 will argue and make it much harder for you to collect it - it could take a year to get to the point of collecting it.

Common sense dictates that they collect the 10 that owe £10 each first because it is easier and less expensive.

The same goes for collecting underpaid tax. HMRC take the view that it may be better to negotiate a smaller settlement knowing that it is likely to be accepted than to fight tooth and nail to extract the last penny from the amount alleged to be due
It's common sense and good economics.

giddypenguin

billywilly wrote: »

Maybe, but the available funding dictates that they go for the easiest to collect first, whether it is the smaller of the two or not..

It's like have 11 people owing you money, 10 owe £10 and the eleventh owes £100.
Those that owe £10 can be caught via a deduction from wages, whilst the one that owes £100 will argue and make it much harder for you to collect it - it could take a year to get to the point of collecting it.

Common sense dictates that they collect the 10 that owe £10 each first because it is easier and less expensive.

The same goes for collecting underpaid tax. HMRC take the view that it may be better to negotiate a smaller settlement knowing that it is likely to be accepted than to fight tooth and nail to extract the last penny from the amount alleged to be due
It's common sense and good economics.

And the rich get richer and the poor get poorer... The Tory manifesto. Funny how they changed the law to enable them to take money directly from the wages of the poorest, but won't change the law to close tax loopholes for the rich...

NYM

giddypenguin wrote: »

And the rich get richer and the poor get poorer... The Tory manifesto. Funny how they changed the law to enable them to take money directly from the wages of the poorest, but won't change the law to close tax loopholes for the rich...

That's not necessarily true.

The person they're recovering the debt from may have at some point been in need of the loan, but that same person, some years later, might be earning a very good salary.

[Deleted User]

billywilly wrote: »

I appreciate that it might well be 10 years ago, but to be honest most people I know would remember if they were owed money from 10 years ago.
It is not for the DWP to prove that you owe this money, it is for you to prove that you have paid it, in full, already.

Either pay it through your wages, send them a cheque for the full balance now, or prove that they are wrong.

Taxpayers like myself would like to be satisfied in the knowledge that any money owing to the DWP is repaid.

As a taxpayer would you like it if HMRC chased a"supposed"debt from you dating back 10 years? I suspect not

Londonsu

woodbine wrote: »

As a taxpayer would you like it if HMRC chased a"supposed"debt from you dating back 10 years? I suspect not

.


If they could prove I owed them the money then I would not have any problem, but of course as a tax payer I know its my responsibility to ensure that I am paying the correct tax, even if I don't pay it myself and its taken from my wages via PAYE.


Last year my Husband got both a state pension and a private pension and it was taxable so even though no tax was taken off his pension in the last tax year, we knew he owed tax, sure enough at the start of this tax year a statement was sent out stating how much tax he owed.


People are up in arms about the gov wanting to take 12 billion off the benefits bill, yet the link I posted from 2012 makes it clear that they had been wiping off 7-8 billion a YEAR in uncollected debt, what would you rather happen? they collect some of the money from people who owe them or take away benefits from people who need them.


I have seen lots of these discussions and most of them are from people who know they owe the money but feel they have got away without paying due to the debt being statue barred, indeed the OP mentioned this in their post


The link |I posted made it clear that in 2012 they were working towards claiming this money back, using a combination of data sharing and new technology and a grim determination to 'get the job done' (although like many I would like to see them have the same determination to catch tax dodgers BUT that should be 'as well' not 'instead of' getting money back from loans or overpayments)


Now as I have also said I know the DWP were sending out letters under the last government, so do you really believe that if Labour or any other party were in power they wouldn't use that new technology to claim back billions of £s that they were owed, and people would just have their debts written off? somehow I don't think that would happen