Pension overpayment refund request - anything I can do?

Pompeyfan

My father passed away in Janauary, today I received a letter saying his pension was overpaid by a week (about £148), the thing is the estate he left, what there was of it, is gone with most of it going on his funeral and other expenses.

The DWP were notified of his passing the day after he died, and I was told at the time that if there was any overpayment it wouldn't be reclaimed, and I can't go back and check his old bank statements to check amounts as he had online checking only and his account was closed in March.

The problem is I'm only on ESA (Support group) and low rate DLA, so a bill for this amount coming out the blue is quite a shock as I don't have it. As I'm housebound I can't go to Citizens Advice for help, so is there anything I can do? I can't ring the DWP till Monday so I have a weekend worrying about this.

Cheers

marlot

The claim is against his estate. if there was nothing left after allowable expenses, nothing to repay

greenglide

Yes, but if the "money left" was just spread informally between relatives then there would be a potential liability as the money would never have been theirs legally?

carter91

You can challenge the overpayment, citing that because the Pensions Service was notified of your fathers death, an official error was made in paying his pension and this o/p should therefore not be recoverable.

There are time-limits for appealing the overpayment, so write now asking for a mandatory reconsideration of the DWP decision to recover the o/p. It would be helpful to have some evidence that the DWP was notified (phone records?).

Do contact your local CAB - they may offer telephone advice or a home visiting service. Could be worth involving your MP.