Repaying benefits after death

PeacefulSlumber

My dad died on 26th November and was receiving DLA and the state pension. My brother and I are executors of his will.

We used the 'Tell us once' service when registering his death on 1st December and so far haven't heard anything from the benefits agencies.

I think there will be some monies to repay as he died before the end of the month, does anyone know how long they usually take to contact the executors asking for repayments?

Also my dad had only just been paid the winter fuel allowance in the days before his death, does anyone know if this will have to be repaid too?

Thanks for your help.

Keep_pedalling

No idea how long they take, why not give them a call.

As for the winter fuel payment, that does not need to be repaid. I believe the recipient need to be alive during the qualifying period which is in September.

WYSPECIAL

Has probate been granted? DWP usually check for over payments when probate is granted and then get in touch.

Your best bet is to write to their debt department and ask them to check.

Keep_pedalling

WYSPECIAL wrote: »

Has probate been granted? DWP usually check for over payments when probate is granted and then get in touch.

Your best bet is to write to their debt department and ask them to check.

Should not apply in this case DLA is not means tested.

Yorkshireman99

PeacefulSlumber wrote: »

My dad died on 26th November and was receiving DLA and the state pension. My brother and I are executors of his will.

We used the 'Tell us once' service when registering his death on 1st December and so far haven't heard anything from the benefits agencies.

I think there will be some monies to repay as he died before the end of the month, does anyone know how long they usually take to contact the executors asking for repayments?

Also my dad had only just been paid the winter fuel allowance in the days before his death, does anyone know if this will have to be repaid too?

Thanks for your help.

The fuel benefit is not means tested nor is it repayable as it was received before the death. The DWP can take ages so best to write and ask.

vlad

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

Should not apply in this case DLA is not means tested.

Doesn't matter that its not means tested it can still be over paid, but I would agree that a letter asking if there has been any over-payment is the best way forward.

Keep_pedalling

vlad wrote: »

Doesn't matter that its not means tested it can still be over paid, but I would agree that a letter asking if there has been any over-payment is the best way forward.

This comment was specifically to do with overpaid benefits discovered via the probate figures, that is benefits the deceased was not entitled too. There may be overpayments due to them not being stopped quickly enough but they should be small and easily assessed by the executor.

patanne

Just ring them and ask. My mother was in receipt of state pension and attendance allowance. The AA was paid the day after she died. Answer was - she is still entitled to all that as it was paid in the same benefit week that she died. Her state pension was paid into her account 6 days before she died. Answer was - she is entilted to another weeks payment as she died in the week after her last benefit week. DWP normally pay in arrears apart from weekly paid state pension which MAY be paid in advance.

So if you work out the last day of the week the benefit was paid - see the bank statement- then which day the death was - was the benefit paid in that benefit week.

I found that the depts dealing with bereavement, DWP, HMRC and the banks, were all very helpful. They know you are upset and that it is a one off thing for you not something you deal with every day and really do try to help. Just ask! As long as he has not been claiming anything he shouldn't have (which from what has been said, he hasn't [and if he had it isn't YOUR fault]). There may be the odd week to repay, but if you ask them they will probably say something along the lines of - well we didn't write to you because he didn't owe anything.

Put your mind at rest and ring Monday early morning!

We used the tell it once service when we registered the death and it went through very quickly and stopped overpayments so if you registered the death fairly promptly then I think nothing will be owed. But as I have already said, just ring them and ask. You are not going to get any hassle. All you really need is the NI number.

Stop worrying !! This is a bad enough time without taking on unnecessary worries. To repeat - it is very unlikely that much COULD be owed unless you seriously delayed reporting the death.

FreeBear

patanne wrote: »

Stop worrying !! This is a bad enough time without taking on unnecessary worries. To repeat - it is very unlikely that much COULD be owed unless you seriously delayed reporting the death.

If the DWP were notified of the death within a reasonable time and there was a run-on of benefits payments, it isn't going to be a huge amount. At most, £200-£300 which is almost trivial in the grand scheme of things. The DWP won't be in a rush to reclaim any overpayments so don't go worrying that they will take anyone to court or call in a debt collection agency.

We, as executors, currently owe the DWP around £230 from overpayment of pension & other benefits - Nine months on, it hasn't been paid back and the DWP haven't been chasing. I dare say, come April they will probably be asking again and we will be in a position to refund without any problem.

PeacefulSlumber

Thanks everyone for your replies, you've put my mind at rest and I will definitely give the DWP a call tomorrow morning,

To answer the questions asked, my dad died late in the evening on 26th November and we registered the death and used the tell us once service on the 1st December so I think that's pretty prompt, especially given that I live abroad and had to fly back to the UK.

Probate was not required in our case so no need to worry about that and we have money ready to pay back anything dad was overpaid, I just want to get everything finalised.

Thanks again.

Yorkshireman99

PeacefulSlumber wrote: »

Thanks everyone for your replies, you've put my mind at rest and I will definitely give the DWP a call tomorrow morning,

To answer the questions asked, my dad died late in the evening on 26th November and we registered the death and used the tell us once service on the 1st December so I think that's pretty prompt, especially given that I live abroad and had to fly back to the UK.

Probate was not required in our case so no need to worry about that and we have money ready to pay back anything dad was overpaid, I just want to get everything finalised.

Thanks again.

What is the estate value in total and is any property involved?