DWP Overpayments on deceased
Woodsstorm
Forumite 3 Posts
Good morning everyone,
My other half's Grandmother died in January last year leaving my Other half the executor and sole beneficiary to her estate, we contacted everyone who could be owed money this included the DWP who we paid an over payment back to them totaling around £700 now we have received a letter a year later saying £8000 is owed for over payment of Pension credits over a 10 year period.
Now as this is a year later and we went through probate and now there is no estate left, where do we stand on this matter, I will will be contacting the DWP today to get a detailed breakdown of why this money is owing but as there is no estate left what do we do about it?
Many thanks for taking your time to read and answer!!
My other half's Grandmother died in January last year leaving my Other half the executor and sole beneficiary to her estate, we contacted everyone who could be owed money this included the DWP who we paid an over payment back to them totaling around £700 now we have received a letter a year later saying £8000 is owed for over payment of Pension credits over a 10 year period.
Now as this is a year later and we went through probate and now there is no estate left, where do we stand on this matter, I will will be contacting the DWP today to get a detailed breakdown of why this money is owing but as there is no estate left what do we do about it?
Many thanks for taking your time to read and answer!!
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If she had savings over £10000, she wouldn't have been entitled.
Thats all i can think of.
she had savings of over £20,000 so she shouldn't have even been paid pension credits then
Savings of up to £10,000 are ignored. Over this amount you are assumed to have an income of £1 per week for every £500 of savings. This assumed income is added to your actual income when determining any pension credit entitlement, so it depends on how much her other income was.
I was in the same position last year when dealing with a relatives estate.
When the probate forms are returned to the probate office, details of the estate are sent to a special unit of DWP to cross check assets with any benefits which have been paid.
We then got a letter from DWP asking for details of any bank accounts previously held, from the date Pension Credit had been paid.
This letter also told us not to disburse any money until DWP had finished their enquiries this took over 8 months.
Did you get such a letter from DWP? Did you supply them with details of savings etc ,which is why presumably there is an overpayment.
I am afraid despite no money now been left then the executor is still liable for repayment.
However if you did not receive a letter from DWP you may be able to contest the matter.
The letter advising you about the overpayment should also tell you about the appeals system.
Was your grandmother in receipt of Attendence Allowance, if so this negates any clawback on pension credit.
I recently had to contact the DWP to advise that.them that my father had sold the family home after my mother's death and that he had moved into rented sheltered accommodation, the proceeds from the sale of the house taking him over the savings limit.
They said that because he was in receipt of higher AA his savings would not be taken into account for pension credit purposes.
I was incredulous and asked them if they were absolutely certain and they just laughed and said "it wouldnt matter if your father was a
millionaire, he is, by definition entitled to PC because he is in receipt of AA".
AA is not means tested and it is given on medical grounds for care needs and does not affect any other benefits.
Its worth backtracking and double checking all her Income sources.
Not so. See the .gov.uk guidance in Pension Credit eligibility. Attendance Allowance is ignored when calculating Pension Credit, but its existence does not have any effect on the way capital is taken into account.
Which is why I questioned the guy at DWP. I even got him to double check with his line manager......
So - who knows.......
I think half the time they make it up.as they go along. They are a shambles.
You can talk to half a dozen different people and get half a dozen different answers.
Dad will be moving in with my sister soon and his PC will change then to reflect his new circumstances.
All I can do is make sure the DWP are informed of the changes.