Interview under caution for pension credit

hennesm

My mum was recently called in for an interview under caution . She is 75, separated and suffers from severe hypotension. She is in receipt of pension credit thanks to the whole married woman tax debacle , so despite working all her life she has a v small state pension . She lives alone and consequently has applied for a transfer to be nearer her family and travels a lot to stay with them and vice versa. I should add that I live in Ireland am an on,y child and live in Ireland and I pay for her to visit me here. She cannot claim pension in Ireland as she has never worked here. Anyway she received a letter the day before her credit, rent and council tax were stopped, threatening to stop them if she didn't attend for interview . Not only did she attend but she brought it forward 10 days because she was so anxious and I attended with her. The 'authorised officers '(?) proceeded to question her and went through three years of bank statements asking why she had used her card in Ireland and other parts if the uk. They did not specify what act of fraud she had committed nor how they have obtained all her bank statements and utility bills. We were there for 90 minutes in a freezing cold room , while they shouted ( until) I stopped them and they threatened to kick me out! We still don't know why her benefits were stopped before the interview and when I asked I was told it was because they can . When I asked when the outcome of this interview would be I was told it would be at least two months, again because they can . I then asked what my mum should do and they told her to and live on her nieces settee? I just want to know if anyone else has had similar experiences or can advise as to what to expect.
I should add that of course she could come and live with me but I live in a fairly rural area and essentially it's not practicable for her . Of course my cousin will take her in but she's 75 and I'll and surely shouldn't be expected to live on a settee ? Her housing provider and the council have been aware that she has wanted to move.
All we know is that it was an anonymous allegation that she has a house in Ireland ( she hasn't and that can be easily checked ).

Londonsu

Sorry something doesn't sound right here, for PC there is an Assessed Income Period where people on PC are not required to tell the DWP if their circumstances changes its currently five years and under the current rules people over 75 who do not have an AIP do not have to inform the DWP of any changes, the rules are changing from April but she would have been interviewed under the current ones so are they saying she had this 'house' since she first applied for PC.


An IUC is TAPED are you seriously suggesting she was shouted at, told they could stop her benefits because they can and told an 75 year old to go and sleep on someone's couch on TAPE.

Diary

skcollobcat10 wrote: »

Don't know why high blood pressure is a problem for your mum, I think it just a part of the aging process.

Not sure why you're saying his mum has high blood pressure - he clearly states its LOW blood pressure.


OP as someone said interviews under caution are recorded and you are entitled to a copy. Request a copy and make a vigorous complaint to DWP and your MP if it really went that badly.

missbiggles1

Would it be that easy to check if she had a house in Ireland?

tomtom256

missbiggles1 wrote: »

Would it be that easy to check if she had a house in Ireland?

Depends if it's Northern Ireland or not, it sounds like it's possibly Ireland to me i.e. not part of the uk and as such would be hard to check.

It's unclear from the OP's post which part of Ireland he is referring to.

The OP's mother would have also had an MG6A issued prior to recording taking place, listing the offence and reason for interview.

She would have also received suspension letters from the DWP advising why benefit had been suspended and recourse action available.

HB cannot be stopped by the DWP and it is down to the local authority to suspend this, but again letters would have been sent out advising reason why suspended and recourse action.

AIP's are also ignored if a claim is false from the outset in fraud investigations.

Could be that the investigators have made a mistake in process, which in that case they have just lost the case or it could be that the matter has been twisted as the OP is not happy that his 75 year old mother has been found out/interviewed.

missbiggles1

tomtom256 wrote: »

Depends if it's Northern Ireland or not, it sounds like it's possibly Ireland to me i.e. not part of the uk and as such would be hard to check.

It's unclear from the OP's post which part of Ireland he is referring to.

The OP's mother would have also had an MG6A issued prior to recording taking place, listing the offence and reason for interview.

She would have also received suspension letters from the DWP advising why benefit had been suspended and recourse action available.

HB cannot be stopped by the DWP and it is down to the local authority to suspend this, but again letters would have been sent out advising reason why suspended and recourse action.

AIP's are also ignored if a claim is false from the outset in fraud investigations.

Could be that the investigators have made a mistake in process, which in that case they have just lost the case or it could be that the matter has been twisted as the OP is not happy that his 75 year old mother has been found out/interviewed.

I assumed RoI as well as that makes more sense which is why I thought that it wouldn't be easy to check house ownership in a foreign country.

Another aspect of this is that (apart from the home ownership issue) they may believe that she's spending more than the 13 weeks abroad that you're allowed when claiming pension credit. As this is going down to 4 weeks in April, they could well be tightening up on things now.

Topcat1982

missbiggles1 wrote: »

Would it be that easy to check if she had a house in Ireland?

Sounds like they suspect her of living with the OP in Ireland rather than visiting her regularly. I wonder how you could prove otherwise. Tickets? Utility bills, landline phone bill?

Why did they tell her to sleep on someone's couch? Has she been evicted for not paying rent?

Pollycat

hennesm wrote: »

My mum was recently called in for an interview under caution . She is 75, separated and suffers from severe hypotension. She is in receipt of pension credit thanks to the whole married woman tax debacle , so despite working all her life she has a v small state pension . She lives alone and consequently has applied for a transfer to be nearer her family and travels a lot to stay with them and vice versa. I should add that I live in Ireland am an on,y child and live in Ireland and I pay for her to visit me here. She cannot claim pension in Ireland as she has never worked here. Anyway she received a letter the day before her credit, rent and council tax were stopped, threatening to stop them if she didn't attend for interview . Not only did she attend but she brought it forward 10 days because she was so anxious and I attended with her. The 'authorised officers '(?) proceeded to question her and went through three years of bank statements asking why she had used her card in Ireland and other parts if the uk. They did not specify what act of fraud she had committed nor how they have obtained all her bank statements and utility bills. We were there for 90 minutes in a freezing cold room , while they shouted ( until) I stopped them and they threatened to kick me out! We still don't know why her benefits were stopped before the interview and when I asked I was told it was because they can . When I asked when the outcome of this interview would be I was told it would be at least two months, again because they can . I then asked what my mum should do and they told her to and live on her nieces settee? I just want to know if anyone else has had similar experiences or can advise as to what to expect.
I should add that of course she could come and live with me but I live in a fairly rural area and essentially it's not practicable for her . Of course my cousin will take her in but she's 75 and I'll and surely shouldn't be expected to live on a settee ? Her housing provider and the council have been aware that she has wanted to move.
All we know is that it was an anonymous allegation that she has a house in Ireland ( she hasn't and that can be easily checked ).

Topcat1982 wrote: »

Why did they tell her to sleep on someone's couch? Has she been evicted for not paying rent?

Exactly.
So what happens to the house that the OP's Mum has a tenancy agreement for? Telling her to go and sleep on someone's sofa just doesn't make sense.

I hope the OP comes back because there's a lot more questions than answers here.

pmlindyloo

The HB and CT reduction would have been stopped when her Pension Credit stopped as she would have received an automatic entitlement due to receiving PC.

However, she can still claim based on a low income. She needs to go to her local council and apply for HB and CT reduction. She can ask for it to be backdated to when it stopped.

As regards the interview then this sounds very irregular. She should have been given an opportunity to produce evidence of whatever they are suggesting she is claiming incorrectly.

You can make a formal complaint to Pension Services (google for the address), go to CAB and they will telephone on her behalf to find out what is happening/get her MP involved.

margaretclare

Diary wrote: »

Not sure why you're saying his mum has high blood pressure - he clearly states its LOW blood pressure.

Hypotension - low blood pressure. Can cause problems. Dizziness, feeling of weakness, falling over, fainting.

Hypertension - high blood pressure. Can cause problems. Risk of strokes, heart attacks.

Both need treating and regular check-ups.

xylophone

The mother lives in a rented property in England and was in receipt of Pension Credit, housing benefit and council tax support?

She has a daughter who lives in the Republic of Ireland whom she visits regularly (fares and expenses paid by the daughter), and relatives in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland whom she also visits from time to time?

She wants to move from her existing home in England to where exactly?

As she has a home at the moment, why is it being suggested that she should sleep on her niece's sofa? (Or is the OP saying that she has been evicted for non payment of rent?)

Or is the problem that she is spending more than the permitted period in the RoI?

Whatever the case may be, shouting/bullying/verbal abuse etc is unacceptable and would be evidenced by the taped recording?