Deceased Pension Retrieval

greenglide

If he is "paid in advance" then he will have been paid a whole week on the payday (probably Monday? ) for the payday and the following 6 days.

DWP will refer to this as 15/01/16 to 15/01/16. Two weeks would be 15/01/16 to 22/01/16 etc. So 15/01/16 to 29/01/16 is three weeks.

Assuming he was paid four weekly then three of the four weeks in arrears and only one week in advance. They never pay more than a week in advance apart for a few days around bank holidays etc when the payment is processed and transmitted to BACS for payment.

If they have processed the date of death wrongly they may be trying to recover money that isn't owing. You need to confirm with them the date of death. Any payment for a payday after the date of death is due back.

atush

Mosef41 wrote: »

Although neither of you appear to have read or understood my first posting your responses appear to back what I am saying, that all payments paid to my father before his death are valid, any made to him for the period after he died are due to be paid back - which is perfectly reasonable and proper.

Everyone read it. Everyone understood it.

It is you who dont understand the replies.

It DOESN'T MATTER if the money was paid while he was alive, if the payment in question was for monies due after his death.

Do you understand payment in advance and payment in arrears?

mgdavid

Mosef41 wrote: »

Although neither of you appear to have read or understood my first posting your responses appear to back what I am saying, that all payments paid to my father before his death are valid, any made to him for the period after he died are due to be paid back - which is perfectly reasonable and proper.

You're going to have to give us a lot more detail and facts if you want a full and proper reply.

greenglide

It DOESN'T MATTER if the money was paid while he was alive, if the payment in question was for monies due after his death.

The DWP NEVER pay pension more than one week in advance. Any recovery should only be for payments covering periods after he died unless an overpayment had been made for something unrelated.

brewerdave

To be fair to the OP, I recently had a "conversation" with the DWP re pension payments for the opposite reason.
My late mother received her 4 weekly payment on 16th of the month then died on the 20th. I understood the rules to be as per post #12, so therefore expected her to have been paid up to a date after her death, so no more monies due.
HOWEVER, the DWP insisted that she was due a further week's state pension! and wanted somewhere to make the payment because her bank account had been "frozen" so wouldn't receive the payment. The explanation I was given didn't make a lot of sense to me.

Mosef41

Many thanks for all the helpful replies, I have written to the DWP asking for further clarification on the time period in question and why they are asking for money paid when my father was still alive, for the period in question. Just to elaborate a little further the period in question is:

21st December - 10th January 2016

My father died on 7th January 2016.

DWP are saying for this period my father was entitled to the first weeks payment and therefore they are reclaiming three weeks. I am saying I am due to pay DWP back for 8th, 9th and 10th Jan as my father was not living. I am taking their letter at face value which lacks fuller explanation as to the periods, arrears, advance etc. I hope to get this in reply to my letter. Thanks once again, Mo

greenglide

We need to know whether he was being paid in arrears or in advance. This depends when he was 65. If it was before April 2010 he was paid in advance otherwise he would probably be paid in arrears.

In the case of death currently they pay only full weeks so you would never get just three days being claimed back. If he was alive on the payday he was due the money.

So if December 21st was a payday (a Monday payday would make sense) he was due payment for the weeks 21/12, 28/12 and 4/1. If he was paid for 11th January that is an overpayment if he died on 7/1 and DWP are due a refund.

woolly_wombat

Mosef41 wrote: »

My father passed away in January and the DWP Debt Management service has contacted me to retrieve payments made. I completely understand that any payments to my dad after his death are due back but they are claiming for three weeks worth of payments before his death. I would thought he would be entitled to all payments up until the day he passed away and the entitlement ends.

Sorry for your loss Mosef41.

I think the title of your original post may have been a little misleading, because it might not be overpayment of pension that DWP Debt Management are after.

Some benefits are affected by hospital admission. Could that explain the overpayment?

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/benefits-affected-by-hospital-admission

https://www.gov.uk/benefit-overpayments/when-repayments-have-to-be-made

Mosef41

So, after calling the International Pension Centre on the day my father died, then writing to them following up on that conversation to confirm formally in writing the date of my fathers death, they've responded to my letter to confirm they've been calculating the pension payment discrepancy based on a date three weeks earlier than the date of death - I can think of a few things DWP might be short for.... :mad:

woolly_wombat

Mosef41 wrote: »

So, after calling the International Pension Centre on the day my father died, then writing to them following up on that conversation to confirm formally in writing the date of my fathers death, they've responded to my letter to confirm they've been calculating the pension payment discrepancy based on a date three weeks earlier than the date of death - I can think of a few things DWP might be short for.... :mad:

The last thing you need at such a difficult time.