appealing a benefit overpayment decision

ExTeacher

I've received a £11,000 overpayment decision for a joint (my partner and I) claim for Income Support. I've followed the advice of the citizens advice bureau (CAB), and contacted DWP to request a mandatory reconsideration.

My wife and I have a toddler son. We live with my parents. I have multiple sclerosis (MS). In late 2014, my health rapidly deteriorated. My mobility is severely affected and I can no longer control my bladder. My occupational therapist informed me my local council were now reluctant to offer a grant to fund any home modifications due to austerity, but she did give a letter of support highlighting the need for a ground floor toilet and shower in the home.

A benefit advisor advised that my partner and I are entitled to claim for Income Support. We have had planning permission granted and the builders now want payment.

In mid 2015 my wife had a miscarriage. She has only recently mentally recovered from this trauma.

At the time of claiming I didn't have much capital savings. The DWP have decided from seeing our bank statements that we have £14k savings. This is despite me having explained that rather than pay monthly rent and paying my parents household expenses, all payments are paid annually. Furthermore, any extra money is used to pay for the modifications (ie ground floor bathroom.)

This is becoming a living nightmare. I know ignorance is not an excuse but I wish I never bothered to claim for Income Support.

Please advise me guys. Do you think I can appeal on the grounds that DWP's procedure is flawed? Every correspondence from DWP Spoke to my wife (as the benefit was paid in to her account). They didnt speak to me or interview me. I know I have a physical disability but my wife was in no fit state to speak to anyone after the miscarriage.

Thanks

NeilCr

I am assuming that you are still waiting for the result of the mandatory reconsideration?

Not much you can do till that decision comes through. If it goes against you then you will have a month from the date of the letter to appeal. I'd strongly suggest that you get some help from CAB/benefits adviser with how to proceed and the appeal

ExTeacher

Hi. Thank you for for getting back to me. Yes we are still awaiting the outcome of the mandatory reconsideration.

I get PIP and my wife gets carers allowance to care for me. We both have had to give up our careers due to my health. We were advised we could claim IS due to our low incomes.

I guess not everybody has their parents for a landlord. My parents were being kind towards me when they said to pay us when you can afford to pay. They knew first hand how desperately I needed a ground floor toilet. My mobility is terrible now - I can't do the grocery shopping or even clean a room. I contribute towards grocery shopping and other household expenses.

Ames

I don't understand how they're claiming such a large overpayment? With 14k in the bank you'd still have been entitled to some IS. Even at the maximum deduction it would have taken a lot longer than two years to build up such an overpayment.

How have they arrived at the £11k?

xylophone

Surely all details of your income and savings had to be provided to the DWP before any payments could be made?

Or are you saying that your wife did not realise that the £14000 in your bank account would be counted as savings?

Were you perhaps receiving a TPS ill health pension that was not declared?

ExTeacher

I would also love to know how they have arrived at such a figure. During a phone conversation with DWP, the kind lady said that it would appear the decision maker is saying that I wasn't eligible to claim IS at all. The savings didn't exist at the time the claim started though. The savings have gradually increased over time as we really need a ground floor toilet. My mobility is terrible and I can no longer control my bladder. I am very accident prone when going to the current 1st floor toilet - we have a letter of support from an occupational therapist which I showed to the council to speed through the planning application. My quality of life is woeful. It is barely an existence.

I requested a written statement of their reasons from the DWP. No mention of how they arrived at the figure. It did say an interesting sentence. "Money has been transferred to another account. I'm assuming the claimant has another account which is unknown so I have to assume that the capital savings are at the maximum limit." This other account is my wifes savings account which only has 8k and not the maximum limit. Like I've said we are saving to pay for a ground floor toilet. It seems somewhat repugnant for one to assume about ones savings and make a decision based upon an assumption.

Won't the DWP take in to consideration the need for me to have a ground floor toilet particularly after I was declined a government grant and told to fund it independently? I suspect public policy dictates that if one has excess savings they there is an overpayment, regardless of the reasons.

I know there is a media campaign to stop benefit cheats, and rightly so. But to assume the worst in people is just wrong.

baza52

So did you make them aware your wife had 8k in savings at any point during the claim?

How much is a toilet going to cost? I would have thought 8k would easily cover it.

anmarj

Until the money has actually been spent, then it is counted as capital. They can't deduct money for things that you need to do, until you have done it. Once the work had been done and paid for, all you had to do, was then send in proof and up to date balances and it would of been adjusted.

missbiggles1

In the short term I'd suggest a portable urinal bottle.

TELLIT01

There are a few issues that I can see.

You say your wife is claiming Carers Allowance for you. That being the case, she should be the one claiming IS not you. The fact that IS staff would only speak to your wife does suggest that the claim actually is in her name with your as her partner on the claim. If you wife wishes / needs you to speak on her behalf she will need to make DWP aware of that.

You also say you have at some stage had £14k in the bank and your wife has £8k. That combined figure puts you over the upper limit of £16k capital to claim IS. The £16k upper limit is not per person as the financial circumstances of both parties to the claim are taken into account. The claim that the money was intended for future rent payments is irrelevant. Until it is handed over it is your money.

Income Support is not payable simply on the grounds of low income. You refer to a 'benefits advisor', was that at the CAB? If so, they have got their facts very wrong.

anmarj

What you might also want to do, is get bank statements for all accounts you and your wife hold from the start of your IS claim, and send them in, and ask them to redo the overpayment based on the correct amount of capital held, what they have done, sounds like a balance of probability in determing your capital, because they don't have proper statements from the start.