DWP overpayment after death

cptkwoman

rockingbilly wrote: »

Any debt that is legally owed and has been proved MUST be paid prior to the winding up of the estate. The point here is that the DWP or Pension Service have to formally claim that a debt is owed. Also it is the responsibility of the Administrator/Executor that if they know or believe that a debt is owed even if no claim is made, they must contact the person/organisation to ask them to put a claim in.
All claims are then scrutinised by the Administrator/Executor as to whether they should be paid. If the Administrator/Executor fails to pay a debt that they believe is due, the debt must then be paid by the Administrator/Executor out of their own pocket.
It is not unknown for the DWP to hold up the finalisation of the estate for months if not years - they are not known for their speed in dealing with debts owed to them by an estate.

Thank you for this explanation, Rockingbilly.

Denise1955

Hello, My mother died in February and I have been doing the probate. I now have 'Grant of representation' . the DWP wrote to me to ask for an over payment to be paid back as it was only £50, I paid this from my own account. but they state in their letter they may need to contact me again once the probate has been granted. How long do I wait for them to contact me before I distribute the funds to the beneficiaries?

pmlindyloo

Denise1955 wrote: »

Hello, My mother died in February and I have been doing the probate. I now have 'Grant of representation' . the DWP wrote to me to ask for an over payment to be paid back as it was only £50, I paid this from my own account. but they state in their letter they may need to contact me again once the probate has been granted. How long do I wait for them to contact me before I distribute the funds to the beneficiaries?

I would be proactive with this and telephone the DWP and inform them that you have been granted probate.

The overpayment you paid back was probably money that had been paid after your mum's death.

They will want to check that whatever she had been claiming was correct and may need to see records of her bank accounts etc.

It has been known for the DWP to take months to 'get their act together' so to avoid any necessary delays give them a call. Don't forget to to note the date, the name of the person you spoke to and what they say. You could also ask them to put anything in a letter - for example, if they say there are no overpayments.