ESA overpayment please advise

ragdoll24

I did something really stupid last year and due to depression, anxiety and other illness I was struggling to make ends meet on benefits which included ESA and I stupidly went and done some part time work for a few months and didn’t declare it until the end, but by then I had worked 7months.

End of last year I confessed and supplied all the information they requested and the decision was that I pay back the 7mths ESA I wasn’t entitled to so they have started taking around £60 out of my ESA each month and serves me right. However being a single mum with 3 children and not being allowed to work at the moment due to various illnesses I’m really really struggling to make ends meet with 3 growing children and I don’t get a penny CSA from their father.

I have now heard from housing benefit who have been informed by ESA of my work last year so they are now going to review my housing Bennett for the few months I worked to which I’m sure they will decide they have overpaid me so I’m waiting on a decision about that. ESA have already worked out that I owe them nearly £4K in the months I worked which I’m paying back £60 a month. I’m absolutely sick with worry, struggling even more to make ends meet, my depression and anxiery is crippling me along with severe hypotension which the gp’s are struggling to control.

My dilemma and question is this, because I really can’t afford to live on my own with my children my partner has offered for me to move in with him next year. Problem is I didn’t really want to move in with him so soon as we have only been seeing each other for 12 maths and having come out of a domestically violent marriage a few years ago I’m not ready to make that commitment but I really don’t have a choice.

If I move in with my partner from what I have researched on the internet I will loose absolutely every benefit I have including ESA, tax credits and even child benefit will be reduced as my partner earns £50k a year, so if I move in with him I won’t have any income at all in which to pay for any bills, rent, food and the things my children need along with my credit card, store card and mobile. I still can’t eirk at the moment because of my illness so what do I do?? Although my partner earning £50k a year sounds a lot to you all, by the time he has paid his rent (house prices are extremely high in our area) household bills, his own debts he has nothing left to pay for my debts or put food on the table for me and my 3 children and then how would I pay the ESA overpayment back if I’m not getting any income at all?? Can they make my partner pay? Or is there any benefit I could be entitled to until I’m signed back fit enough to work?

I’m in a terrible situation and don’t know what to do??

Any kind advise would be appreciated and please don’t slate me for working last year without declaring, I know I was wrong hence the reason I handed myself in and declared it all, but it’s bloody hard as a single mum when the children’s dad doesn’t help or support in any way.

atolaas

Hey, we all make mistakes! I would get advice from CAB or local advice centre - find out where you stand. I understand your reluctance to move in with your new partner. Be honest and explain your situation and find out what the best way forward is for you. Good luck xx

poppy12345

If you move in with your partner because you'll be a couple, he's supposed to support you. You're right you wouldn't be entitled to Income Related benefits with him earning that amount. As for the overpayments then you would need to contact them to make arrangement to repay those overpayments, once you move in with your partner.

I'm not slating you, i know how hard it is being a single mother with ill health. I've been a single mum myself for over 10 years. You admitted your mistake to DWP, which you're now repaying back and that's a good thing.

BorisThomson

Fraud is not a mistake, it's an intentional act of deception.

Do you still need benefits if you have a £50K household income?

If you're struggling financially then post a statement of affairs on the Debt board and they'll help you to cut down your outgoings.

ragdoll24

I understand what you are all saying about my partner having to support me and that one of you commentated that him earning £50k a year is a hell of a lot of money but in comparison to the area we live in (and it’s not my fault the area I have been born in) is one of the most expensive county’s in the uk then £50k will just about cover him paying the rent, household bills, food. He has his own debts he had before he met me. So basically as I can’t work at the moment he would have to pay all the debts I have, my sons travel to and from college including his lunch, my girls school meals etc etc

The overpayments I have to pay back to benefits are not his responsibility so what I was trying to find out is if I move in with him and then loose all benefit entitlement so basically I won’t be earning/bringing in any money then his am I going to pay back benefit overpayments? Where will they take the money from if I don’t get any benefits, don’t get s sickness benefit and am currently unable to work because if my illness?

poppy12345

ragdoll24 wrote: »

I understand what you are all saying about my partner having to support me and that one of you commentated that him earning £50k a year is a hell of a lot of money but in comparison to the area we live in (and it’s not my fault the area I have been born in) is one of the most expensive county’s in the uk then £50k will just about cover him paying the rent, household bills, food. He has his own debts he had before he met me. So basically as I can’t work at the moment he would have to pay all the debts I have, my sons travel to and from college including his lunch, my girls school meals etc etc

The overpayments I have to pay back to benefits are not his responsibility so what I was trying to find out is if I move in with him and then loose all benefit entitlement so basically I won’t be earning/bringing in any money then his am I going to pay back benefit overpayments? Where will they take the money from if I don’t get any benefits, don’t get s sickness benefit and am currently unable to work because if my illness?

When you move in as a couple he's meant to support you, that's the way it's meant to be i'm afraid.

As for the overpayment, as i said before you'll have to arrange to repay that. This what becoming a couple and living together is all about.

Have you looked into claiming PIP? PIP isn't a means tested benefit so household income won't be taken into consideration. Take a look at this link, it tells you all about it. It's not awarded based on a disagnosis, it's about how your condition/s affect you daily.
http://www.focusondisability.org.uk/personal-independence-payment-PIP-assessment-points.html

ragdoll24

I was on what was called DLA low rate mobility and low rate care for 12mths, it changed to PIP and I was told to reapply, I did and although my health had not changed in fact it had deteriorated I was refused PIP, it was at that point I become so ill and desperate I took on the past time job to try and make ends meet.

Yes I appreciate what you say about my partner having to support all of us but he is not the father of my children and I don’t feel comfortable thinking about moving in with him knowing he will then have to pay all my debts, it’s not his fault and I’m responsible for my children and my debts. My children’s absent fathers partner is not held or made responsible for paying for his children when he states he is not working. Oh by the way my children’s father absused me physically, financially and mentally. Before I met him I owned two houses and had a good job working all the hours god sent. By the time I left my husband I had 3 children with him, he bankrupted me because he was spending our money on drugs and other wine. The police, domestic abuse teams and friends and family helped me leave him so all this mess I am in is because of him. Yet he has set up a whole new life, nice house, new cars, claims he does not work but works cash in hand so he doesn’t have to pay CSA. So now I wonder if you can see my reluctance in asking or making my new partner pay for absolutely everything. I may as well stay in my little rented house with my children and not move in with him and struggle for the rest of my life as there is no way I am going to put my new partner in debt because of me.

I’m just trying to do the right thing and move on with my life and unfortunately benefits don’t help because as I said if I do move in with him and won’t be able to claim any sickness benefit I don’t think legally benefits can take money from him to pay the overpayment if benefits from last year, how can they make him liable?? I just guess they will have to put a hold on the overpayment I owe until I’m fit enough to get back to work which is going to take at least another 12mths. So basically that was the question I was asking but obviously no one as yet knows the answer and that is if I move in with my partner and I’m unable to claim any benefit or any money then what will they do about the over payment I owe them which I have been paying back through reduced ESA payments?

nannytone_2

they will wait until you claim benefits and then take it from that.
they will wait for you to receive pension if necessary

benidorm59

can you do some permitted work? , you can do up to sixteen hours and still claim ESA. As long as you declare it and they accept it then it will be fine. May help you money wise and if you move in with your partner least you will have some income of your own. The LA will not want all the money back at once just arrange to pay it back weekly if possible.

poppy12345

benidorm59 wrote: »

can you do some permitted work? , you can do up to sixteen hours and still claim ESA. As long as you declare it and they accept it then it will be fine. May help you money wise and if you move in with your partner least you will have some income of your own. The LA will not want all the money back at once just arrange to pay it back weekly if possible.

If the OP moves in with her partner then she won't be able to claim ESA, therefore there would be no permitted to to do.

ragdoll24

Yes you are correct I have been told if I move in with my partner then ESA stops. I’m already paying back the overpayment yo ESA which I have been doing for a number of months now but like I said if I move in with my partner then I get no income at all. I don’t have the energy to try and claim PIP again as we are all aware that PIP doesn’t pay out for depression/anxiety any more like DLA kindly did and my severe hypertension also doesn’t warrant PIP.
I really don’t know what to do as I’m struggling in my own, not just financially but also physically.
I dknow someone posted surely my partners good income can fund everything but unfortunayely when you live in an area where even a small 3 bed house to rent is between £900 and £1300 a month and council tax around £180 a month plus all the other bills and as I stated he has his own debts from a previous relationship and I have my debts his salary doesn’t cover it all, no way near.
Yes I want to return to work ASAP but I can’t help it that I’m not fit to work, I have been walking around with blood pressure over 200 and warned by the hospital and gp if I don’t rest (not to go out to work) then I am at risk of a stroke or heart attack until they get me on a medication that will work.