Universal Credit Nightmare

lynz1981

Last August after a temporary job ended a week later I registered for Universal Credit which is job seekers but let's just say not as good. They don't expect you to attend the job centre and sign for your money or check up to see if you have been job hunting in fact they are terrible and provide you with little information. Anyway, during the first month I attended the dentist for a check up unknowingly that I was doing this illegally as due to money in arrears from my last job. The job centre failed to inform me that this would effect my claim and only made me aware at the end of the month when I questioned them. This caused me to get a dental fine BUT I wasn't in the country at the time because I cancelled at the end of September over the phone so by the time I got back they also sent me another letter December with the fine increasing.
Having spoken to University Credit over the phone they also stated that they have been paying me still and it never got cancelled. So now I owe them money back from October - December and they said it was because I didn't write I cancelled it in my journal. I am literally going out of my mind and I don't want these problems lingering especially when I live abroad. :(

TELLIT01

You did not attend the dentist illegally, you claimed for free dental treatment before you had a valid qualifying benefit in payment. Because of that you have received the fine. Didn't you notice that you had more money in your account than you should have?

Are you currently living in the UK? If not how did you know about the fine?

lynz1981

No why would I notice? I was living in Spain I knew my bank account amount and my movements. I obviously knew I was due payment from a previous job early/mid august but I wasn't aware that this would affect my claim or result in receiving a fine during that month because it's all changed, now it's Universal Credit and nobody told me this until afterwards when I had already been to the dentist. The job centre should have informed me of this to begin with until leaving it a month too late.

poppy12345

lynz1981 wrote: »

No why would I notice? I was living in Spain I knew my bank account amount and my movements. I obviously knew I was due payment from a previous job early/mid august but I wasn't aware that this would affect my claim or result in receiving a fine during that month because it's all changed, now it's Universal Credit and nobody told me this until afterwards when I had already been to the dentist. The job centre should have informed me of this to begin with until leaving it a month too late.

It's your responsibility to make sure you know whether or not your treatment is free, not the job centre or anyone else.

[Deleted User]

If you'd have read the declaration before signing you should have seenyou were not eligible.

pmduk

_shel wrote: »

If you'd have read the declaration before signing you should have seenyou were not eligible.

That just spoils the illusion that it is all someone else's fault.