Pension credit possible overpay family member. ment deceased

Matt_73

Hi Everyone, 
Could do with some input pls. 

Before I start, could I pls just say if the DWP are owed any overpayments of course it will be paid back........ 

My Father in law is 84, very confused and stresses out. He lost his sister in August last year, is the executor to her will, couldn't cope so I sorted everything out.
Just when I thought everything was sorted out, BANG a letter from the DWP arrived about possible pension credit overpayments and we have been asked to supply them a single statement for the Halifax and Post Office accounts that she had from 2007, the exact same date in 2012 and all statements from the exact same date from 2017 until the day she died in 2019.
After research and finding paperwork I know she had AIP from the date of the statemets the DWP have asked for in 2007 until 2012 and 2012 until 2017. She had just under the £10000 limit in 2007 and just over the £10000 limit 2012.
She became very ill in 2017 with her dementia and lots of money built up from then until she passed, but upon reading on the Internet if a person was over 75 in 2016 they were given indefinate AIP's? But if this isn't the case then of course overpayments will be paid back BUT how the hell is an elderly person supposed to notify changes in savings etc as you would be on the phone every week when bills etc go out and pension etc go in to accounts. 
THE OTHER THING AND I REALLY DIDN'T LIKE, IS THE ALMOST THREATENING WAY THE DWP LETTER TELLS MY FATHER IN LAW NOT TO DISTRIBUTE THE MONEY. HE HAS ALREADY DONE THIS AS PROBATE WAS GRANTED AT THE END OF NOVEMBER, WE GOT THE CERTIFICATE MID DECEMBER, THE WAS DISTRIBUTED BEFORE CHRISTMAS AND WE RECEIVED THE LETTER FROM THE TALKED ABOUT FROM THE DWP END OF JANUARY. 

Thanks in advance for any input m/advice. 
Matt

Matt_73

Sorry, don't know how to edit the title which has mistakes👍

Alice_Holt

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/848669/benefit-overpayment-recovery-guide.pdf

May be helpful to you.   Chapter 7 applies.
Para 7.23 in particular.

My inclination would be to frame a response to the DWP setting out the history, giving them any information you have, and answering their questions as fully as you can.
Ask them in the light that "My Father in law is 84, very confused and stresses out. He lost his sister in August last year, is the executor to her will, couldn't cope....", that discretion is used, etc, etc.
Ask the DWP about any AIPs that applied. (Note that £10k in savings does not stop PC being paid, just that tariff income is applied).
Copy your (carefully worded and reasonable letter) to your MP, fully explain the distress this is causing your FIL and ask them to intervene with the DWP to minimise any further distress.  

calcotti

I'm not clear what your question is. All you can do is supply the information they have requested and they will assess whether or not there has been any overpayment.
The letter advising that the estate should not be distributed until the DWP have carried out their checks is not meant to be threatening. It is simple advice - unfortunately in this case it appears to have come too late.

Matt_73

calcotti said:

I'm not clear what your question is. All you can do is supply the information they have requested and they will assess whether or not there has been any overpayment.
The letter advising that the estate should not be distributed until the DWP have carried out their checks is not meant to be threatening. It is simple advice - unfortunately in this case it appears to have come too late.

Calcotti, I suppose I didn't word it clearly.  I have gained all the statements via the post office and Halifax and will send them off with a detailed reply. One of the things I really needed advice on was if AIP's were made indefinate as of 2016 if a person was over 75?
As said in my original post we have no problem if anything is owed. 
My Father in law had a letter from the DWP the week before the letter we're talking about,  asking when his sister was placed in a care home, this really, really upset him as they had completely misspelled his sisters name and she was placed in a specialist care home by the hospital for end of life and palliative care as she also had terminal cancer. They wanted to know when all this happened and they had been told this all by us when she first went into hospital at the start of the summer last year as she was in receipt of attendance allowance, they had also been notified by us within days of her passing.
To be honest to send a letter to a nearly 85 year old man which does state he could be liable so not to distribute the money, six weeks after this has been done and two months after probate was granted is something that should be handled more sensitively. Could you image the stress of opening and seeing such at nearly 85 a week after he received the misspelled name letter, could finish a little humble old man who has also lost his wife, twin brother and other sister in the last couple of years.

Not having a go at you Calcotti. The DWP have the sensitivity of a falling tonne of bricks👍

calcotti

I found this https://www.entitledto.co.uk/help/assessed-income-period but it isn't definite if all 75 year olds got an indefinite AIP in 2016. This https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-credit/pension-credit-extra-information#assessed-income-periods-aips is similarly unclear. Similarly here https://www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/fs48_pension_credit_fcs.pdf (page 21). All I can find is that someone over 75 may have an indefinite AIP. I think the only way to confirm is by looking through paperwork - which obviously may not be available.

I don't disagree about the impact of these letters and the distress they may cause (even without errors) .

You may find this interesting https://www.hughjames.com/blog/dwp-claims-against-estates

TELLIT01

DWP saying not to distribute is not intended to be threatening, it is intended to avoid monies being distributed and then leaving the executor with a potentially large bill.  As the letter has only been received some time after probate was received, it's not unreasonable that monies have been distributed in this instance.

calcotti

This document indicates that the AIP would have been indefinite if the claimant was 75 when an AIP was last set https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/401536/pension-c_redit-additional-amounts-and_aips-may-2014.pdf
As far as I can tell an indefinite AIP will only exist if it was awarded prior to 6th April 2016 but it doesn't follow that everyone who was 75 at that date will have one.

My suspicion is that if you have identified a 5 year AIP running from 2012 to 2017, as your post appears to indicate, then there would have not been an indefinite AIP in place. It appears likely that the 5 year AIP would simply have come to an end in 2017 and from that date no AIP would have been in place.

Found this House of Commons briefing - see link at bottom of this page https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN06677. I haven't read through it so I don't know but there may be some useful information in it.

Alice_Holt

"They wanted to know when all this happened and they had been told this all by us when she first went into hospital at the start of the summer last year as she was in receipt of attendance allowance,"
Did her AA stop after 28 days, when you told the DWP this?

"Going into hospital, residential care or a hospice

You or someone acting on your behalf should also tell the DWP (Disability and Carers Service in Northern Ireland) if you have been admitted to a hospital, a care home or a hospice, as this may affect your benefit.

Going into hospital

Attendance Allowance is not payable after the first 28 days in hospital.

Going into a care home

Attendance Allowance is not payable after the first 28 days in a care home, unless you are completely self-funding.

Special rules apply if your council or trust is temporarily funding your stay in a care home while you sell your former home. Seek advice if you are in this situation."
https://www.carersuk.org/help-and-advice/financial-support/help-with-benefits/attendance-allowance

Are you being told by the DWP that there is an AA overpayment? 

calcotti

Adding to what Alice posted, for the avoidance of doubt AA remains payable if someone is in a hospice.

jonesMUFCforever

I have had history of the DWP doing this to me after a family member dies - they will not tell you that an AIP has been applied or not.
I was able to ask them this, after getting a lot of help from LegalBeagles - and a  lot of stress I did eventually get a letter that nothing was due.
I would not bother gathering information such as historic bank statements until they can PROVE that anything is due - if the AIP has been applied they can do NOTHING - as that states they do not need to contact the DWP to update their circumstances even if they had won the lottery.