DWP Universal Credit Pay-Your-Debt Letter

JJC1956

GouldS1952 said:

I have now filed a Mandatory Reconsideration and wait to see if it is accepted.
I have probably been a little naive in my dealings with UC so thanks to everyone for their advice and comments, much appreciated

I had to attend a DWP appointment this morning, during our conversation one of the managers told me that the DWP staff have now been told to chase up any possible fraudulent claims, this is nationwide, there are probably thousands of letters been sent all over the country, hopefully you will get an interview to explain your circumstances. Personally I think your claim has been mismanaged from day 1 by UC.
Good Luck

NedS

JJC1956 said:

 Personally I think your claim has been mismanaged from day 1 by UC.

Technically, DWP do not manage your claim - you do. DWP can only advise and support you in managing your claim; it is your data and your responsibility. It's the same concept as your online bank account (or any other online service) - the bank isn't responsible for making sure your information is correct.

JJC1956

NedS said:

JJC1956 said:

 Personally I think your claim has been mismanaged from day 1 by UC.

Technically, DWP do not manage your claim - you do. DWP can only advice and support you in managing your claim, but it is your data and your responsibility. It's the same concept as your online bank account (or any other online service) - the bank isn't responsible for making sure your information is correct.

Ok, misadvised 

JJC1956

GouldS1952 said:

I recently received a letter to Pay-My-Debt from the Debt Centre Trafford. I thought at first it was a hoax/scam before I realised it was genuine So Why are my universal credits considered a debt I have to repay?

I have received NO explanation why I am expected to repay universal credit payments received between May 2020 and July 2021. I have NOT claimed or received any benefits since July 2021

I finished my PAYE employment on 29th Feb 2020 and started my Self Employment 3rd Mar 2020.I received a UTR registration with HMRC and have completed self assessments for both 2019-20 and 2020-21. My HMRC Self Assessment return for 2019-20 (effectively Only March) showed a Loss = -£602.08

My business is providing Beauty Treatments, and for business purposes I was using room hire at a hair Salon.

I am single living at home with my parents and had NO other income during Covid Lockdown.

I was in operation for just 17 days before the Covid Lockdown and therefore with NO other income I applied for Universal Credit and received my 1st Payment in May 2020. 

My business re-started on 27th July 2020 but further interruptions occurred with the October 'firebreak', a period of Self-Isolation in November, then the Xmas lockdown.  I received occasional calls from a UC advisor to ask what expenses I was having. Also my landlord was demanding I paid Rent during lockdown, so in October 2020 I moved premises..

Total INCOME from Self-Employment 2020-21 was therefore confined to the period July-December 2020 ONLY.

I Filed a HMRC Self Assessment return for 2020-1 which  showed an annual profit of  £1560.88 which averages out at £30 per week to live on.

I re-started business on 10th April 2021 and as my income gradually increased, the last UC payment I received was in July 2021

I believe I received a missed call from UC around mid-July 2021 that I unsuccessfully tried to reply to, but as

I no longer required benefits, received no further calls and was therefore never advised to report any income or expenditure after July.

 I then received the letter from Debt Centre on 8th Oct and rang them on 11th Oct but they would not explain why as they only issue the letters.

I then contacted DWP/UC on 11th Oct who arranged for someone to ring me but I was with a client and missed the call. I rang UC again who promised me a call by 20th Oct but have failed to receive one since.

Why is Contacting UC worse than pulling teeth, if you miss or don’t get the call they NEVER follow it up. The letter also threatens that if I don’t reply by 6th Nov they will employ a debt agency to collect the money owed !!!

 I am finding this whole process very frustrating and distressing, so can anyone advise.

There are a number of similar cases to yours in the national newspapers, somebody has advised them to ring the ‘Debt Management Team’ on 0800 916 064
Good Luck

GouldS1952

Debt Centre would not provide any help and UC have promised to call but havem't bothered.
I have now been to Local Jobcentre about UC not contacting me or UC providing evidence thereof because they had suspended my online journal access.
A manager at the Jobcentre has now taken 'Proof of Identity' from me, and I have been told that if it is acceptable I should be contacted within the next 30 days ito see if the debt is written off.
I will hold my breath to see if they keep that promise !?!?

JJC1956

GouldS1952 said:

Debt Centre would not provide any help and UC have promised to call but havem't bothered.
I have now been to Local Jobcentre about UC not contacting me or UC providing evidence thereof because they had suspended my online journal access.
A manager at the Jobcentre has now taken 'Proof of Identity' from me, and I have been told that if it is acceptable I should be contacted within the next 30 days ito see if the debt is written off.
I will hold my breath to see if they keep that promise !?!?

Hopefully you told them that ‘Debt Collectors will be employed on 6th Nov’ otherwise you will also be paying their fees.

Let’s face it, these people DO NOT talk to each other, they DO NOT answer questions you send them in your journal, they DO hide behind the smokescreen that they set-up, a lot of them still work from home with no direct access to managers. I could go on and on, I have been dealing with them since March last year, some have a reasonable idea what they are talking about but they are the ones you can’t contact when you walk out of the door of the Job Centre, most of them are clueless, myself and my girlfriend have been called in on more than one occasion to discuss the RESTART scheme even though it states quite clearly on our journals that UC won’t let us as we are self employed. Our shortest meeting lasted exactly 3 minutes. 
Good Luck but you need to keep chasing them as you are just a number in the broken system, don’t think for one minute that someone is looking after your interests, they are not, sorry to be blunt.
PS Did you take the name of the manager that told you you would be contacted in 30 days?

seatbeltnoob

Surely there must be someone at dwp/jobcentre to re-review this and verify the ID and quash this debt.