Overpayments

Ellabella2020

Hello

 am new to thhe forum so I amnot sure in which bit to post.
 am hoping someone can help point me in the right direction.
any years ago my relationship ended , 2008, we did try again the follwing year but sadly it did not work out. wever, we remained good friends and still are.
now my problem is  have recieved a bill for £17,500 thry state  claimed a benfit as a single parent when I was not. t this time I did not know the full amount. heey stopped the benefit which put me and the children in poverty, an awaful lot of debt. we were lucky in the fact that my ex husband let us remain in the house as it was in his name . he paid the intrest only for 3 years as a form of child maintanance.
When we orginally broke up in 2008  I had my own buisness and coudl manage I did not claim. The follwing year I no longer had the buisness. osrry about the long post but I need to give as much detail as possible from what I can remeber. 
dwp say recently sent me a etter with the £17.500 debt and have done a an attacments of earnings.  whopping £70 a week. we are struggling as it is. 

You may wonder where this is going. I was fully entitled to that benefit. My marriage had broken down. Because he was on my car insurance  and his bank details were to the house they stated that I must still be living with him. Not so. I sent them the bills for his flat. I asked them to do a home visit or take me to court all of which they refused. 
I had a new partner not long after, bit of a bad boy but i m sure most of us have done that at some point. Their are plenty police reports astheir were charges against him as he comited an offence in my home . Prior to this prison visits. My work colleagues, neighbours, my children , in laws all saw him. My husband definatley saw him, he was not happy.
I did not live with him. 
I don't know where to turn to , I have BIpolar and it is triggering depressive epsodes which is not helping me , I keep procastinating. I ve looked all over the net . I will be honest and hope one of the site managers picks this up or directs me. 
I did my ex husbands banking for a further 8 years aas he is not that good with tech , and he was stil on my car insurance till 2020. I met a new partner after being single for 10 years.
I have done nothing wrong but am being jusged and penalised for staying friends with my fathers children.
Where do I turn to DWP have been totally unhelpful. 
Can anyone please help. RThis stems back from 2009. Last time I heard anything was 2014. As far as I was concerned it was done and dusted.
Please help

HillStreetBlues

The trouble you have is the DWP is a law unto itself.

If the DWP was totally sure of their position you could have been charged with fraud,  but that would mean you would have been able to defend yourself in court.
If this "debt" was will anyone else,  you would also get the chance to contest the debt in court.

But with attachment to earning, or a deduction from a benefit the DWP are allowed to circumvent the normal procedures.
They are allowed to act  as judge, jury and executioner  by bypassing the normal courts process.

Have you tried contacting your local MP about the issue?
  

Ellabella2020

Hi thank you for your reply. No I have not tried that. Yes, I have seen them taking people to court for far less. It kinda makes you think they are not totaly 100% sure. as you say it would be fraud. They are very unpleasent on the phone which just adds to the distress. I did think about the Finacial odbusman bit I dont know if they cover things like this.

born_again

Ellabella2020 said:

Hi thank you for your reply. No I have not tried that. Yes, I have seen them taking people to court for far less. It kinda makes you think they are not totaly 100% sure. as you say it would be fraud. They are very unpleasent on the phone which just adds to the distress. I did think about the Finacial odbusman bit I dont know if they cover things like this.

No their remit is only the financial services sector.
They do not cover anything to do with benefits.

Ellabella2020

Yeh I went I looked through the site. n did discover though that That DWP don't generally collect after 6 years unless there is expectional  circumstances. What they are I don''t know.. I amn going to face them again on mMonday as unnlesent as it is. They are generaly quite rude.

poppy12345

Ellabella2020 said:

Yeh I went I looked through the site. n did discover though that That DWP don't generally collect after 6 years unless there is expectional  circumstances.

No idea where you got that from but it's not correct. An overpayment can be recovered however long it's been.

tomtom256

You would need to request a mandatory reconsideration and then an appeal if they didn't change the decision.
It's the same process for pretty much every benefit decision.

Your disallowance and overpayment letters tell you this.

Re-reading OP not sure this a recent decision?

peteuk

Ellabella2020 said:

Yeh I went I looked through the site. n did discover though that That DWP don't generally collect after 6 years unless there is expectional  circumstances. What they are I don''t know.. I amn going to face them again on mMonday as unnlesent as it is. They are generaly quite rude.

Not sure which site this is but they are clawing back an overpayment from 2009/10.  Split in two (now rejoined) but started chasing the wife in December, 13+ yrs later.