UC review - 4 months statement. Help!

marsrover

Auti said:

I think you will need to contact via journal and tell them exactly when and what your change in circumstances was regards housing benefit. Ensure the housing benefit is stopped straight away. 

Also explain about your mental health conditions and they may not add a fine. You will need to work out a payment plan to repay the money you were not entitled to.

Do it now because it will not go away and if you contact them and tell them it will be less stressful for you in the long run. They are not allowed to take all your money to repay debt only a percentage.

Take care - you will get through it.

Thank you for your understanding nature in your reply. That's very reassuring and I will tell them right away. Thank you. 

teaselMay

Be honest with them now, straight away today.

Don't panic.

You will have to pay back what you weren't entitled to, but it's at something like 15% of the basic entitlement each month (Google you'll find it)

Muttleythefrog

Agree with above... be open and honest and swift and get the matter resolved. It won't help your mental health at all to have the matter hanging over your head and it could lead to simply bigger issues. I would mention you are having significant mental health problems and dealing with a lot of changes and, if true, that are causing you difficulties and administratively you've struggled but are happy to repay any overpayment of benefits.

TELLIT01

marsrover said:

huckster said:

Review will proceed, as part of the current UC process. The review is now an ongoing process and anyone on UC can be expected to provide documents requires at any stage of their claims.

So what happens if I don't give them the statements? I take it they'll just stop my payments and that'll be that?

How can the review proceed if I close my claim and take myself off UC?

In which circumstances will the review proceed? In all that I have mentioned?

Thanks 

I don't see how closing the claim will help, as they will just request the information again in order to process the new claim.  Attempting to hide funds is fraud, plain and simple.  DWP now has the power to investigate all financial interests of a claimant/past claimant if they suspect fraud.

The obvious assumption from the desperation to hide bank information is that fraud may already be being committed.  That may or may not be the case, but will almost certainly be flagged as a possibility.

peteuk

TELLIT01 said:

marsrover said:

huckster said:

Review will proceed, as part of the current UC process. The review is now an ongoing process and anyone on UC can be expected to provide documents requires at any stage of their claims.

So what happens if I don't give them the statements? I take it they'll just stop my payments and that'll be that?

How can the review proceed if I close my claim and take myself off UC?

In which circumstances will the review proceed? In all that I have mentioned?

Thanks 

I don't see how closing the claim will help, as they will just request the information again in order to process the new claim.  Attempting to hide funds is fraud, plain and simple.  DWP now has the power to investigate all financial interests of a claimant/past claimant if they suspect fraud.

The obvious assumption from the desperation to hide bank information is that fraud may already be being committed.  That may or may not be the case, but will almost certainly be flagged as a possibility.

I agree, closing the claim doesnt make the over payment go away, and would look less favourable on you should you take this course of action.  If you've got evidence of your notification to the council then use that to explain you thought you'd sorted it, but due to your health issue didn’t realise it didn’t.

When reviewing your finance they may well spot no rent payments and question where it is?  As mentioned you can ask for any over payment to be taken out of your UC over time, or if you get to the point of not claiming you can set up an agreement plan to pay it back at a set rate.

Tetra

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6578873/uc-review-4-months-statement-help

"Just before they did this I made a change in circumstances to make it clear I was moving in with my partner and therefore won't need the housing benefit portion of my UC. I also applied for carers allowance as I'll be taking care of my partner as well. Will any of this stop the UC review?"

No (unless perhaps you know of some reason why it should).

"My question is, will making a change in circumstances stop the UC review (the DWP guy on the phone couldn't answer anything about this as he'd not encountered this circumstance before)?"

No (unless, again, perhaps you know of some reason why it should).

In general, (A) Dishonest representations for obtaining benefit etc., is an indictable offence, which means they can prosecute people they suspect are guilty of it until the day they die.

(B) False representations for obtaining benefit etc., is a summary offence, which means they must begin any prosecution within six months of the offence.

Although there is doubtless more to it than this, the main difference between A and B is with A the DWP must prove you knew, while B might arise from an error because you were not sufficiently careful.

"Secondly, if I close my account will this also stop the review of my bank statements and stop them asking for them?"

No, but if they suspect of you B they must start the prosecution within six months.

"I could realistically close my account, but I don't want to have to show the last 4 months of my bank statements."

You might, but the DWP might ask you about it and then you must furnish all the relevant information the DWP (reasonably) requires. The fact that someone holds or held a particular British bank account is public knowledge nowadays (inter alia for consumer credit referencing), so you risk the DWP checking.

"Does anyone know anything about this?"

Yes, I do. Your questions are fairly basic.

Tetra

"So what happens if I don't give them the statements?

You may cause suspicions. The DWP has a right to certain information direct from your bank.

As you are obliged to copy these statements to the DWP, DWP staff may conclude that you have not provided them with all then information and documentation they reasonably required, and suspent UC payments.

This does not mean the DWP can require you to repay UC. They may only require you to repay UC if they are satisfied that you were not entitled to it at the time.

In its document Suspending Universal Credit: Guidance the DWP says

"Suspension can lead to the end of entitlement, but it cannot be used on its own to close a Universal Credit claim. Also, Universal Credit cannot be partially suspended. Where a suspension is appropriate, this will apply to the whole award.

"Before a decision to suspend is made, evidence from the claim must be considered to decide if a suspension would place the claimant in hardship.

"Where the claimant is required to provide evidence to support their ongoing claim, it cannot be suspended until the time limit for supplying the evidence has ended. See the evidence verification guidance for the new claim or a change of circumstances time limits. Once a suspension has been imposed, the claimant has 1 calendar month to provide the required information or evidence. If they fail to do so, the claim is closed 1 calendar month plus 1 day from the date of the suspension."

"I take it they'll just stop my payments and that'll be that?

On the contrary, not giving them the statements may cause the DWP to suspect you.

"How can the review proceed if I close my claim and take myself off UC?"

In the same way.

"In which circumstances will the review proceed? In all that I have mentioned?"

DWP staff may, if they decide it is the right thing to do, continue with the review.

Tetra

"So I'd definitely need to provide the same statements if I closed down my claim and then opened a new one to join my partner, even if time has elapsed?"

Yes.

The DWP might look at the information you give them for the new claim and wonder if the information you gave them for the previous claim was accurate.

"No snarky remarks or judgement please. I'm asking genuine questions for advice. Anything else is irrelevant, including why anyone might think why I'm asking them."  

Exactly so, and we all make mistakes.

Tetra

"You have failed to comply with their request they can assume you are hiding savings and cancel your whole claim asking you to repay everything."

In general, that is not true, although DWP staff can ask whatever they like.
If one fails to provide all the information and documents DWP staff reasonably require, UC payments might stop, but to recover money from you, DWP staff must prove you were not entitled to it.

A lot of DWP staff don't bother with this, but if they decide there has been an overpayment, they must then decide if they are going to recover it from the claimant, and then how they are going to recover it from the claimant. At every stage, DWP staff are required to give the claimant an opportunity to respond and suggest they do something different.
If the claimant does not like the DWP staff decision on that, the claimant may and should appeal, stating perhaps that his or her actions were reasonable in the circumstances at the time and having to repay, in the way suggested, will create problems for him or her.

marcia_

this thread is more than a year old why drag it up now