DWP overpayment 16k

doxiemum

Hi all. Sorry if this will be a bit long….
last year (February) my OH got called in for an interview under caution. We didn’t know at the time why. When we retired in October 24, we were told to apply for pension credit. Which we did and everything went down on the form. Previously to this my OH claimed ESA (IR) and I claimed ESA(contribution).
Now at the time of claiming these  ESAs I had a NHS pension due to early retirement from ill health. Since we couldn’t at the time get thru by phone, after an 90 minute wait,we decided to send info by mail. 

Since we heard nothing, we came to the conclusion that that it was all sorted and all was ok…
Now, at that interview last Feb it seems my OH was over paid  from 2014.
Also in 2023 my OH received a small pension from FAS which couldn’t be deferred until official state pension age. On this occasion we didn’t forget to inform DWP. So yes we are accountable for that. 

We are now approaching our 70s and this is a big worry . My OH has multiple morbidity issues and I am recovering from kidney cancer  care
What is your advice please?

toomuchinfo

You will have to pay the overpayment back but will be able to agree a payment plan with DWP.

doxiemum

My OH will probably no longer here to pay it all back. We have very little excess to pay with …

M25

You'll need to give them all the facts and start paying back what you shouldn't have been claiming for.

If you're struggling to do that get someone to act on your behalf.

I don't know how understanding they'll be but if they know the health issues they'll be in a better position to determine how they handle the situation.

powerspowers

I think getting someone to act on your behalf would be useful. Have a look at https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/benefits/problems-with-benefits/where-to-get-help-and-advice-about-benefits

gbhxu

Seems like you need help from Citizens Advice 

Seems like the DWP failed to review your situation at various times.

I managed to get my Father off having to pay back about £14K because of their failure to review his PC 

sammyjammy

gbhxu said:

Seems like you need help from Citizens Advice 

Seems like the DWP failed to review your situation at various times.

I managed to get my Father off having to pay back about £14K because of their failure to review his PC 

Thats very interesting as customers have responsibilities too!

Spoonie_Turtle

sammyjammy said:

gbhxu said:

Seems like you need help from Citizens Advice 

Seems like the DWP failed to review your situation at various times.

I managed to get my Father off having to pay back about £14K because of their failure to review his PC 

Thats very interesting as customers have responsibilities too!

They do but we know nothing of the situation referred to there - if the commenter's father gave them all the information and DWP failed to act on it, for instance, that would be official error rather than claimant error.

gbhxu

Spoonie_Turtle said:

sammyjammy said:

gbhxu said:

Seems like you need help from Citizens Advice 

Seems like the DWP failed to review your situation at various times.

I managed to get my Father off having to pay back about £14K because of their failure to review his PC 

Thats very interesting as customers have responsibilities too!

They do but we know nothing of the situation referred to there - if the commenter's father gave them all the information and DWP failed to act on it, for instance, that would be official error rather than claimant error.

Yes, everything was reported to the DWP.

The judge at the tribunal wasn't happy that the DWP failed to send a representative.

The DWP even admitted in a letter they sent my Father that they should have reviewed his situation on 4 separate times but they didn't