whats happening 15 years on and they want money????

hooch68

can someone please help me

i have recived 2 letters today from the dwp, stating that i owe them money. when i phoned them up i said that i have been employed for 14 years and have not claimed for anything, they said that i took a social fund loan out in january 1994 and august 1993 and never paid it back. (dont know if its just me but i dont keep paper work that long) when talking to her she said that i paid back some of it then got a job and never finished paying it of (still cant remember) and it is down to me to prove that i dont owe it, and not down to them to prove that i do owe it.
now when i asked for the full amount she said £391 pound is what i owe, then she said oh no £80 of that has been put on ice because a young person has made a mistake in the office and i dont owe that amount it's now £311 still arguing that they had only given me till the 27/2/08 (2 days to pay) she also said that was a mistake and that the letters had been done a long time ago and that its not her fault about the post, i told her the letter was dated 20/2/08. what the hell is going on. is the government in that much debt??????????

so what i would like to know has this happened to anybody else and also DO I HAVE TO PAY THIS AMOUNT BACK AS IT IS SO OLD AND THAT I CANT EVEN REMBER THE DAMN THING.

hooch68

i cant remember it was so long ago i think a fiver came out of my social a week, but i thought i had paid it all back.

fermi

Even if you do owe it there is not much they can do. The debt is "Statute Barred" under the Limitation Act 1980 which means they can't go to court to recover the money and can only ask nicely.

See: Factsheet | Liability for Debts and the Limitation Act

Benefit Overpayments & Social Fund Loans

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has six years to take action through the courts to recover benefit overpayments and social fund loans. This time starts running from the date of the final decision made on the overpayment and from when the social fund loan was due to be paid. But the DWP are still allowed to make deductions from your benefit for a debt over six years old as they don't need to go to court to do this. This applies to overpayments of benefit such as Income Support, Jobseeker's Allowance, Pension Credit, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit and paying back social fund loans.

choclover

My Fiance also received a letter from DWP today stating he owed £192 from a crisis loan he took out. He's been working for at least 12 years, so he can't understand why they haven't contacted him before now. The letter also said that he had until today to pay - nice to have some notice, especially when they've been sitting on it for 12 years! My Fiance can't remember even taking out the loan, but according to DWP he signed for it. Surely they can't expect people to pay when they can't even produce a statement for when the money was taken and for how much, especially given the length of time we're talking here?

hooch68

fermi wrote: »

Even if you do owe it there is not much they can do. The debt is "Statute Barred" under the Limitation Act 1980 which means they can't go to court to recover the money and can only ask nicely.

See: Factsheet | Liability for Debts and the Limitation Act

but does that count for a government loan, the woman said it's a government loan there is no time limit if you owe the government you pay no matter how old the loan.

fermi

hooch68 wrote: »

but does that count for a government loan, the woman said it's a government loan there is no time limit if you owe the government you pay no matter how old the loan.

The Limitation act does not "write off" debts, so in that they are correct.

The Limitation Act governs how long they have to take action through the courts to recover the debt.

The debt is still owed. But all they can do is ask you nicely to pay it back or in some cases deduct it from from continuing benefits.

Letters which say "you must pay within so many days or else" don't mean anything since there isn't anything "else" they can do.

fermi

Check with National Debtline - Tel: 0808 808 4000 if you aren't sure.

They were confident enough to put in the factsheet on their website:

Benefit Overpayments & Social Fund Loans

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has six years to take action through the courts to recover benefit overpayments and social fund loans. This time starts running from the date of the final decision made on the overpayment and from when the social fund loan was due to be paid. But the DWP are still allowed to make deductions from your benefit for a debt over six years old as they don't need to go to court to do this. This applies to overpayments of benefit such as Income Support, Jobseeker's Allowance, Pension Credit, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit and paying back social fund loans.