Benefits claim messed up.

angie12

Hi

I'm sorry this post is long. But, I'm at my wits end with it all.

My partner got laid off from work in Dec 2006. I was already on DLA middle rate from 2004. I also received Incapacity (Credits Only) since 2001.

He signed on jobseekers via the phone and an appointment was made in early Jan. We also filled out the insurance claim forms on our secured loans and sent them off. I didn't go with him to the job centre as I was not too well and he was only signing on.

He came home with forms for I/S for ME to fill in and a Carers Allowance for him to fill. He said he'd been told that because I had IB credits only, it was "too complicated" so, they said it was better and easier if I claimed I/S for him. This action caused us to be refused the insurance claim, worth over £1200 on our loans as he had to be on jobseekers to be able to claim.I asked them for letters to explain to the insurance company the reason why they had changed the claim and was told "they don't do letters like that."

Next, after several muddling phone calls to the DWP, I was informed they had not known he claimed C/A. I pointed out that the local job centre had given him the form and the C/A form could prove it. The woman suddenly found "a little note" and told me not to worry about it. They would just stop the over payment.
I later got a letter that said we had been overpaid by £900 and they want it back. (I've appealed.)

Last week, after realising we're not managing on benefits my partner went to Job centre to get a "Better off in work calculation" to see if he should go back to work part time. They wouldn't give him one. After many phone calls and getting sent from pillar to post, promised the manager himself would call me, I recieved a call from a woman at the pathways to work office. She said she had been assigned to deal with my case, but she has nothing to do with our claim. It seems they can't deal with O/H, because I have no documents with his name on that prove he's on benefits, There is only the word "Couple" on the I/S award notice in my name only.

We have an appointment now for me only on pathways to work, despite the fact that I am not the one thinking of returning to work. They said he can come too, but only as my partner.They said this is the only way they can do us a better off, calculation.
They apologised for the fact that someone has made a mistake but, added that it's "too late to do anything about it." I now believe that he would also not be entitled to the new deal back to work bonus' worth £40 per week because of this. The whole thing stinks.

I feel we have lost enough money through them messing us about already.

Any benefit experts out there. My head is hammered with all the stress they've caused us.
Thanks in advance.

Angie

mouseymousey99

Hello Angie - Firstly and foremost here I am no expert. I've had a read through this and if I'm right ? You are claiming joint Income support with your name as the lead? Usually if you have a joint claim they can access it by you or your partners National Insurance Number?
I think you are saying you could have got more if your partner was looking for work? Its pretty complicated and perhaps one that you really do need to sort out face to face (taking all your paperwork with you).
I'm sorry but I dont understand where the £900 comes in - overpaid where?
I noticed you had no replies so I don't want to leave you with nothing but I'm struggling here - what is it you would like help with??
best wishes

glossgal

sorry, am finding your post a little confusing because I can't make out what you're claiming and what you aren't but just a few observations:

If your partner claimed just JSA then you wouldn't have a carer premium included in with the income support calculation which I assume you have now? this will actually make you approx £30 pw better off. By claiming Carers Allowance instead of JSA (if this is what's happened) your partner is less likely to get hassled for interviews and the like but can still seek work without the pressure.

Re: better off calculations, if you're unhappy with the info given by DWP you really need to get independant advice from CAB or similar. DWP advisors are in the main pretty clueless with anything other than administration and it sounds like you have just done as you were told which isn't your fault-but if you're being told not to claim something you need to demand an explanation or get some outside help.

angie12

mouseymousey99 wrote: »

Hello Angie - Firstly and foremost here I am no expert. I've had a read through this and if I'm right ? You are claiming joint Income support with your name as the lead? Usually if you have a joint claim they can access it by you or your partners National Insurance Number?
I think you are saying you could have got more if your partner was looking for work? Its pretty complicated and perhaps one that you really do need to sort out face to face (taking all your paperwork with you).
I'm sorry but I dont understand where the £900 comes in - overpaid where?
I noticed you had no replies so I don't want to leave you with nothing but I'm struggling here - what is it you would like help with??
best wishes

Hi Mousey.

Thank you for replying. We get income support £95 and £27 something a week premium, C/A and DLA middle rate. We get £16 mortgage interest on a £316 p/m mortgage, due to re-mortgaging a few times.

The £900 overpayment happened because we were getting £20 odd, Carer money in with the I/S. We didn't know we shouldn't have as we had been given the C/A form to fill in and send off ourselves, which we did.

My question was meant to be, Will O/H get the New Deal money if he goes back to work, like everybody else does?

The claim only has my name on it. The woman asked me if I had any paperwork at all from them with his name on it and I haven't. She said I'm on IB, and because his name is not on it, he can not go to New Deal and that a mistake had been made, but, it's too late now, but, he gets C/A for me and I thought that would count for him to qualify for New Deal.

I'm muddled up myself and all I get off them is "it's complicated" I have an appointment Thursday, so, I might find out then.

I was really stressed out yesterday, hence, the frantic post. I've calmed down a bit today. Thanks again for taking the time to answer.
Angie

mouseymousey99

Hi Angie - No problem, we've all been there. I hope you get sorted on Thursday. Best
M

ALIBOBSY

The dwp usually advise couples where one is "disabled" for want of a better term to claim is rather than jsa. It is alot of extra work and delay to process the jsa claim and usually involves the full deletion of the incapacity account which mostly adds at least a week to the processing time. However they can be processed and you can claim that way round if you wish.
The problems are because the computer system is still based on the orginal system from the late eighties, these cases quite often "fault" so you end up having to do manual calculations and payments for months.
Defo appeal against the overpayment and I would also complain to the insurance companies, you should only have to be unemployed not on a benefit to qualify. If they don't agree ask for their final response and send off your complaint to the ombudsman.
good luck
ali x

ALIBOBSY

BTW as far as I am aware the new deal money is only payable to someone signing on and getting JSA, but double check this with the job centre as I am not 100 per cent sure.
ali x

angie12

Hi Mousey.

Thank for the replies. I finally get it now. you can't be on I/S & C/A and get on new Deal. I don't know why they didn't just tell me that in the first place.
I thought they had made a mistake with our claim, (Not the money part) Thanks again.

hi Ali.

Thank you also for the reply. We did complain to the Omnibusman, and he declined our case. It was a clause that he had to be signing on jobseekers to qualify.Unfortunately, we had not read the policy properly. We are wise to it all now, thanks to this site. We try to make sure our family don't make the same mistakes as we did. In fact, saved my son £300 on his insurance just last week.

We have appealed against the over payment as it was not our fault. We know nothing at all about benefits as he has worked continuously apart from a short spell in the 80's when it all seemed much simpler.

It's great to be able to get help on here. I'm not very good at taking in information and keeping it in. O/H is useless and just passes the stress onto me.
Anyway,thank you. you have both saved me from making a fool of myself on thursday.
Angie

mouseymousey99

Good luck for Thursday & let us know how you get on!
Mx

angie12

mouseymousey99 wrote: »

Good luck for Thursday & let us know how you get on!
Mx

Hi Mousey

I will.

Angie

angie12

Hi

A quick update on the meeting with adviser this am. The poor lad didn't have a clue. He obviously assumed it was for me. When we told him what the situation was, he tried to do us a better off calculation but, he admitted it wasn't bang-on because of awkwardness of our claim. So, in other words he thinks we will be about £50 a week better off, but, he can't say for certain.

We can't be any worse off than we are now, so, o/h will just have to get a p/t job and see how it goes.

Thanks for you help

Angie