DWP chasing debt over 6 years old!

Barry1108 · 16 April 2009 at 1:39PM

Hi,

I recently had a letter from the DWP stating that I owed £303, which I had no idea of. After phoning them, I found out it was from a Social Loan from 2002, which I took out when I was unemployed and have totally forgotten about.
The letter states that the debt will be passed to a private debt collecting agency unless I pay it.
As it is over 6 years old, is the debt still enforceable? Or is statute barred?
Any advice is much appreciated.
Thanks,
Barry

fermi · 16 April 2009 at 1:41PM

Link: Factsheet | Liability for Debts and the Limitation Act (England/Wales)

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.

beanielou · 16 April 2009 at 3:00PM

DWP CAN claim when dedt is over 6 years old.

fermi · 16 April 2009 at 3:03PM

beanielou wrote: »

DWP CAN claim when dedt is over 6 years old.

But if the debt is "statute barred" they cannot take you to court to recover it.

DavidA1 · 28 January 2011 at 3:06PM

Hi,

I have a similar problem to that listed above, and I would be grateful if anybody can help me out. I want to send a letter to the DWP, on behalf of my soon to be wife, asking them to write off an old debt which is over 6 years old, however there are debts which are only two years old which I can account for and which she is taking liability for and has arranged a payment plan through CCS Collect debt collectors of £35.75 on a debt which is £1114.24. I have looked all over the net and have found letters quoting the OFT and that the debt is is over 6 years old, please provide proof or I consider this matter closed etc. this appears to be more of a second letter then a first request, so I need some help on writing a first letter.

Brief

She received a letter on 20th January 2011 from CCSCollect.co.uk debt collectors stating "our client has tus to recover the full amount you owe This is a formal notice of intended court action. We may take action if you fail to pay the full amount within 7 days of this letter".

I was furious (at CCSCollect) and she was very upset as we did not have any clue what the debt was for, only it belonged to the DWP and that they were threatening court action without sending any correspondence previously. I got straight on the on the phone to ask them what is was for and a breakdown of costs.

I got this.

15th May 2004 - JSA - £110.75
17th Dec 2004 - JSA - £181.25

14th April 2009 - Crisis Loan -£12.24
25th April 2009 - Social Loan -£680.00
03rd August 09 - Crisis Loan - £60
18th August 09 - Crisis Loan - £70

Okay so we can account for the 2009 Debt because we both become unemployed during the start of the bank crash and that lasted a year, I know she received it and therefore we accept this debt and have arranged a payment plan of £35.75 per month through CCS in order to pay this, total accepted liability is £822.24.

she is disputing the debt on 15th May 2004 - JSA - £110.75 and 17th Dec 2004 - JSA - £181.25 as she can not remember receiving this and has changed and closed her bank account, so I can not check her bank statements. I have called the DWP and asked for the details to be sent, but they did not have the details on their system and had to request it from their warehouse which is over a month ago now. The debt is over 6 years old more near 7, I understand that after doing some research in other forums if found this -

Benefit Overpayments & Social Fund Loans

The Department of Work & Pensions (DWP) has 6 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 6 years old as they don’t need to go to court to do this. This applies to overpayments of benefits such as income support, job seekers allowance, pension credit, housing benefit, council tax benefit and paying back social fund loans.

so I would like to send them a letter stating as the debt is over 6 years old and she accepts liability of £822.24 (2009) of the £1114.24 and are making payments of £35.75 per month against it, I would ask that they write off the £292 relating to the 2004 debt. (based on the age and they no longer have the records on their system - even though they have included it in their debt. The first letter should be a request and the second should be a bit more forceful.

any other info please ask.

Many thanks for your help

DavidA1.

tonybur · 10 February 2011 at 10:01PM

I cant get my head around someone acknowledging that they owe money to another party, and at the time probably promised to pay it back whilst being greatfull for the money.

Then deciding that because noone remembered for 6 years, that it's no longer their problem and that they have an obligation to fight it and not pay it back?

Decency and pride would prevent me from not offering some sort of compromise if I accepted that I had used and benefited from money that was not my own

Just my two penneth... And yes I give it away for free ....for the first 5.5 years

BlueAngelCV · 10 February 2011 at 10:08PM

tonybur wrote: »

Decency and pride would prevent me from not offering some sort of compromise if I accepted that I had used and benefited from money that was not my own

And they are accepting liability for the debt that they are aware of. They are not aware of the 2004 debt and the DWP have not provided them any evidence of it.

DavidA1 · 16 February 2011 at 11:13AM

yes We are more unsure of the 2004 debt as it is an old debt, we were living down south (southampton) at the time and moved up North. The 2007 debt we are aware of, more so it is more recent and she does remember taking the money out. She is not the sort of person to take and run, and therefore she is willing to forefill her obligation for this debt.

The 2004 debt has been slammed into query as the debt is old, as we have moved 4 other times within the north after the move from the south, she has unfortunately misplaced the records, and has requested the ino to be sent by the DWP, to which non has turned up. With the terrible mistakes the DWP has made over the past few years, Im not sure I would trust them word for word. so based on the fact she has no knowledge of the 2004 debt, neither party can provide proof, she will accept liabilty of the £800 odd, but query the £200 odd, and this is what she would like to have W/off.

madassmax · 17 February 2011 at 8:08PM

Hi,

i too have a similar situation. I received a letter yesterday form the DWP yesterday informing me i owe them £300 and it being referred to their collections department.
I had no recollection of this so i called them today to see what it was about. The person that answered the phone was a bit clueless but did confirm it relates to a crisis loan i claimed back in Oct 2004 when i was briefly claiming benefits for a few months between jobs.
Apparantly i did pay £125 towards it in 2007, of which i have no recollection. I'm now awaiting some further information from them.
The whole thing is really strange, i questioned why it had suddenly been brought up six and a half years after the loan was issued and 4 years after a last payment...'these things lie dormant for a while until someone picks them up' was the answer.

I don't have any recolection of this loan and certainly won't have any documents relating to it after so long. I think there are going to be a lot of people getting these demands as the government tries to reclaim every penny it can. If i owe it i'll pay it, but i won't pay anything until somebody provides me with proof that i owe it.

I'd be interested to know how you've got on with this David, i can't do much with it until i get some further correspondence from the DWP.

muselover · 17 February 2011 at 9:06PM

huh! Well, after losing my job last year, and claiming benefits for the first time in years, I was informed that the DSS had overpaid me in one month in 1999 and were taking the money owed out of my benefits!!!! They are taking it at £1 / week, but, I have spoken to them about this and the overpayment was their fault, not mine. I had informed them I had started work even claiming Working Families Benefit (or whatever it was called at that time) so they were fully aware that I was working and earning more than my previous job. So if they can come after me after 10 years AND take the money out of the pittance I am receiving on ESA, then they can come after anyone. Fair? No. But if you took a loan and then 'forgot' about it then I think it is fair. you couldn't forget a loan of that amount surely, regardless of where it had come from. Maybe contact your MP for assistance??? Namaste

jackjones01 · 17 February 2011 at 9:11PM

I had an over payment of JSA from 2002 Ive always been under the impression DWP debt cant not become statue barred.

Ive been paying a monthly amount to a DCA or months now and ive still got £300.00 odd quid to pay off.

DWP chasing debt over 6 years old!

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