Bombshell phone call for MissOops whilst moving house

Be careful it is not a scam - I'm not sure that the Benefits Office would phone. They'd be more likely to send a letter I think.

I would contact the Citizens Advice Bureau and ask them to have a look at it. I would think that if there's been an overpayment then surely they would have to agree a repayment plan>

I doubt anyone would phone either. It would have been a letter showing any deficit or overpayment. I'd ignore this if I were you for the time being.

Oops, I am sure that your daughter would have had a letter from DWP.
Also, as Daisymae says, get her to contact Citizens Advice.

Well, she has been having telephone/text conversations with them all week trying to talk to somebody about how her benefits might change when she sent copies of the new lease/ rent agreement and it was the same person on the phone yesterday. So sadly not a scam. Just waiting for the letter now.

I think that she will have to take all of her paperwork for the last 2 years to someone, probably the Citizens advice people and either challenge their findings or try to understand how they have got her benefits so wrong.

She needs independent advice, as Daisymae said, CAB can help.

If it is true it s their fault and she could offer to repay at the lowest possible rate. They cannot expect a lump sum or a higher repayment.

Calistemon my thought exactly, let’s hope the fault is at their end.
Maybe it’s all a mistake and she doesn’t owe anything……….I say hopefully.
We will be asking for proof of the error.

If this turns out to be genuine, and she has been overpaid, she needs to offer a repayment arrangement based on what she can afford. If she speaks to a real person, setting out a reasonable and level headed case, they will more than likely agree. What she should not do is offer to pay more than she can reasonably afford and then not keep up the payments. They would rather have a regular steady payment plan, set up by standing order, than promises of large amounts that cannot be kept up.
I used to work in a position where I had to make arrangements like these. People can only pay what they can afford to pay and person she speaks to should understand this.

ilovecheese yes she will, let’s hope they also tell her in the letter exactly what she will receive and hopefully we can double check it to make sure it’s right this time.
she is worried sick at the moment.

Oops when your daughter receives the letter from the Benefits Agency, it should contain all the information as to how the overpayment occurred: what benefits are involved, time periods and the weekly/monthly amounts. She needs to sit down and carefully check every item - if the BA have made historical errors in her payments she needs to double check that theyve got it right this time. If the errors are the fault of the BA, she can appeal against their requests to have it repaid: if the fault/errors were theirs and not because she had provided false or erroneous information when she claimed, an appeal can be launched.

In any event, the BA are unable to demand that the repayment of any overpayments of benefits are set at a level that would put your daughter in penury: she couldn't, for example, be asked to pay £200 a week if that would leave her unable to pay her basic needs of housing, food, utilities and travel to and from work.

Do nothing now until that letter arrives and, under no circumstances be coerced into agreeing to a repayment plan without taking advice from StepChange or Citizens Advice. Feel free to pm me.

Thanks chewbacca hopefully the letter will arrive early next week, meanwhile she is looking for the box with all of her paperwork in, not unpacked that pile of boxes yet.
We said to relax and try to forget about it until she gets the letter.
Thanks everyone for all of your very helpful suggestions?

This is a website specifically advising on benefits overpayments Oops

www.turn2us.org.uk/Benefit-guides/Benefits-Overpayment/Will-I-have-to-repay-the-overpayment

What if I did not misrepresent or fail to disclose?
If the benefits office decides that the overpayment was not caused by your misrepresentation or failure to disclose, the overpayment will not be recoverable and you cannot be made to repay it.
^No civil penalty can be imposed if the overpayment is not recoverable.

However, even if an overpayment is not recoverable, the benefits office may ask in their letter whether you want to pay it back anyway. If this happens, seek advice from a benefits adviser. You can use our Find an Adviser tool to find a local one.

I think this is a scam, DWP would never give her details to a debt collector, they do have a overpayments department though. Also they would need to find out if it is official error. She would also have a acknowledgement if she filled in forms were her change of circumstances.

Please also check the DWP number and call them and speak to someone. If she calls the number given it could be the scammers.
You are saying about emails, is it emails or is she communicating via her journal if she us on UC.

It does sound a bit strange and £10,000 + is a lot of benefits to be paid back. And is that right? She must get a lot of benefits. Definitely check the phone number on the website. Even a letter can be a scam.

Oopsadaisy1

Calistemon my thought exactly, let’s hope the fault is at their end.
Maybe it’s all a mistake and she doesn’t owe anything……….I say hopefully.
We will be asking for proof of the error.

Sadly it doesn’t matter whether it’s their fault or not, she will still have to pay it back. And DWP can and do pass on debts to collection agencies, but only where a claimant has failed to contact them to make suitable repayment arrangements. DWP must give you a breakdown of the debt and how it has accrued. They may contact you by letter, but since Covid they are doing a lot of contact by phone. My advice is to contact them as soon as possible and ask for a breakdown of the debt and a repayment plan. DWP can go back quite a long time historically and in some cases even when benefit has ceased to be paid, so it really doesn’t sound like a scam, but to be sure, go to gov.uk and get the relevant phone number from the listings there to be sure you’re talking to the right people, and have your NI number to hand when you ring.

rafichagran

I think this is a scam, DWP would never give her details to a debt collector, they do have a overpayments department though. Also they would need to find out if it is official error. She would also have a acknowledgement if she filled in forms were her change of circumstances.

Yes they do pass on debts to collection agencies after they have exhausted all other options for repayment - but they will warn claimants that it’s an option. Regardless of whether it’s official error, it would still have to be paid back.

I have no experience of this but i just wanted to say to you that I so hope that all this nightmare is soon sorted out for your daughter.

I dont know if OP daughter is on UC, for the amount, it is not contributory JSA, but the rules as far as I am aware for legacy customers are different if they are income related.

I m still not sure this is genuine call the CAB let them find out for you

rafichagran no emails, telephone and journal, which is something on her phone, I didn’t have my glasses on so I don’t know what was said.
It’s a waiting game at the moment , they said the letter would be sent out today.

Oops thanks for clarifying that. She is on UC so it makes sense now. I was wondering if she was on a legacy based benefit. I hope it is resolved quickly and your daughter agrees a affordable amount to pay back. I wish your daughter all the best.

Thanks rafichagran TBH I don’t know exactly what she is on, it all sounds complicated.