Fraud

Just had the brown envelope saying my overpayment is £3,836.30 apparently I have been overpaid for 14 months, and I have phoned to say I have asked for a MR and I tracked the letter it has got there but it hasn't reached their department yet and only they can stop the Debt Management team from stopping £10-95 a week out of my ESA Assessment rate payment £71-70 per week, they have said they will give me 2 weeks notice before they deduct it , and also I might be able to sort out a lesser repayment, also got the bedroom tax bill £ 49-95 per month C/tax £11 per month my £71 pounds has really got to stretch a long way.

CV

You should be able to negotiate with them for a lower repayment plan. (I mean paying the money back more slowly not paying less this will be dealt with by the MR) If you send them a breakdown of your incomings and outgoings this should help to make sure they do not take the maximum payment amount. Of course if you win your MR or future appeal you may get this money back again.

Hi Chrissy,
sorry to hear of your ordeal. I havent visited the forums lately so only just seen this. First thing that stands out to me is they were watching you for 14 months but seem to have come up with little solid evidence apart from some assumptions. As Gordon stated, driving doesnt necassarily preclude getting dla hrm....there are some cases where tribunals have accepted evidence of coordination and need to grip, i.e. steering wheel, handbrake etc might contradict the cooking test for lrc....perverse as that might sound. The fact they havent criminally charged you with fraud but are merely asking for repayment suggests their 14 months of watching you came up with little hard evidence. I would certainly be optimistic of appealing succesfully.It seems odd also that they would state 41 yds as reason to suspend your hrm...in writing too. This can surely be attacked at an oral hearing. Their angle might be that if they saw you do so unaided, then they are right to assume you could probably manage further. But again, as Gordon stated they cant possibly assume levels of pain, safety and/or discomfort. Many people are assumed to be over egging the pudding, so to speak, when claiming they can walk only x amount of yards/metres. Hoevger, the 50 metre this, (now sadly 20m) is not set in stone. Speed, safety, gait etc are relevant. It looks like theyve assumed much here so dont be disheartened and see the appeal through to the bitter end. Good luck....

One other thing you dont mention Chrissy. Did they suspend and claim back your dla payments from the entirety of your claim or only from the dates theyve had you under surveillence? I assume you were listed as the driver of your mobility car and it was leased through the motability scheme. In which case surely the dla have known all along of your ability to drive

Gordon wrote: Chrissy

If you want to challenge the Decision then the first thing to do is request a Mandatory Reconsideration, this must be done within one month of what I assume is a Decision letter. You can do this over the phone, but in this case I would recommend that you do it writing, make sure that you use the phrase "Mandatory Reconsideration" in your letter and send it Recorded Delivery.

I wold make a formal request for the information from the surveillance, this should be in the form of a Subject Access Request.

SAR Form Download

and this page :

DWP Data Protection Policy

I would recommend you get face to face from advisor with experience in this area.

Do am internet search for "welfare" advice with your postcode, town, or county.

As a general comment on the information you posted.

DLA does not consider a claimants ability to drive although they may make assumptions on your ability to walk as a result of your doing so, these assumptions may not be correct.

Filling you car with petrol is not considered in regard to DLA and I am struggling to think of any assumptions that could be made from this.

Walking is 41m is below the generally accepted distance of 50m used for DLA and therefore proves nothing.

Any assumptions that the DWP have made take no account of any severe discomfort, or worse, that you may have been experiencing while carrying out these actions.

I hope this helps

Gordon

Gordon....Ive been puzzling over this one too....the only assumption I feel could have been made re filling up a car with petrol are issues of grip, possibly related to another area of the ladies claim. There are some tribunal decisions on b and w resources where claimants ability to drive, i.e. grip a steering wheel, handbrake etc are correlated with regard to gripping, peeling, chopping foid et re the cooking test. Even then the dwp were oft defeated. Only appeal I can see that failed was on issue of coordination. As Chrissy hasnt stated whether she has grip issues or lrc might not be relevant but I agree filling up petrol ...it is an odd one.

micksville wrote: Did they suspend and claim back your dla payments from the entirety of your claim or only from the dates theyve had you under surveillence?

Hi Chrissy

This would be of interest to me as well. I note in some cases the overpayment goes back to the last claim (or renewal), however, in others I've seen it go back to the initial claim even if that was ten years previous.