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Horrible experience

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7 years 4 months ago #174770 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic Horrible experience
Dougle

I'm afraid in these circumstances there is little that you can do to make things go faster and you are already doing everything that you can.

The Compliance officer will need to prepare a report which they will then submit to a Decision Maker to make a Decision on. I'm sorry but it could be still many weeks before this is resolved.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
The following user(s) said Thank You: Dougle

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7 years 4 months ago #174896 by Angel110
Replied by Angel110 on topic Horrible experience
talking from my experience working for HMRC they have all the information.....nothing is hidden at all....watch this space

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7 years 3 months ago #175454 by Dougle
Replied by Dougle on topic Horrible experience
Ok, turns out that the Compliance Officer is putting her report to a decision maker and claiming that I had £5000 ( five thousand ) over and above the £6000 savings limit for a period of two years
. I deny it . The extra £5000 was not in my name and I honestly did not intend to deliberately reduce my savings.Perhaps a stupid situation to get myself in.
IF DWP judge that I had £5000 too much in savings how much do I pay back? The officer tried to explain it but it went over my head. Do I actually owe them £5000 ? Or a part thereof? It is so confusing.
Sorry if I appear daft but I do get confused because I of the prescription drugs I have to take.
Thanks

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7 years 3 months ago #175455 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic Horrible experience

Dougle wrote: Ok, turns out that the Compliance Officer is putting her report to a decision maker and claiming that I had £5000 ( five thousand ) over and above the £6000 savings limit for a period of two years
. I deny it . The extra £5000 was not in my name and I honestly did not intend to deliberately reduce my savings.Perhaps a stupid situation to get myself in.
IF DWP judge that I had £5000 too much in savings how much do I pay back? The officer tried to explain it but it went over my head. Do I actually owe them £5000 ? Or a part thereof? It is so confusing.
Sorry if I appear daft but I do get confused because I of the prescription drugs I have to take.
Thanks


It's £1 per week for every £250 in excess of the £6000.

So £5000 / 250 = £20 x 52 x 2 = £2080 in total

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems

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7 years 3 months ago #175456 by Dougle
Replied by Dougle on topic Horrible experience
Thanks so much Gordon. Not as bad as I thought then. The Compliance Officer did say they might even find in our favour but I doubt it. I wish I had never had any savings or gifted my boy the money.Never again will I get in such a mess. Never. It has been a severely stressful time .
They have totally picked our lives apart. I have provided everything they asked for and more.
I will be afraid to have savings in the future even well under the limit..
Will let you know what happens

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7 years 3 months ago - 7 years 3 months ago #175461 by BenefitsBod
Replied by BenefitsBod on topic Horrible experience
This message contains confidential information



Dougle, this may help although it may not be what you would ideally like to hear.

Earlier in the thread, you acknowledged the £5,000 was saved from your DLA. If that is correct, it's going to be hard to argue it wasn't yours at the time. That leaves the issue of gifting the money to a family member.

In broad terms, the law states that if you (or partner) deprive yourself of capital for the purpose of securing benefit, it is still taken into account as yours. So, the crux of the argument is about the reason(s) for gifting the money.

Developments in Case Law (e.g. Upper Tribunal decisions, Court judgements and older Social Security Commissioners' decisions) mean the gifting of money to secure benefit doesn't have to be the sole or main reason for benefit to be affected. If the gifting of the money was with a "significant operative purpose" to secure benefit, that is sufficient for you to be treated as still possessing the money, even though it has been given to a.n. other. In plain English, it's an anti-abuse deeming provision.

There *may* be a technical argument that the "significant operative purpose" test should instead be a "dominant purpose" test but that would mean challenging 30+ years of strongly established legal precedent. As such, the odds would be firmly stacked against you and, in any case, you would probably need a welfare rights advisor / organisation that truly understood that level of argument AND was prepared to put in the resources to make the argument.

On the issue of evidence, the DWP (and local authorities) are allowed to ask for any evidence and documentation that is reasonably required in order to make a decision. You can refuse but legal precedent (Case Law again) makes it clear that (reasonable) inferences can be drawn in those circumstances. As your case is about capital, it would be hard to argue that bank statements and the entries shown on them aren't reasonably required.

Finally, another technical issue. If you are found to have been overpaid benefit specifically as a result of capital, there is a calculation the DWP must carry out called "Diminution of Capital" when determining the overall overpayment. In (overly) simplistic terms, the amount of your capital is deemed to be reduced every three months by the amount of overpayment covering the preceding three months. Input from a welfare rights advisor / organisation will help to make sure this has been done.
Last edit: 7 years 3 months ago by Gordon.

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