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Overpyament Letter ESA
- wolfchile
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4 years 1 week ago #258711 by wolfchile
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Replied by wolfchile on topic Overpyament Letter ESA
Hi. Thanks for this. No I haven't informed the DWP about changes to the occupational pension. It goes up about £1 to £2 per month. The reason I haven't informed them is they always write to me before April when I don't have the figure. In fact I had another letter in March this year. I always fill it in straight away as says if I don't do it within a month of the date on the letter they will stop my ESA. It is always before details of the increase are known but the pension provider are able to give details of the increase for that year. I fill that in and have signed to give permission for them to contact the pension provider. When the pension details are sent out I always send that on. Unfortunately I have just done that each time and don't keep a copy.
The figure they have quite is nearly £400 which doesn't match up to the pension increase which is usually about £1 per or so per month. So at best for a 2 year period it would be £48. They also mention me having a call in November 2020 where this came about. I have no knowledge of such a call. I never use phone and I am terrified of ringing them.
When I got a letter I phoned which took over an hour to get through. I ended up tears as they were so aggressive and I have autism and struggle with phone. They told me they couldn't give me any information and said I would have to wait for a call back within 3 days. That never came and I got very ill with stress. I had to call again. Eventually someone phoned today and they couldn't give any information either. They said I didn't declare my parents occupational pension in 2018. I said he has had it years and they know about it. I asked for breakdown they can't give thi. They told me to ring debt management. They said they don't give breakdowns or deal with disputes amounts they just take payment. I have also written a letter.
I can't think what else to do. I can't get specialised advice as there is none. The citizens advice in my area don't deal with this just directing people to online information which says to ask for breakdown which I have done. There is nowhere to get advice. Benfits advice does exist in my area. If I want this to stop it looks like I have no options. They are never going to explain what it is about.
The figure they have quite is nearly £400 which doesn't match up to the pension increase which is usually about £1 per or so per month. So at best for a 2 year period it would be £48. They also mention me having a call in November 2020 where this came about. I have no knowledge of such a call. I never use phone and I am terrified of ringing them.
When I got a letter I phoned which took over an hour to get through. I ended up tears as they were so aggressive and I have autism and struggle with phone. They told me they couldn't give me any information and said I would have to wait for a call back within 3 days. That never came and I got very ill with stress. I had to call again. Eventually someone phoned today and they couldn't give any information either. They said I didn't declare my parents occupational pension in 2018. I said he has had it years and they know about it. I asked for breakdown they can't give thi. They told me to ring debt management. They said they don't give breakdowns or deal with disputes amounts they just take payment. I have also written a letter.
I can't think what else to do. I can't get specialised advice as there is none. The citizens advice in my area don't deal with this just directing people to online information which says to ask for breakdown which I have done. There is nowhere to get advice. Benfits advice does exist in my area. If I want this to stop it looks like I have no options. They are never going to explain what it is about.
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- Gary
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4 years 1 week ago #258760 by Gary
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Replied by Gary on topic Overpyament Letter ESA
Hi wolfchile
You need to follow LL26 advice and also my advice from a previous post.
If Citizen Advice are unable to help you then you may find an alternative welfare rights organisation in your area. You can find your local Welfare Rights Organisation to help you with advice by clicking on the link below and putting in your post code, it will then come up with a MAP with a list of agencies. advicelocal.uk
Gary
You need to follow LL26 advice and also my advice from a previous post.
If Citizen Advice are unable to help you then you may find an alternative welfare rights organisation in your area. You can find your local Welfare Rights Organisation to help you with advice by clicking on the link below and putting in your post code, it will then come up with a MAP with a list of agencies. advicelocal.uk
Gary
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4 years 1 week ago #258781 by LL26
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Replied by LL26 on topic Overpyament Letter ESA
Hi wolfchile
Unless you take action here DWP will continue to chase you for the money. I appreciate that you feel you have not made any mistakes and have disclosed everything you need to. This is great but at present DWP think you haven't and it is like a train rolling down a hill without brakes!
Put in the MR just say you dispute the overpayment and you made full disclosure. You can provide details if you have them, you can say that you have not been given full details of the alleged overpayment , otherwise be deliberately vague. Chances are the MR will fail don't worry, this is to be expected. Then appeal, you will need an sscs1 form you can get online.
DWP has a duty under rule 24 First Tier Tribunal (SEC) Procedure rules 2008 to produce 'all relevant papers' for the tribunal. These should be produced within around 4 weeks of lodging the appeal, so maybe around 8 weeks from now.
Otherwise you can make a subject access request at DWP. This will probably take longer.
You will need to ask for
1. Copy schedule of ESA payments, with full breakdown of what the payment comprises, including deductions from the start of your ESA claim or a year earlier than your pension started if the latter was later. Going through to the date you were told of the overpayment.
2. A full history of all letters sent by you to/out of DWP concerning ESA from the same dates
3. History of all phone calls for ESA same period
4. Full details/print out of any data matching that has occurred over the same time
(Data matching is where DWP receives routine info from eg pension provider or HMRC to match with benefits and check if undisclosed income is being received - this is some with everyone every so often.,)
By all means request any other paperwork that you feel might be relevant.
You can do the SAR and MR and SSCS1 at the same time. The appeal papers may not be the same as SAR papers so you may need to compare the two sets of papers if you get these.
Also, write to your pension provider and ask if they send data over to DWP and if so when.Ask details for all occasions.
I'm sorry you have to deal with this, but think of it as a project to work through methodically!
Once an appeal is lodged dwp should NOT keep harassing you for recovery of the money.
All the best.
LL26
Unless you take action here DWP will continue to chase you for the money. I appreciate that you feel you have not made any mistakes and have disclosed everything you need to. This is great but at present DWP think you haven't and it is like a train rolling down a hill without brakes!
Put in the MR just say you dispute the overpayment and you made full disclosure. You can provide details if you have them, you can say that you have not been given full details of the alleged overpayment , otherwise be deliberately vague. Chances are the MR will fail don't worry, this is to be expected. Then appeal, you will need an sscs1 form you can get online.
DWP has a duty under rule 24 First Tier Tribunal (SEC) Procedure rules 2008 to produce 'all relevant papers' for the tribunal. These should be produced within around 4 weeks of lodging the appeal, so maybe around 8 weeks from now.
Otherwise you can make a subject access request at DWP. This will probably take longer.
You will need to ask for
1. Copy schedule of ESA payments, with full breakdown of what the payment comprises, including deductions from the start of your ESA claim or a year earlier than your pension started if the latter was later. Going through to the date you were told of the overpayment.
2. A full history of all letters sent by you to/out of DWP concerning ESA from the same dates
3. History of all phone calls for ESA same period
4. Full details/print out of any data matching that has occurred over the same time
(Data matching is where DWP receives routine info from eg pension provider or HMRC to match with benefits and check if undisclosed income is being received - this is some with everyone every so often.,)
By all means request any other paperwork that you feel might be relevant.
You can do the SAR and MR and SSCS1 at the same time. The appeal papers may not be the same as SAR papers so you may need to compare the two sets of papers if you get these.
Also, write to your pension provider and ask if they send data over to DWP and if so when.Ask details for all occasions.
I'm sorry you have to deal with this, but think of it as a project to work through methodically!
Once an appeal is lodged dwp should NOT keep harassing you for recovery of the money.
All the best.
LL26
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