Hi, I have recently been diagnosed with cancer, I have had operations and chemotherapy, and thankfully I am now recovering, I took a month off work in total, due to having to continue to pay my monthly bills, is there somewhere where I can claim, I only got basic SSP and didn't claim anything for the time I had off, but am in a lot of debt now and trying to play catch up, is there a a government place where I can claim to get myself back out of debt, I have been working all my life and contributed to everything and to get knocked by this dreaded disease and trying to get my life back on track, any help and support would be appreciated and thanks for any advice in advance

Hi Cough, I am not sure, I don't think it was recorded, I was young and naive then, it was just an interview I think and he wrote everything down on a notepad

Hi, It was the DWP I have written to them on several occasions disputing this but then out of the blue in November they sent me a letter advising that they had approached my work place and taking the money direct from work. Regards

Hi Shoe, Again, thank you I will have to let this go as no proof of what was said, I still have one more payment coming out of my wages this month (Feb) again leaving me with no money, and cancelling my DD for the council tax, they are fully aware of the situation and they have accepted this under the circumstances but I am going to complain, if there is an ombudsmen for the council I will write to them. or someone hierarchy. Appreciate your comments and once again thank you. kind regards Mark

Hi, is there anyone who will take my case up regarding payments and dispute against the DWP, many years ago I claimed benefits when my wife was working and turned out that I should not have been claiming and they called me in to advise me of this, at that stage of the interview I offered to pay the full amount back in full in a form of a cheque, they disappeared for approx 30 minutes and came back after a meeting with the hierarchy and advised that I had offered to pay this back on this occasion they would write this off, I wished I had asked for this in writing, but being young and naive didnt even think to ask for this and now 20 years later they have requested this back, I have disputed this with them however they have decided over the Christmas period and new year, taken it from my wages, even though I have written to advise that this is being disputed, they have ignore this and taken this from my wages, I wish to take them to court not for the money, but for the principal of this, no other company will do this if there is a dispute going on so why should the DWP get away with it, please can someone help me please. Thanks Kind regards Mark

hey, All you need to do at this stage, contact the council, advise them you have been genuinely unaware of the situation, and offer them to a decent payment plan, not just £10. and a payment of whatever until the debt is paid, I have offered £150.00 per month by direct debit, they will ask for a review after 6 months of more payment and I have advised them they are not getting any more than this amount, either accept this or you are happy to go to court, I would be very surprised if they give you a CCJ out of this, they have been brilliant with me and when I got into some financial issues November and December 2014 and cancelled my DD's I emailed them and explained the reasons why I had to cancel the payments for a couple of months, they were fully understandable and allowed me to stop the payments for 2 months and starting again in February this year at no extra cost, speak to them and even though they may sound cold, they are understanding. hope this helps regards Mark

Hi Shoe, sadly, no I didn't get a letter of confirmation of this, I should have requested one, but I was young and naive in those days and wish I had done now and asked for it, had I had one or asked for one , this would never have come up, but I am adamant that he did state after going off for 30 odd minutes or so he had spoken to the hierarchy and this was the outcome, sadly I have no proof, is there still something I can do regarding this dispute?? Again I appreciate you comments and advice and thank you. Kind regards Mark

Hi, when I offered to pay there and then with my cheque book, he went off for about 30 minutes or so, finally came back ((felt like 3 days)) and advised that as I had offered there and then he stated this has been written off on this occasion, on the condition I do not claim for any benefits unless unemployed

Hey guys, Thanks for your response and advice, unfortunately despite my request to suspend the recovery and to request my appeal, they have gone and taken the amount from my wages over 3 months, I would like to take this further, just because they are government controlled does not give them the right to go ahead and take it, my wages after the deduction was less than £900.00 for the month, this has left me in debt with the bank and council tax, I had previously contacted the agent at the council tax office, advised of the situation prior to DWP taking money from my work and they put this on the back burner for 2 months, so start payments again in February.. is there anyone on here who can help me take matters further, with a solicitor as when I did go in for the interview and advised that I would pay there and then with a cheque he went off for about 15/20 minutes and came back and advised this would not be necessary and would be written off. I am taking this further if anyone can help, I would appreciate this. Kind regards Mark

Hi, Again thanks, just to let you know I have never taken out any benefits whilst the treatment was ongoing, I went straight for SSP and only had two weeks off when I had the operation and then 6 weeks later when I had the chemo took a total of two weeks from that again on SSP.. I did ask for disability badge for the car when I was recovering and they turned me down for this, I plodded on, have sent a letter today. Kind regards Mark

Hey, thank you for this, I thought this could happen but was unsure, thank you again for your help, it is appreciated Regards Mark

(( this was from a different thread)) Hi, I have the same issue here, but I know that I owed this to them that was back in 1991, I went for an interview with them and at that time I was back in full time work, I took my cheque book and after I was interviewed offered to pay the full amount back there and then, £369.00, I offered to pay this there and then on the spot, the guy who interviewed me advised me 'we will forego this and will write this off' they have contacted me 3 times since then and I have phoned them and they still will not listen to me, I am disputing this and even if it is against the DWP/Government can they still take this from my employer whilst this is in dispute? I cannot afford any more deductions from my wages as I am on minimum wage at the moment due to the last 5 years undergoing treatment for cancer, and I am still trying to catch up with all my other creditors. Is there anything I can do, any help, advice would be greatly appreciated and thank you.

.............................................................................Hi, I have the same issue here, but I know that I owed this to them that was back in 1991, I went for an interview with them and at that time I was back in full time work, I took my cheque book and after I was interviewed offered to pay the full amount back there and then, £369.00, I offered to pay this there and then on the spot, the guy who interviewed me advised me 'we will forego this and will write this off' they have contacted me 3 times since then and I have phoned them and they still will not listen to me, I am disputing this and even if it is against the DWP/Government can they still take this from my employer whilst this is in dispute? I cannot afford any more deductions from my wages as I am on minimum wage at the moment due to the last 5 years undergoing treatment for cancer, and I am still trying to catch up with all my other creditors. Is there anything I can do, any help, advice would be greatly appreciated and thank you.