Evening all, Right so I've had a letter from tax credits overpayment section, stating that I was overpaid tax credits by £3489.30, the letter doesn't give an exact date but says from at least 2012. Now I think I know when this is from, think its around 2007(ish) when my husband and I split briefly. Tax credits said they'd overpaid me by an amount similar (could of been the same tbh, its been so long) and when I questioned them they said it was because I never informed them when he moved back in, even though they told me what date he had moved back in! The woman said she would raise a dispute, but I never heard anything back. I moved house 3 years later having not heard anything from them, for this letter to land on my doorstep out of the blue yesterday. so my question is, does a status barred apply to the hmrc, and what would be my best course of action? Many thanks, Danielle.x

Basically I completed a claim form in July 2010 stating my earnings as £722 nett pay As requested I enclosed my last two payslips which showed £626 nett pay (BR tax had been applied). Benefits office calculated benefit on the amounts on the payslips, which I was unaware of until I recently received a copy of all paperwork. I did not understand the award letter so assumed the calculations to be correct and made rent and CTax payment amounts as shown. Following award letters I treated the same- paying what I was told I had to pay. After a benefit review in Dec 2012 I was told I owed over £2,600 housing benefit and over £880 in CTax benefit. Bearing in mind my income in July 2010 was £722 nett and only reached the sum of £785 nett in Dec 2012 after a 3% payrise, I wondered how this huge amount of "overpayment" could have happened! It is only now, after failed appeals and requesting a tribunal hearing that I understand how these amounts came about, that they used the payslip figures rather than the declared figure on the form. I know this now as I have copies of original claim etc. I have been told that I should have spotted their error from the very first award letter which states "weekly income". I understood the "weekly income" to be an amount that can be taken into account for benefit purposes and not literally my "weekly income". I also hope to argue the "Notify us of any changes in CIRCUMSTANCES" statement at the bottom of letters as my circumstances had not changed - I was still only working two days a week and living in the same council flat. WHY don't they say "Changes in Income and/or circumstances"???? I am fully aware NOW that as my income increased, either because of a miniscule pay increase or annual budget tax code allowances being increased, I should have informed the benefits office. Is there anyone out there think I have a chance of winning my appeal? or can advise me of how to present my case at the tribunal?? Please?? Jan

My girlfriend stopped working for Wetherspoons at the back end of last year and even for a few weeks after she left, she received several payslips saying that she had been owed tax back yet they had taken it all in what they claimed was overpayment of salary due to her having taken extra holidays - that claim in itself was a complete nonsense because her manager never let her have holidays that she hadn't worked enough days to take but she was so glad to get away from the place that we just let it slide. Since around February though, we have received several letters from a debt collection agency working on behalf of Wetherspoons - Capitol Commercial Collections - demanding the princely sum of £18 left over from the "overpayment of salary". Perhaps rather foolishly we have ignored them because we assumed they would get bored (18 quid ffs) but now we are receiving Final Demand letters with a £25 admin fee bolted on top, threatening CCJs after another 21 days. She also has a friend that she has met at her new job who worked in a completely different Wetherspoons and has also been receiving identical letters on the same dates. What are our rights? We really don't want to pay it, as a matter of principle more than anything else, and we're certainly not paying a spurious admin charge. Is the threat of legal action sheer bluff on their part? Can anyone please advise us of our rights and the best course of action? Thanks in advance.

Hello, I would be very appreciative for any help or direction into a recent debt I've just received. Last Thursday I had a letter from 'advantis' regarding a debt to HMRC for £8347 of which I have no previous correspondence or information. After I picked myself up off the floor I rang the company immediately and was basically told I had over-payments totaling the amount above from 2004. I asked them to allow me time to contact HMRC and see if this is a mistake and I would obviously call them back. Firstly, I'm long term unemployed with no savings currently living at fathers until I can find new accommodation. I have no assets and had to sell my previous home due to debts (cleared) after divorce. I am contacting the HMRC Mon morning to start an appeal process (If that's possible) and pray they have made some kind of mistake. I will also make an apt with the local CAB so I can actually talk face to face with someone or maybe approach a Solicitor. Whilst this process begins I would appreciate and welcome any advice you could suggest, I'm extremely worried the DCA will try to levy my debt against my fathers home just because I'm living there? If the debt stands what help can I get managing it ? Thank you for your time and any assistance you can offer.

Hello I need a bit of advice regarding recent communication from a debt collection agency for a tax credits overpayment. The amounts overpaid are as follows: £2290.38 for CTC for period ending 10.10.08 and £363.74 for CTC for period ending 6.4.09. I have called the tax credits helpline and they have confirmed the amounts. I asked how this has occured as I have always kept them informed. The person I spoke to told me that I had not informed them in 2008 when I entered a new relationship. I cannot be 100% sure that I informed them, but I am positive I did. My partner was claiming job seakers allowance at the time, and we made joint claims for everything. Since then, my partner is now self employed. We have continued to receive ctc. This money is being reclaimed from me, as they say it was paid to me as a single claimant. They have sent me a copy of my award notifcation from June 2008, and a copy of a letter dated 1.5.2009 stating that due to a change of circumstances they are no longer paying me any ctc. None of this makes any sense to me at all? Even if I did fail to inform them that I was in a new relationship, surely we would have still qualified for CTC as we were in receipt of JSA. I know that we only ever received one lot of CTC every week. What is my next move with this? Do I inform the DCA that I am in dispute of the amounts? Thanks for any help you can offer me.

Back in 2008, DWP claimed that they had overpaid Income Support of £6500 between 2001 and 2003, and £8000 between 2004 and 2007, due to "savings" In March 2008 DWP claimed an over payment of approx £14500, they were asked to "look again" at their decision. Today, I have received 2 letters from DWP. The first says "Frther to the request for the decision about an overpayment issued on 03/08 to be looked at again ------ We have looked looked again at the facts and evidence used to make out decision, and as a result we have not changed our original decision" The second letter is similar, refers to decision March 2008, and states that they have changed their decision. They are now claiming an overpayment of £16500 between 04 and 07, but then go on to state "the total may include an amount that has been paid in error which is not recoverable". I assume this refers to payments between 06-07 that are marked as "Income Support Paid in error" I cannot believe that that are responding to my request to review after FIVE YEARS. and now state that I can appeal using form GL24, within ONE MONTH. Can anyone help me out. I am not aware of any overpayment. There were no savings, and during the period in question, IS was stopped several times, and documents provided to the DWP for the claim to be reassessed, and reinstated in each case. Claim for IS ended in 2007.

Hello all, just joined the site, so I'll give it my best shot, please be patient! I have suffered with an on-going Tax credits dispute with HMRC since August 2012. I feel I have quite a good case, as they acknowledge that I told them of my change of circumstance during a call to them late March 2011. At this time, I started employment after being out of work for 2 years following redundancy. They did not take any action after I informed them of my change of circumstance (I gave them new hours worked, salary etc). I received a provisional award notice a couple of weeks later, which apparently did not include my new salary details, but I paid little attention to it as I'd already told them of my changed circumstances. I trusted that since I had informed them a couple of weeks earlier, they had all of my relevant & up to date details, & must know what they were doing. (I had very little to do with these people previously, how wrong I was!!) They are now hounding me for repayment of many thousands of pounds, & I have got nowhere through their dispute process, despite my MP being involved. The case is now with the Adjudicator's Office, but still HMRC continue to send ever increasingly threatening letters demanding repayment, despite the Appeals Process not being exhausted, as per their own COP26. I have sent in numerous letters of Complaint to them, rang them, tried to get my MP & the Adjudicator's Office to contact them, but they refuse to halt the recovery process. The last letter received from HMRC indicates that they will start a recovery of possessions action if I don't put in place a repayment plan, which would be refunded should my appeal be successful. Should I hold my nerve & just continue to send in letters of complaint about the recovery, or put a repayment plan in place with them? I feel that by doing this I am admitting some guilt, of which I have none, & that they are totally going against their own COP26. Can they actually start a recover of possessions process with an appeal still in place? Any further help or advice you can give would be very much appeciated.

I need some help with a JSA overpayment, please. I am working. My partner is unemployed at the moment and as I don't earn enough money we have a JSA claim together. The claim is in my partner's name. I changed an employer almost 3 months ago and we immediately informed the JCP. We always supply all the information in time and my partner is taking my payslips and the completed B7 form every time he signs on. We were informed that it may take some time for the Benefit Centre to process our claim as there is a backlog of one month. Two months later there was no answer so we called them. And not just once. We spent around £30 on phone calls to JCP Benefit Centre trying to tell them that if they don't sort it out soon they may overpay us. JCP sent letters to my current employer asking her to fill in various forms about how much my partner earned there. We corrected them saying it was actually me who is working and they should know that. So my employer filled in all they wanted. Several weeks later, hours in phone calls and endless visits to our local JCP office we thought everything will be fine just in time for Christmas. What a nice surprise when we received a letter on Saturday 27/12/12 dated 20/12/12 informing us of an overpayment of £290.60 for the period of 19/10/12 - 15/11/12 plus civil penalty amount of £50 totalling £340.60!!! Aparently we did not inform JCP about the changes in time. And I had two jobs in that period. Neither of which is correct. I calculated that there is an actual overpayment but only about £68. I am quite happy for JCP to take that back although it shouldn't occur in the first place. What I am not happy about is the maladministration.

Hi there, on advice from my accountant I made a successful claim for tax credits in 2005/6 (self employed) In 2006/7 I updated the claim to inform the Inland Revenue that my earnings were higher, To which I received a reply to say that no credits would be paid. Almost a year later I received notification of an over payment, to which I raised a dispute on the grounds that the income level difference was less than 10, 000 (advice again from my accountant), the dispute was unsuccessful and I began a repayment plan. I stopped this and to be honest became lax with responding to the requests for repayment. I have refused to acknowledge the debit believing the case to be in error, I strongly believe that I was not overpaid. More recently, after a long period of nothing happening, I received a hand delivered letter, which did not look authentic. It implies that if I do not repay the full amount, my goods and assets will be levied against the debit, which is very worrying. I contacted the Inland Revenue about this, I found that my form filling from the 2006/7 period was incorrect and I am able to escalate the dispute again with this information. As to the letter, the clerk advised me that the letter was genuine and that rather than seize goods, the officer who delivered the letter would seek an amicable resolution to the debit, i.e. payment plan. When I phoned to discuss this, the officer did not seem to be interested, They have asked me to meet them in person at a very public location which is closer to where I currently reside. I went to meet them this morning as agreed, but no one showed. I am concerned about the nature of the officer's attitude and am worried about the meeting. Has anyone experienced this before? I live in northern Ireland and am not aware of Bailiff action being permissible ? I am also agreeing to repay the amount whilst starting a new dispute. the overpayment is 3117. I have offered 129 per month which a review to increase in 12 months. all advice would be welcome on this. Many thanks in advance. clayton

Today I called the tax credits phone line to confirm our income figures for last year, as per the annual declaration form. The figures are within £500 of what HMRC based our tax credits on, so the payments can't be far off what we are entitled to. However, they told me that it is too late to renew the existing claim, and that we must start a new one going forward - fair enough, it's our fault for not returning the documents on time (although I am self employed, I don't know what my income is for the year until my accounts are made up, which I've only just managed to get done). We were paid tax credits from the 6th April to mid august in anticipation of us returning the declaration form, but we've had paperwork asking us to repay all of this due to the late submission. I thought that as soon as I gave them the figures they would accept that we had been paid the correct amounts for our income (more or less anyway), I expected to loose out from when the payments stopped in mid August to now, but today they are still demanding that we repay all of the £4000 they have paid us so far this year, even though we are entitled to it based on our income. I was told that we could either setup a payment plan or dispute it, and then the phone got cut off before I could discuss it any further! Are they correct that we have lost all our working+child+childcare tax credits for the period between April 2012 and now? Is there any point in us disputing it on the basis that a) we would have been entitled to it, b) I'm self employed to it is bound to take longer to get my income figures finalised? If we have 100% lost all the tax credit so far for this year, and have to pay back the £4000 that they've paid us so far (4.5 months worth), can they offset that against what we should get for the rest of the year - 6.5 months left (or 7.5 if we can backdate the new claim by 30 days from today)?

Hi,I am 66 ,I was finished up from work at 60 due to ill health,i went on pension credit as i had no private pension,i had a phone call a couple of weeks ago for a review over the phone,this is when i found out my wife had a private pension of £15 per week from when i first claimed ,the dwp have said they are coming out to see me,i guess this will be about the overpayment,i should also add my wife and myself was ill at the time of claim. I realise i am in the wrong and will have to pay it back,i just wish the review had been every 12 months ,we have worked all our lives and are very worried about the visit,can someone tell me what happens,thanks in advance John

This is my first post and would be grateful for any guidance regarding the legal perspective on my below issue: I have recently moved out of flat which I had rented for 18 months and paid a £550 deposit which was held in a protection scheme. At the time of first renting the property was under a letting agency. However when I came to move out the landlord intended to put the property on the market to sale. The flat was originally a new build and the land lord intended to bring the property back up to new build standard as he wanted prospective buyers to be able to get a 5% deposit. Rather than the letting agency the landlord conducted the checking out process and inspected the flat and after some discussion retained £50 to replace a blind, light bulbs etc. A bit pricey as £20 of that was fitting of light bulbs and a clip on blind. He returned £500 to myself and signed a receipt. However I had cancelled by standing order, but the day before my next rent would of been due and my rent still went to him which was an overpayment. The landlord contacted me a week later demanding that I replace the kitchen worktops as there were some scratches in them which weren't noted by the letting company at check in. They are very light scratches but will not rub out sadly. He personally inspected the property and spent several hours there before leaving, yet did not say anything at the time nor was I aware of them.He is demanding I replace and will also not return my overpayment of rent. I have spoken to citizen advice who have advised I have a case for small claims court, as such as i have sent a letter the landlord. But has replied that any claim made against me will be counter claimed for these worktops and also hoover hire + other trumped up issues which were not picked up at checkout and in fact the landlord signed the receipt on the very surface he is disputing. Also he replaced all carpets and re decorated the day after I moved out and had already planned to a month prior as he had tradesmen coming in to give quotes. I feel that he is trying to take advantage of the situation to use my money to basically make the property brand new for sale. He has also demanded that any further letters from me goes via his solicitor who happens to be a family member of his. I cannot afford a solicitor myself to defend against him and do not know what to do for the best. I spoke to the letting agency who agreed with my evidence and my perspective, however as the property is no longer under them cannot do anything to help. I would be grateful for any advice as I am very stressed by this. Thank you

:mad2:I was promised by Barclays customer service advisor on March 1st 2011 if I made a large overpayment of £5046 I could have new loan of £6000 or £7000 for 10 years for interest rate of 11% or 12% for £104 a month, but if I was declined I could have my overpayment back. I paid £5046 off my loan to get the new loan, but when I was advised that the offer didn't exist, I was told that I can't have my overpayment back. I took it to the FSA they favoured Barclays because they send inaccurate details of me being declined a loan ehen I wasn't. I have threated them court still no reply. I have asked for transcript of that call, they they havn't got record of it. So what can I do urgent please help ?

Evening all, Im in a bit of a muddle. DWP wrote to me stating i owe them around £600 from social fund from a couple of years back. i set up a standing order for £1 per week on a pro-rata basis, to be reviewed in 3 months with all my other debtors, and i wrote to them to let them know. Since then i have recieved several letters saying thanks for the £1 payment but we want £50 per month off you and if you do not respond within 7 days they will start legal proceedings. now i only recieve the letters on the day they demand me to make contact by, even though i keep writing explaining my situation and asking that they give me longer to reply because i want everything in writing so i have hard copies of all correspondance, but they ignore me blatently, dont even register my letters, so i gave in and rang them. i did record the call and didnt know i had to inform the woman who i spoke to, but she was so rude before she'd even asked for my name and reference number. So she tells me that they are the DWP i have to pay £50 a month or else. and i have to fill out an expendature form. i told her i didnt like to fill those out because its no ones business what we earn but ours. she told me that if i didnt fill one out i would be taken to court for none compliance. Any way as soon as she found out i was recording the call she said my manager has told me to hang up now, goodbye. Today i recieved a letter telling me that im to make them aware that im recording a call or its illegal, and i can only use the recording for my own use or i can be prosecuted, and if i dont write back aknowledging that i understand the letter they are going to 'alert the information commisioner of my unaceptable behaviour'. I feel like im going around in circles, all i want to do is for them to accept my offer of payment, which i will review every 3 months, and to be contacted in writing. Any advice please? Thanks, danielle.x

Hi, My girlfriend recently had her temporary 9 month contract cancelled by her employer at one weeks notice. At the end of the month she recently full payment for that month, her employer has now contacted her informing her shes been overpaid. She has never signed any sort contract with them. They treated her pretty horribly throughout the course of her employment with the company and then phoned her at the end of her last weeks holiday to tall her not to bother coming back. Legally where does she stand in terms of repayment of this debt? Many thanks.

Guys, A little issue with Payday Express i am trying to work out and could do with some advice. I decided to pay off the remaining balance from my repayment plan with last month's wage but due to not cancelling the original standing order on time they received two payments. I've asked them to refund the £25 overpayment and there's been no issues with that. The problem is they insist on not only having the details of my post-payday bank details but they want a statement sent to them to verify the account before sending the refund. There is no way i am giving any payday loan company, paid off or otherwise, my banking details. I have asked for a cheque to be sent to my home address but they have refused and insisted on my banking details. Any advice on this? Jamie

Hi, I'm hoping for help please. I called the tax credit HMRC Debt Management team in Blackpool over my tax credit overpayment of £18k. I spoke to someone who said I had to pay the debt off within 12 months or the process will go to county court - which is this wednesday. The reason she gave for having to pay it off within 12 months is because I am on a high wage (46k p/a) and becasue the reason of overpayemnt was due to undeclared income. I originally disputed this claim which got rejected. I want to pay this overpayment but why can I not do it for over 12 months?

Hi, On the 25th of January i called my letting agency to report a faulty shower and was informed that my housing benefit payments had been reduced by £80 a month since October. I contacted the council office that deals with the claim and they told me it was because of an overpayment in housing benefit paid from April 2012 to September 2012 which they were claiming back. The council adviser i spoke to claimed it was because i was getting £71 contributory ESA, £28.15 work related component and £8.90 transitional addition during this time. Now here is where it gets confusing because from January 5th 2012 i had been appealing an Atos decision and was therefore only receiving the £71 basic rate of Esa. I won my appeal on July 2012 but i continued to receive the basic rate of esa until September 2012 when i finally had my payments restored and my money backdated. I've spoken to the council on three separate occasions regarding this matter and been told three different reasons. The latest reason given is that since the DWP backdated my money then they could backdate the overpayment. By far the worst part is that the council never informed me that they were going to reduce my housing benefit which has resulted in a large amount of rent arrears and the letting agency telling me that the landlord is considering serving me notice to quit. Any advice you guys can offer would be appreciated and if you need any more info, just ask.

I was told that I was overpayed tax credits in 2007 and have been making 50.00 per month payments since then. I recieved a letter last week saying thatthey want to increase this and to contact them. I did and we agreed to increase it to 60.00. I have one letter saying that I owe them 5000.00 and another letter saying that I owe them 2000.00. I really don't know where they are getting there figures from. I don't know how I was overpayed because everytime I called them to ask I was put through to someone completly different. Are there any templates on here that I can use to request information?

Really confussed and hoping that someone can give me some advice, every year im getting the same letter then nothing for the rest of the year and no chasing every year im threated court action and it never happens, ive appealled it twice but never get a response apparently overpayment is between Aug 16th 2007 -Sept 15th 2007 because of change in circumstances, however I was unaware this was happening. Partner cant of moved in with me on 15th August as we were on holiday abroad for 2 weeks. Statement of events so far, I am at a lost as to what to do. I can not afford to pay this over the next 12 months. 15th September 2007 - Letter from HMRC saying we are not going to ask you to pay it now no period stated or amount. 19th September 2007 - Single Claiment Amended Tax Credit award received no overpayment mentioned. 4th May 2008 - Annual Review Tax Credits Award received - Joint Names stating joint award started 16/08/2007, no payment breakdown given. Therefore no idea it was wrong. 21st August 2008 - Single Final Tax Credit Award received - overpayment mentioned. 29th September 2008 - Inland Revenue Letter of Notice to Pay to HMRC outstanding amount. 02nd October 2008 - Notice to pay £10.00 a month to HMRC with income and expenditure - no responce received from HMRC 11th November 2008 - Letter demanding full payment, threating legal proceedings. 15th November 2008 - Letter to HMRC notifying them that I had disputed their claims and letter was sent to them on 2nd October by Royal Mail track and trace. Proof sent to them of this, letter also mentions that I asked to speak to a manager at the HMRC which they refused. Letter threatens to send copies to Adjudicators Office and Parliamentary Ombudsman. 19th November 2008 - Letter confirming receipt of my correspondence saying to contact the office to agree payment, when I phoned they refused to let me pay it over more than 12 months which I couldnt afford to I took it to appeal. 20th November 2008 - I wrote to HMRC for appeal on the grounds that no overpayment mentioned at time of overpayment, letter stating no repayment needed, advised them we were on holiday on 15th August 2007 therefore werent living together have proof if required and on the grounds that I had no idea of the overpayment as my payments matched the award notice. 21st May 2009 - Letter received from HMRC to say an overpayment of the single award was made from 16/08/2007-17/09/2007. 10th August 2009 - Notice to Pay from myself to HMRC - I wrote a response to tax credits offering a payment of £20.00 and asking them for a way to pay this due to hardship and not being able to afford anymore, I asked the HMRC to give me the options in how I could pay this, again no response from HMRC. January/February 2012 - HMRC chasing payment again threatening payment. 28th January 2013 - HMRC chasing payment again threatening unless its paid now we will pass it to private debt collection agency. Can anybody help I have got no idea what to do.

Good afternoon, I apologise for what may turn out to be a long (first) post and I am extremely grateful for any advice provided, thank you. In a nutshell, the issue revolves around overpaid housing benefit (concerning my parents) as well as unpaid rent (their kid, which is me) and as I think I understand now, not informing the council and the housing assoc of a change in circumstances. It seems this has been an on-going issue for over three years and the council or housing assoc is not aware of it even to this day, I now am, and I know I have to inform the council ASAP and pay back what is owed (including any penalties) which I am willing to do as a lump sum immediately. I expect the overpayment to be around £8000 (and having done some research, it seems > £2000 = instant prosecution). I’ve been naïve and irresponsible (but not deliberately dishonest) beyond words during these years when it comes to dealing with who I owe money and I acknowledge this, so I hope nobody feels the need to hammer this point home after reading what follows. I need advice on how to approach this as I suspect my situation is extremely unorthodox and I’m hoping someone here can provide this advice. I am also extremely worried about any of us having to go to court. Whilst it would be horrible for my parents, I’d be most impacted by this as for my line of work , getting any kind of criminal record or caution will probably result in me being fired and is career suicide in the long term, so I would appreciate being informed on the likelihood of this. Whatever the case is, I have to get this sorted right now. Okay, I will describe what has happened. I was a full-time student at university from 08 - 12 and was a full-time student in high school (no rent to be paid and living with parents) until 08. My parents have legitly claimed housing benefit for a long time which is paid to the housing assoc directly and this covers all the rent. During my time at university, I applied for financial support from SLC and was provided with loans as well as a grant for each year, although I let my dad deal with most of the paperwork, that being said everything declared on the forms was accurate and I signed off on it. My parents did not inform the council of a change in circumstances when I started university nor a change in tenancy to the housing assoc. I lived out in the first year and was paying rent to another landlord so, whilst being wrong, I suspect this did not make any difference in terms of overpayment of my parents’ housing benefit for that first year. For the subsequent years, I moved back home, my parents were going through a number of health as well as personal issues from that time and I decided it was best. At the time, my dad (who deals with all the benefits inflow), essentially told me that if I was a full-time student living with him then I did not need to pay any rent, and he briefly showed me some documents (benefits notices from the council I think) which had my name on there as a non-dependent to show that the council knew I was there and I trusted him, he’s my dad afterall. I should have looked at those documents more carefully and done more research on this as I have done now. I presume this is why he did not inform the council of a change in circumstances earlier either, as he still believed I was a full-time student and was unaware like me of the legal distinction. So essentially, since I moved back (except holidays where I was working full-time in other areas) the full rent was being paid to the housing assoc (so the housing assoc was satisfied) in the form of my parents overpaid housing benefits and I was not paying rent directly to the housing assoc as I should have been. As for what’s happened to all the loan/grants money, nothing really, the money has been saved but for necessary expenses and I’m preparing to repay a significant portion back to the SLC, and now of course, to cover my parents overpaid housing benefit, I’ve not been emptying the bank account for hookers and booze as you might expect. So I discovered all the details more recently and so I’m writing all this as I understand it now, which I feel is correct and it seems I’ve essentially been digging myself a hole for the past few years. I’ve told my dad all this and shown him all the info and it seems he is now aware of his mistake. Of course I should know better, but given that I’ve never directly dealt with claiming any sort of benefit if my life, my dad should definitely have known better and I find it difficult to believe that he didn’t know this, and to some extent he still isn’t listening to me. Either way, we’ve discussed this and have decided of course that the council needs to be informed ASAP. We’re just disagreeing on the way to write it. Of course, the letter is more for my dad to write since it’s his benefits that have been overpaid but I am nonetheless involved. I’m going for a full disclosure letter, like this to some extent where we’re open about the mistakes made, whereas my dad simply wants to tell the council I’m no longer at university and essentially let them figure what has been going on which I feel is not honest. The council does know I’m a resident here given my name on the various notices (as correctly declared in SLC forms, census etc.) but there obviously seems to have been some error since they’re still paying the full rent to the housing assoc. So my question is.. how should we go about writing this letter and informing the council & landlord as to what’s been going on, it has been a genuine silly mistake it seems owing to neglect, but I’m afraid it will not be interpreted this way. As I said, I’m afraid for the consequences for my parents but a lot more so for myself – I’ve been top of my school, top at university, top in everything I’ve done – no convictions or record or nothing and I am a genuinely decent person and my line of work also depends on a clean record, so am I screwed? What kind of consequences can me, or my parents expect for this (apart from repayment + penalties which is fully deserved and can be paid immediately). Thanks for making it down here (and hopefully for replying!), I really appreciate it.

We claimed housing benefit for a few months last year when is was unable to work, in my wife's name. Recently she has had letters from the council claiming that the benefit had been over paid and that the council were seeking to recover just over £1000 in overpaid benefit. Having checked the figures myself it seems we do owe the money, but the the council are being rather unreasonable imho in coming to an arrangement to repay. I was wondering what options the council have open to them to persue this further if I were to start simply sending them a monthly cheque for what is can afford, rather than continue to bang my head against a brick wall explaining that i just can't clear it in 3 months and feed my kids at the same time. Can they get a liability order and send in bailiffs as they do for council tax arrears or would they need to go for a CCJ where we'd get another chance to negotiate sensible monthly payments? TIA Mat

I was due to be sentenced for benefit fraud (did not declare change of circumstances regarding some savings). Strange thing is that they DWP cannot locate my original claim form and I have never completed an A2 form, so there is no paperwork of me saying I have no savings. As I say I was due to be sentenced at the Magistrates Court and a second before sentencing, the prosecution advised that the DWP want to implement a Confiscation Order. As a Mag court cannot implement a C Order it has to be transferred to the High Court. I have been waiting months for this to come to court, went just before Xmas and this was adjourned awaiting a Pre Sentence Report and I was expecting the outcome this week and now it has been put back again. I just want to know if I turn up at the next hearing and bring a cheque for the full amount of the overpayment will the DWP still insist on going down the Confiscation Route. I have already been making payments. If they do go down the confiscation route that will take another 6-8 months and this has been going on since April 2012. Any help would be welcomed.

Hi, I have just received from my local council a overpayment Invoice for £1267.52. I am mystrified to why since I was on Income Support/JSA until I commenced work in 2008. I informed all concerned about this and all seemed well until now. I see how they can make this decision 4 years down the line, and demand this from me. I have tried to contact them via the conatct call centre and the local council offices, which the first I may no contact as I was hung up on or left on hold for ages, and the people in the office simply stated they cant help you have to go through the call centre, which I pointed out they are not helping.. Can they do this this far down the line ?, I know about the Statues Barred etc.. but this would not apply to this, where do I go with this? , as I have had these supposed council guys at my door before and about repoing my car as I had not paid my fine, which I had but in a payment plan which they didnt even look up until I showed them and they looked on their system and confirmed it, they said they could take what they wanted with out court orders etc.. ?, is that true they are above the law in this respect ?, I have my doubts but I am worried that this may again happen ?. So any advise please would I would be most grateful. Regards

Hi, I went through the whole investigation process earlier last year with regards to my claim for child and working tax credits for the years 10-11 and 11-12. Basically during those 2 years my partner and i werent together and he lived away from the family home. However i was flagged up as his name was still on mortgage and some of the bills. The whole process made me ill and there was no way i could prove he wasnt living at our home amd had another address as he was working away staying in hotels. they needed concrete evidence such as him paying council tax or rent elsewhere. They told me i could appeal but i didnt have it in me to do it and just had to take it on the chin. They calculated that i owed them £29,000 for the 2 years (yes OUCH!!) and as i am in hardship they have agreed for me to pay back £10 a week for now. I will be 98 when its all paid! I have asked in the past, but have not had an answer as to whether this can be reduced according to what he actually earned during those 2 years. For example, during one of those years he was out of work for a few months but did not claim benefits, so that year he didnt earn a great deal and we would have been entitled to some tax credits. HMRC have not taken his earnings for those 2 years into account and i think that if they did, it would reduce my debt by at least £10,000 if not more. We are now back together and have been advised to put in a fresh joint claim which we have and i am still entitled to some money per week. I am wondering whether there is anyone i can speak to regarding this who would know if it can be looked into. Thanks for any help!