Hi - I have just received a letter from the DWP Debt Management Dept. For the record I was made redundant in Feb 2012 and current claiming JSA contributory, my partner was also made redundant a few months earlier. The letter advised they are going to deduct £47.32 per fortnight from my benefits but didn't give any reason for what this overpayment was for. I have just spoken to them and they claim its from an overpayment of Income Support between the years of 1992 to 1994 and the balance is over 2k. I genuinely don't remember this and haven't received any correspondence from them about this outstanding amount. When I spoke to them they agreed to reduce the payments to £10.00 a week and are sending out an I&E. My partner called them back asking for all the proof of this claimed overpayment to be sent through only to be advised it will take 10 working days for the file to be sent to them and they will call me with the info. They advised we will have to write to them in order to get the file / proof of this debt sent to us. We asked if we needed to send a SAR request and the chap didn't seem to understand what my partner was saying. I'm in such a panic about this and would appreciate any info or help in this very complicated matter. Thanks.

Hi there I am new to this and i guess i have been quiet for far too long but today just took the biscuit. i applied for DLA in march due to a couple of conditions i suffer from (pachyonychia congenita, cataplexy with narcolepsy) My welfare advisor helped me fill out the DLA form and all seemed to be going smoothly with the usual letters of request for information from doctors and specialists, even the we are taking our time letter. then i got a home visit from the medical services, nothing out of the ordinary. today was the day of the home visit and all seemed to go well the HCP was polite and seemed to be asking question that actually where relevant to my conditions. a surprise in itself i guess judging from what i have read on here the last few days. so any way the HCP left and then the postman delivered the post and there was the brown letter, i wasn't expecting one after only just having one on monday stating that it will be a few more weeks untill i hear from the DWP. On opening it i was to say the least shocked. The decision had been made with the usual but somwhat disturbing "you dont have... etc etc" it even said the decision was made using the report from the HCP yet the letter was dated 25th and the HCP wasnt to visit untill today 27th This is unfair in my opinion as the decision maker made his/her decision before the medical report was even made. I know i will have to make an appeal as the decision is blatantly wrong. but what way should i go about doing it? do i wait for the HCP report to actually reach them and ask for a reconsideration or do i just go for my guns and appeal the decision? and on what grounds ? your great advice will be really appreciated on this matter thanks for reading

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Hi ,I am hoping someone has the answer for me to this. Me and hubby are currently going through the Income support/ESA transfer, and hubby has recieved a letter today for a medical next monday, and I am wanting to know if he does fail the medical can I claim jobseekers for myself,hubby and 2 kids?, as my hubby is too ill to work. I know he can appeal but we dont want all the worries of doing so, so if he does fail and I can claim jobseekers then I am more than happy with that

Hi all, So i reccently appealed against an ESA decision that found me fit for work. The appeal lasted 15-ish mins with decision sent by post. When tribunal letter arrived on last saturday (5/11/11) i thought it said id lost my appeal. So monday 7/11/11 i joined JSA over phone and told them id been on ESA and about the Tribunal letter etc. Today 12/11/11 i get a letter from DWP dated 10/11/11 saying: "You made an appeal against Employment and Support Allowance decision issued to you on 17 March 2011. We have looked again at the facts and evidence we used to make our decision.As a result we have changed the decision. Your appeal will not be sent to the Appeals Service as the decsion has been changed in your favour. We cannot pay you an allowance from 8 November 2011.This is becasue: You have claimed another benfit like Income Support or Jobseekers Allowance" :jaw:Did i mess up by moving to JSA? did i win my appeal? do i get backpayment from last WCA to 7/11/11 ? Please help im confused as i thought Tribunal told me my appeal wasnt successfull,hmm,cant find damn Tribunal letter now Who do i listen to? DWP or Tribunal Service? Also if they changed their decision in my favour as they stated and i was allowed to claim ESA,can i ditch JSA and now dash back onto ESA quickly?

Thought I'd start a new thread rather than Hijack the other fellow's. I received a letter before action from Fredrickson saying that I owed money to the Dept for Work and Pensions, and that they were working on behalf of their client iQor who were then acting on behalf of DWP. IT states the usual about paying in the next 7 days or it will proceed, etc, etc and they give me a nice little box with fees, etc on it. Now my only concern is, I have no recollection of any debt for the amount they ask, and I don't even know who DWP are... I was thinking of sending them a letter, for which I found a template on this site, which is the following.... Name/Address: Date: Dear Sir/Madam You have contacted me/us regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by myself/ourselves. I/we would point out that I/we have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to (insert company name). I am/we are familiar with the CPUTR 2008 and the Office of Fair Trading's Guidance on debt collection, which states that it unfair to send demands for payment to an individual when it is uncertain that they are the debtor in question. I/we would also point out that the OFT say under the Guidance that it is unfair to pursue third parties for payment when they are not liable. AND in not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debt you are using deceptive/and or unfair methods. Furthermore ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts have been settled or are disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment amounts to physical/psychological harassment. I/we would ask that no further contact be made concerning the above account unless you can provide evidence as to my/our liability for the debt in question. I/we await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed. Otherwise I will have no option but to make a complaint to Trading Standards and also inform the Office Of Fair Trading of your actions. I/we look forward to your reply. Yours faithfully To think all this because I changed my address with my bank... Bloody nightmare.

Hi all, Today I have received a letter telling me I'm being investigated for benefit fraud and I must attend an interview under caution. I can categorically state I've not been involved in benefit fraud and I'm a mixture of angry and worried. I called them to ask what it was about and all they would say is that they have reason to believe my partner was living with me when I claimed. Here's the situation: I was living with my partner until June 2010. Due to various reasons we separated and he moved out. From this point I claimed benefits as I was looking after our child etc. He moved into work accommodation and paid his rent, bills and registered to vote etc etc. This can obviously be proven. We had a child together and when I called benefits to advise that my partner moved out they said "will you be sorting out child maintenance?" I replied that we would sort it out between us which they were happy with. We were amicable for the sake of our daughters and he suggested paying the gas, electric, water, tv license aswell as contributing to clothes, nappies etc for kids. This contribution amounted to about the same value as the £180 per month I would get from the CSA. It made sense too as I only have a post office account so could not have direct debits. So he kept to the direct debits. His accommodation was a single room in works accommodation and due to the nature of his work it was not appropriate for kids to go there. He would come and visit the kids and take them out a few days a week. On the odd occasion he would stay overnight to look after them more. He would sleep on the sofa and didn't eat with us at all as he was on maximuscle protein shakes so didn't eat lol. By staying over on the odd occasion I mean rarely. This continued for months. In may 2011 we began to discuss getting back together and he moved in early June and we immediately informed dwp and hmrc etc. Today 6/7 weeks later we have received this letter. I'm just worried and angry as I don't see that Ive done anything wrong at all. I can prove he lived elsewhere. What evidence could they have when ive been completely above board? Any help, advice etc would be great. Thanks

Two weeks ago (21st July) I sent an appeal form (GL24) to the DWP after scoring '0' points following a recent Work Capability Assessment. In the meantime my ESA has been stopped and I I have a photocopy of the GL24 the Job Centre made for me, but all I've had is this vague letter and a pre-paid envelope telling me to respond within 14 days (dated 28th July) which states: ------------------------------------- ABOUT YOUR APPEAL I am writing about your letter dated 25/07/11 telling us you want to appeal. The law says we can only deal with an appeal when it has been made in the right way. We are sending back your letter because the reason why you want to appeal against this decision. You must reply within 14 days. You can use the envelope we have sent you. It does not need a stamp. When we receive your reply we will decide if the appeal should go ahead as normal. If we think the appeal cannot go ahead we will send it to the Tribunals Service and they will decide. If you do not reply within 14 days we will send your appeal to the Tribunals Service. The Tribunals Service will decide if the appeal can go ahead. If you want more information please get in touch with us. Our address and phone number are at the top of this letter. Yours sincerely Appeals Admin ---------------------------- The letter ESA65) (explaining they had decided I was 'fit for work' along with the 'statement of reasons' didn't arrive until AFTER I had phoned the DWP to find out if I had passed/failed the assessment. When an advisor on the phone asked if I wanted to appeal, (and explained he couldn't give out my results over the phone) told me by going to JCP, asking for a GL24 and just put simply "I believe I should have scored more than 15 points" in the reasons box. Which I did. The advisor said as soon as they got the form the sooner I'd get paid at the assessment rate. I've been calling them for 2 weeks every other day to check if they had received it, I've been told over and over again yes - but it's waiting to be verified before any assessment rate payments will be resumed... still nothing, but last Thursday (when I assume this odd letter is dated 28th July) another advisor said it should be all sorted this week, midweek at the latest I should be paid... Is this why ESA has still not been reinstated at the assessment rate? Even though I was *told* it would be as soon as they received the GL24. Driving me crazy-er!! I'm confused about what I am actually meant to do next? It's confusing as they haven't returned the form. Even though it says "we are sending back your letter". What letter is that? the form?? Would I be correct in doing either/all of the following? - Write a letter explaining I didn't have all the information when I submitted the GL24 form, but am writing to provided more information? - Get a new GL24 Form from the job centre and fill it out all-over again being more specific about the reasons? Should I say something to oppose their assessment of me on the 'Statement of Reasons' where they state what points I've been given one by one? How do I 'properly' phrase that? Such as (example): - "I disagree with your statement that I "behave in a way that would be acceptable at work." Because you fail my behaviour (aggressive uncontrollable outbursts) in a workplace environment is not appropriate and causes significant distress to others." etc Should I elaborate further...? or would the above suffice? What happens if my response is unsatisfactory, and the DWP do indeed refer it to the tribunal? will I not be paid even assement rate until they decide I can appeal? Please help, I've got virtually no money as my entitlement to ESA stopped at at the start of July, and can't even have a crisis loan for food/living costs as I've already had the maximum 3 small payments since April (thanks to a decision maker taking 6 weeks to initiate the claim).

On Thursday, I woke up and wasn't feeling well. I went to the job centre as normal and signed on. I woke up yesterday and felt much worse and am still not feeling well at all. Because of this, I haven't managed to do any job searching. (I spent most of yesterday sleeping) This should be a temporary issue (I do have permanent disabilities; but this is irrelevant) - although I'm not sure how long it'll last. Does anyone know what the rules are in regards to JSA and illness please?

I have just recieved a letter stating that i have an unpaid debt of £3972.00 for overpayment of income support from 1995 and overpayment of sickness benefit from 2001 and other debts i have no knowledge of. I have never been informed of any outstanding debt by them whatsoever. I remember 1995 i started work in november and did not tell them of any change until feb 1996. They invited me into there office and i admitted the oversight. I have no knowledge of any other outstanding debt to them. They are sending me the file. They said that if i dont pay them they will send a debt collection agency after me. They also said that the 6 year rule of statute barred does not apply to them and they will vigourously persue it. They said they had previously contacted me by letter sent to the wrong addresses. What should i do next??

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I'm looking for some help on this one, I've had a letter from a company called Iqor demanding £750 for benefit overpayment in 2006. what should I do? Do I have to pay? is there any way I can dispute this?