I have been directed here by HB13. Thanks. We are having a bit of a hassle with my wife's occupational pension. Up to a week ago my wife received SSP but that has stopped so no income from her employer however she shoudl be on ESA. Up to now her pension was deducted from her SSP but obviously that cannot happen now. We have tried to pay a lump sum (4 weeks) up front but require a receipt for the DWP so that our benfits can be adjusted. Employer says that they cannot accept a payment fro various reasons. Pension company state it needs to come from employer so in a catch 22 situation. We do not want the policy to lapse through no payment. Employer has stated that they will continue to pay their contribution but this premium is directly related to the amount my wife pays in every month so this has left us very puzzled. We also have had an issue with the financial advisor that was suippose to be helping us but that will be on anothe thread.

The DWP told me that I had been overpaid last October, although it wasn't until April 2017 that they decided how much I had to repay. This was settled at £3.70 a week out of my Income Support (I am a full time carer who gets Carers Allowance and Income Support) in May 2017. Today (21st October 2017) they have written to me saying they want to review how much I pay them and increase it. It has only been 5 months! My circumstances haven't changed. CA and IS are my only sources of income, and out of that I have bills to pay. Is there a letter I can send which will keep it at the current repayment rate? And can they just increase the repayments? If they did, can I appeal? Thanks!

Hi all, I received a letter yesterday from Rossendales saying I had to pay almost £3300 within 7 days due to HMRC saying I owe for overpaid Tax Credits from 2009-2010. I disputed the overpayment at the time, as HMRC wanted proof of my childcare costs and I was in dispute with my childminder at the time for an incident with my daughter where I removed her from their care and they refused to give me receipts, saying their paperwork was with their lawyer as they were going to do me 'for slander'.... I explained this to HMRC and said I couldn't provide the receipts. Haven't heard anything for at least 4 years now, and all of a sudden I have this letter from Rossendales saying they are collecting it. My personal circumstance has changed massively since the dispute, I am now married and a homeowner, however I am currently on maternity leave which will become unpaid after the end of February, where my only income will be my child benefit (my husband wants me to stay at home). Question one - if I have no income myself, what can I say to Rossendales? Question two - will they take my husband's wage into consideration? I wasn't living with him at the time of the supposed overpayment and the debt would not be his. Thanks in advance

Need a bit of advice, 2013/2014 HMRC said they overpaid working tax credits by £5500. My wife was claiming DLA, we didn't receive a payment but they paid her NI contributions as I earned too much, the previous years claims where fine apparently but nothing had changed in the claim just maybe my wage might have increased slightly. Long story short we tried to go through the dispute path but missed out by being over the 30 days mainly due to me having heart surgery in-between all this. We haven't heard anything regarding the debt just on the renewal pack saying we had a debt and it would be taken out of any working tax payments but we don't receive any payments so it hasn't been dropping. Got a letter from Advantis wanting full payment or a payment agreement setting up, I don't mind paying what we owe even though we have issues with HMRC in all this. How is the best way to deal with this I am limited on how much I can pay as just before my heart surgery we got married and took a loan out and as I was off work for 4 months racked up a big credit card bill just getting by.

Just a quick question or two: My Mother, who's 80, has been overpaid by the DWP by around 1400 pounds, as she was kinda late in informing them of a change of circumstance. That I had moved in with her, as her carer, five months before. She's happy to repay the amount but we were wondering about how much to offer. I've suggested 10 pounds per week direct from her benefits. Does this sound like a reasonable amount? If not, can someone suggest what would be. Also, the DWP suggest we should call their 'Dept Management Team' , I'm kinda thinking that sending the offer by recorded delivery would be better. I really get stressed dealing with this kinda stuff over the phone, would that be acceptable? thanks in advance, bob

Hi everyone. I'm just after the best advice as to how to deal with Rossendales. Naturally I haven't and will not speak to them on the phone. They are claiming I owe a WTC overpayment of £139.07 from 2014. This would have been from the time when I was self-employed. I can just about remember getting some derisory amount of a couple of quid a week from way back. Could this be it? Anyway, I thought I would 'test the water' so to speak with them and wrote back asking if the debt had been assigned to them, knowing full well that HMRC doesn't assign debts. They came back with two letters, one factual, one rude saying essentially send us a statement of your finances and stop messing about! Now for the life of me I MIGHT owe this debt, but then again I might not and HMRC could be wrong. Rossendales say they don't under the 2005 Act have to provide info proving the debt. I am minded to fire back a letter along the lines of 'psychological harassment' and say if you won't provide the info get HMRC to but I would welcome all views and thoughts before I do.

A client of mine has an overpayment that's arose from a grey area due to having long-term mental health problems (the latter is what he is using our service for). Councils seem to vary with how they handle vulnerable adults, has any one any advice or central information? His health has deteriorated and he is worried about further action. He receives income support, HB and CT reduction.

Hi all Back in february I had a call from DWP saying they'd received information that my savings had gone over the limit for income support and requested bank statements for the previous 6 months. Some of those accounts had been closed and it was a bit awkward to get statements, the bank however provided a closing balance that detailed the sums in the account between the dates they were asking for (backward from Nov 16 - present) It also stated that thee was a zero balance and the account closed in January. I'd heard nothing at all for three months and then this evening got a call from them saying I hadn't sent all the statements in which i have. On the letter they originally sent, there was also a line asking for statement for any other accounts dating back to Nov 2014. I didn't send any in because there were no other accounts, however, they are now saying they made an error in their original letter and that i should of provided statements for all accounts going back to 2014. I've complied fully without hesitation up til now but the fact that they've only just (allegedly) started looking at my case and to not even notify me of the delay then claim it's MY error is crap. and I feel that I no longer wish to be so helpful. I've had three months of worry and it's not fair. Now I've got who knows how long before they make a decision. What (if any) are my rights here? I'm guessing that they'll use the non-compliance line and just stop my (and potentially my daughters too) benefits? BTW, it did turn out that my savings DID go over the limit for about a week by a couple of hundred quid. As soon as i got off the phone to the DWP, i immediately checked my account and on going back about a month did find the problem. I also called the investigator back and declared this- and this was caused by a large backpayment of benefits owed to my daughter for ESA and my benefits going in on the same day and a large deposit from the council related to 6 months of expenses they owed me). I'm my daughter's full time carer and i manage her benefits in my account as she still lives at home - she has a severe mental disability. All of this information is clearly shown on the statements i sent in. I had assumed also that as we both get benefits in our own right that we are both entitled to the savings limits (6k each) Can anybody clarify this point. I've always been super careful not to go over the limits as i know this automatically triggers a notice to DWP. This often means that I end up having to buy stuff that is not really required just to stay under the limits - an absolutely ludicrous state of affairs. My daughter is now 20 and will soon be moving out into supported living and I have always tried to save a little money from her benefits to set her up in her own home when the time comes. If anybody has some info or hints i'd be much obliged Stool

got a letter saying i have been overpaid/fraud last year. They say they will be going back 15 years. !

In 2013 I started claiming HB, both myself and my husband are self employed. We had only just set the business up in 2012 following him being made redundant and me having a baby. For the first 3 tax years the business made a loss (2010, 2013, 2014). In January 2017 they wanted to reassess us again , I made up the books (I was doing this anyway for the Jan 31st deadline) and found we had made a small profit, which was reduced by the tax losses brought forward. I then also made up the next lot of accounts when the new tax year started in April. The council have reassessed and said we were overpaid and we owe them around £9500 in HB and £3500 in CT, plus we have now accrued £400 in rent arrears while this is being sorted out. As far as I can see the problem / over payment has been caused by the council using different figures than the tax man, for example they have disallowed certain expenses which have left me scratching my head. I had no way of knowing what they would or wouldn't allow, and on top of this they seem to have made up a lot of the figures. I called shelter and they said they couldn't help, I called CAB who said from what I told them I need to get a specialist solicitor, but I have no idea how much this will cost and I have no savings, I live week to week on our low income. 've written to the council, and copied their own letter and written corrections next to all of their figures. This making me feel sick to my stomach, I have no way of paying back what they want, plus I think it's incorrect. I psyched myself up to phone first thing but they aren't open until this afternoon. I just can't believe when I've been 100% straight and always notified them of any changes that I'm now £14,000 in debt. Does anyone have any experience of this sort of thing? Is there anything specific I should ask or say when I do speak to them?

Hi I did some work temporary for a company from October - December 2016 Today they have sent a letter saying it has been discovered that I was overpaid on my January pay by £435.70 and they want it repaid as it states in my contract 'if an administrative error has been made on pay, the company reserves the right to recover the overpayment' I asked for a copy of my signed contact showing this. They have sent me what looks like a standard contract template with my name in and wrong start date. I then went back and asked for the actual signed contract with my signature on and dated (which I know they don't have as I never signed a contact) to which they have replied 'We do not hold a signed copy on file for you as we didn't receive one' I asked for payslips too as they were online and I cannot access them as now an ex employee. Payslips show they have underpaid my holidays be 3 days and also missed off 12 hours of overtime... Also if I am to pay this or some of this back where do I stand on tax and ni as I have paid those based on the full payment? Looking for some advice before going back to them Regards Richard

Hi everyone, I would appreciate your advice on this matter. I received a letter from Newlyn about a month ago regarding an overpayment of housing benefit from Newham Council, amounting to around £2200. I contacted them straight away asking for details, as the council has never written to me at my new address. Newlyn said they didn't have any details, as they had only held the account for several days. I then started getting phone calls every couple of days. When I couldn't come to the phone, they would leave me a voicemail and I always returned their calls. I explained the situation again the second time I spoke to them and the lady told me which period the overpayment was for to which I replied that it was still insufficient information, but she said she didn't know any more. I've contacted the council, requesting to know why they think I owe them money and asked for a statement of payment from them. I've spoken to Newlyn at least twice after this and explained on every occasion that I've contacted the council to enquire about the situation but have yet to receive a reply. The people on the phone said they were unable to 'hold' the account, even though I've done everything I can and they're not providing me with a reason to pay. I have received an automated response email from the council stating they have received my enquiry and they will respond to me in due time, but Newlyn won't leave me alone. In the past few days, they have sent me a letter that was addressed to 'the occupier' requesting for a forwarding address for me even though, I've contacted and spoken to them many times. I don't know how to proceed. I can't pay them - I don't have the money, but also I don't see why I should pay when I haven't been given reason to. They've said "you owe this much, now pay up" and that's pretty much it. I'm really stressed out about how quickly this is escalating and I'm really frustrated as to why I'm expected to pay when they haven't even explained to me why I owe them money. I'm struggling to cope with this and I feel really trapped. Thanks in advance to anyone who responds. Zoe

My question, I understand this is not a credit agreement however If my Local Authority (LA) has broken the law in an attempt to recover an over payment how can it then use the courts? When it comes to finance:- (1) Failure to comply with the law means that the agreement becomes unenforceable while the failure to comply persists, and the courts have no discretion to allow enforcement. (2) In such cases, a firm should in no way, either by act or omission, mislead a customer as to the enforceability of the agreement. (3) In particular, a firm should not in such cases either threaten court action or other enforcement of the debt or imply that the debt is enforceable when it is not. Backstory:- In 2012 received a letter inviting me to a interview under caution. I attended and then never heard anything for 2 years then I received a letter advising they are not going to pursue criminal charges but are going to recover the debt just under 15k. Here is my catalogue of errors:- 26/11/2015 A subject access request was issued to LA under the data protection act 1998. The request was made for any and all evidence that LA holds that suggests or confirms that I was overpaid any type of benefits. (STILL NOT RECEIVED A RESPONSE) 27/11/2015 - 1 A dispute was raised under The Housing Benefit Regulations 2006. The legislation specifically states that just because an overpayment is recoverable, does not mean that it must be recovered. The law goes on to confirm that a recoverable overpayment may be recovered at the local authority's discretion which must be documented. A subject access request was issued to LA under the data protection act 1998. The request was made for the document that confirms that a meeting did take place and that LA decision to recover the debit is both within the guidelines and lawful. 27/11/2015 - 2 A dispute was raised under Regulations 17 to 30 and Schedules 1 and 2 of The Social Security (Overpayments and Recovery) Regulations 2013. This was raised due to LA issuing an attachment of earning order (DAE – Dated 24/11/2015) to my employee seeing a deduction rate of 20%. The legislation confirms that the deduction rate will be 11% only. 27/11/2015 - 3 A dispute was raised under The Social Security (Overpayments and Recovery) Regulations 2013. The legislation clearly confirms that I and my partner should of received a “letter before action” before any DEA was processed. It also clearly confirmed that “A DEA cannot be requested against a partner’s earnings”. On 24/11/2015 I received a copy of a letter which was address to partners employer ordering them to deduct money from my partners salary. Again the rate the requested was 20% which is unlawful as pointed out above. Furthermore to this it is illegal to issue a DEA to my “partners” employer as documented in the legislation. 30/11/2015 I received an email from LA confirming they have broken the law by trying to recover the debt unlawfully. 17/12/2015 I raised a dispute surrounding the service in which I had received through the process of LA trying to recover the money. I explained clearly to LA that I had plans to declare myself bankrupt. In response LA stated that if I did declares me bankrupt that LA could still lawfully recover the debt. After review of the Housing Benefit Overpayments Guide for Local Authorities it’s clear that the debt will be written off as per the normal bankruptcy process. To add to this I would also like to bring your attention to the following documentation which is taken directly from the DWP guide:- 32. DWP had previously held the view that a benefit overpayment (including HB or Council Tax Benefit (CTB)) does not become a fixed liability until such time as the decision maker has made a determination that the overpayment, or part of it, is recoverable under social security legislation. 33. This was confirmed in 2005 in the case of ® Steele v Birmingham City Council and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. You can refer to previous bulletins HB/CTB U1/2011, HB/CTB U6/2011, and HB/CTB U1/2012 34. When a debtor is discharged from bankruptcy then any non-fraud debts, where the end date of the overpayment is before the date of the bankruptcy order, must be written off. This must take effect immediately. 35. Legal advice is that DWP should do everything possible to identify cases impacted by this judgement. Source:-http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/pdfs/G10_2013.doc Once again this documentation confirms that the debt will be written off as per the normal bankruptcy process. I believe this evidence confirms that LA deliberately miss lead I to increase LA possibility of recovering the overpayment of benefits which again is acting unlawfully and unfairly. 11/04/2016 - 1 To date I have not received a response to my subject access request dated 26/11/2015. This is a clear breach of the Data Protection Act 1998. As a result I have to assume that they have no evidence that suggests or confirmed that I & my partner where living together. 11/04/2016 - 2 To date I have not received a response to my subject access request dated 27/11/2016. This is a clear breach of the Data Protection Act 1998. As a result I have to assume that the meeting never took place and as a result I would also like to challenge that the policy of LA would is not in the interest of claimants; and would prevent the use of discretion. As per the legislation each case should be considered on its own merits having regard to the claimant's circumstances. 11/04/2016 - 3 To date I have not received a direct response to my complaint surrounding the service to which I have received from LA. 29/09/2016 A subject access request was issued to LA (Halton Borough Council) under the data protection act 1998. The request was made for a copy of the liability order. LA have responded to my request but have only provided me with a bill not the information requested. 07/10/2016 As per the Attachment of Earnings Act 1971 a maximum of TWO orders can be deducted at any one time and I have to be issued with a copy of each order. I have not received a copy of any order and as of 7/10 they are now taking THREE at once. Another point I would like to raise is under section 4.241 of the Social Security (Overpayments and Recovery) Regulations 2013 “4.241 When an appeal is brought before recovery has begun, or during recovery, it is good practice to suspend action until the appeal has been decided“. LA have ignore this legislation and continued to attempt to recover the overpayment when there are several disputes still outstanding. Again this is unlawful. More Case Law support my claim:- 2. R (on the application of Newham London Borough Council) v Stratford Magistrates' Court &Selwyn Dublin (Interested Party)[2008] EWHC 125 (Admin), [2008] RA 108, [2008] All ER (D) 17 (Jan) [2008]. The court must be satisfied that one of the following conditions are met: • the order was made as a result of asubstantial procedural error, defect or mishap, and / or • that there was a genuine dispute as to that liability. substantial procedural error – I had not received an initial summons in relation to the claim in order to defend myself. The relevant legislation is outlined under Section 14 of the Magistrates Court Act 1980. there was a genuine dispute as to that liability – I have explained my dispute above. More supporting Case Law:- 3. R (Brighton and Hove City Council) v Brighton and Hove Justices [2004] EWHC 1980 (Admin) (“Brighton & Hove”). HHJ Burnton held that a court should not set aside a liability order unless it is satisfied that there is a genuine and arguable dispute as to the defendant’s liability for the rates in question, AND a. the order was made as a result of asubstantial procedural error, defect or mishap. AND b. the application to the justices for the order to be set aside is made promptly after the defendant learns that it has been made or has notice that an order may have been made. Prompt action should be taken within a matter of days or at most a very few weeks. genuine and arguable dispute – It’s clear that my argument is genuine. substantial procedural error, defect or mishap – I have proven above that the claimant is operating outside of the law on this matter to recover this debt. the application to the justices for the order to be set aside is made promptly after the defendant learns that it has been made – It has been less than 3 weeks since I was made aware of the liability orders. LA alsol processed a county court claim against myself for an over payment of housing benefits the case number is CXXXXXX I was successful in defending this claim and the claim was struck out on the 12th July 2016. I have now received a letter from my LA stating that they have entered my case into the High Court for Enforcement Proceedings. Where can I go from here any help would be appreciated.

I received an overpayment letter in november 2016 saying hmrc confirmed my income had increased between dec 15 to oct 16. it was originally over £1000 but they had my earnings wrong and i had an underpayment and my overpayment was reduced to £212. how long did it take for you to receive your IUC letter after your overpayment one? i just want this over and done with and i can't afford a solicitor.

Hi, My son started a University course in September 2015 but left after a month due to health issues (both physically/mentally) we let the Uni and Student Finance know immediately. Student Finance are constantly in contact regarding an overpayment of just over £300 and refuse to back off and keep both phoning and sending letters, my son is claiming PIP but nothing else, he is on medication and a doctors letter has been sent to SF to explain the situation. They have suggested that I help pay his overpayment but im a carer for his younger brother and don't work. Ive been told that they will proceed to court and bailiffs and am worried about this. What is the best thing for us to do as he doesnt have any money at the moment? Thank you.

I'm sorry in advance if this is a bit vague, but I don't have all the details available. I was contacted by HMRC a year or two ago, stating that I had been overpaid Tax Credits for the year 2013/2014. It came about because I apparently didn't tell them that I stopped using my childcare provider when I moved and had therefore been being paid the 'childcare element' for almost a year, that I wasn't entitled to. I STRONGLY disputed this because I phoned them when I moved to give them my new address, and am absolutely certain that I told them at the same time, that I'm no longer using registered childcare as my mum was now providing my childcare. It just makes no logical sense as I had moved 160 miles so why they'd think I was still using a childcare provider 160 miles away is beyond me... I was so sure that I'd told them, that I began an appeal and requested audio copies of my telephone calls to them within the month that I moved (and the month following, just incase it had taken me a few weeks) They sent me a CD Rom disc with two recordings on - one of which was a phonecall that wasn't even me, it was a completely different person asking about who received Tax Credits if her and her ex husband have joint custody..! The other phonecall was me, but wasn't the phonecall I was referring to (when I moved). So I responded again saying that one wasn't me, but that there must be another one, and apparently it doesn't exist - which is funny, because they had my new address, so it must exist as I must have phoned them to tell them! Anyway, after this I kind-of gave up because I was frightened (the overpayment is large..!) and I didn't feel like I was getting anywhere, that I was going to end up being made to pay it and I don't know how I can. By now I was also no longer a single parent (in a new relationship) so no longer in receipt of Tax Credits and therefore they couldn't deduct it from my award - they just kept sending me payment demands. Since then, I have moved again (last year) and so far I haven't received any more letters from them - I'm assuming they don't know my new address and therefore don't know where contact me, so I have been happily keeping quiet. However I am currently pregnant again and we are in a position where I may have to give up work following my maternity leave as we can't afford the childcare (we no longer have family help with that). Based on my partners income, we *should* be entitled to some tax credits which we would desperately need - but I'm too scared to contact them/apply, as I'm assuming they'll put two and two together at some point; they'll then have my new address and will be able to start chasing me for that previous overpayment again. Would this be likely to happen? I'm even too scared to apply for Tax Relief for my uniform/professional fees etc at work because that's through HMRC too and I'm scared to make any form of contact with them even if it's not the Tax Credits department, as they'll then know where I am We are really struggling financially despite both working hard (with good jobs and a fairly decent wage), so I just don't know how I could begin to pay it back if they insist I have to.. but on the same note, we also do need those Tax Credits if I have to give up work.. that's if they even allow it with an outstanding overpayment on file?! Would it flag up straight away about the previous overpayment, due to my NI number being linked to it..? Would it be dangerous to even apply, considering they'd then have my new address and my NI number will presumably flag up the overpayment again at some point, even if not straight away? Sorry for the long post, my head is a bit of a mess about it all..!

Hi, I'm in a regulated tenancy. The rent's just gone up. The council, who pay my rent (I was on ESA in the SG long term, now I'm on GPC), are now complaining they overpaid on the old rent. They are threatening to suspend my HB claim or get the alleged overpayments back, presumably by underpaying the existing rent till they think we're square. They aren't offering any evidence of overpayment, however. My landlords, who have contacted them about this by email and ccd me on it, say the council always have been and are paying the correct rent, and have briefly broken down how the rent is arrived at for them. The council refuse to accept their figures and insist they've been overpaying. I want to see evidence of what they've been paying so I'd like to do a SAR; to whom should I address it please? I have the details of the head of housing benefit and they'd seem to be the right person. Perhaps you could either confirm that or make a better suggestion? Many thanks, SWLABR

Hi all, Thanks in advance for any help. I received an over-payment charge from a previous employer in October with a deadline for payment in 6 weeks. At first they miscalculated the charge and over-charged me - I did the calculations and got back to them to state that I believed it was incorrect. They replied that they would look into it a few weeks later sent me a new invoice with a lower (more accurate) charge. I have been in email and phone contact with them about this since the first letter. Following the second invoice, I then submitted another query re a tax return I was due in the month that they overpaid me for, and I was just checking that this tax return had not been included in the over-payment. I also stated my full willingness to pay the charge once this had been clarified and noted that I had missed their initial 6 week deadline - but that was because they had taken so long re-calculating the charge, and then I only had 2 weeks in which to pay 1.5 grand. In their email response to this, they stated that the reminder letters were automatic, and that I would receive another in December/January unless they had received confirmation of my payment. I paid the charge in later December. Following this, I emailed to confirm that I had paid. I did not get a response to this email. I also did not receive a reminder letter in December or January so assumed this meant they had received confirmation of my payment as stated in their previous email. I have had no contact with them since I emailed to confirm payment in early January and did not receive a reply. I have now been sent a letter from a solicitor stating that I have to pay the full amount in the next 14 weeks, straight to the solicitor, or they will take me to court and I will be liable for court fees. I have already paid the amount in full. I have the bank receipt from the initial payment as well as bank statements showing the payment going out of my account. I am visiting the bank today to see if they can provide me with anything more formal, or even send confirmation to the solicitor directly. Is there anything other forms of evidence I can acquire from the bank in order to prove my case? I am now paranoid that the payment did not go through or that it was made to the wrong account, but I gave the bank the original letter and asked them to input the bank details on the letter. I have also checked the details myself. If it was sent to the wrong account - am I able to get the money returned? The money has been taken out of my account. Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone, We're being chased for £1253 by debt collectors LCS. This is the second overpayment by HMRC for child tax credit - the first was for £706 which we paid. I can't afford to pay the larger sum in one go. The reason I'm miffed about this is we have religiously told HMRC every time there has been a change in circumstances, I find it difficult to believe that they could have overpaid by nearly £2000! I've tried getting them to look at it again but it's the usual "you're out of time, yadder, yadder". I had originally asked for the reconsideration as my youngest wasn't mentioned on the calculation but they have told me every time that she has been taken into account when calculating our credit - I don't trust them ... do you think it would be worth sending a SAR? Or do I bite the bullet and try to negotiate a repayment schedule with LCS? We've have always done exactly what has been asked of us - I've completed the annual assessment every year (always early, always as soon as I received it) and they've had P60s every year and I told them that both girls at home are in full-time education - what more could I have done? Now we're being penalised. Any feedback would be appreciated, as always.

Hi everyone, I was overpaid by an ex employer (apparently). They've just sent me a letter 3 months after I've left the company stating I was overpaid some 107 hours and that I owe £500. I only worked part time for them when I was caring for my mother and when my mother's condition deteriorated, I went on leave. I left at the end of September and haven't worked since. I am looking for new work, but haven't listed them as a former employer, because I didn't leave under the best of terms anyway. My aunt gave me a loan recently for another reason, so I have the money at the moment, but since I'm not working and still caring for my mother. I would like to keep this money because I have no other income. I also have no recollection of the exact dates they mention and the number of hours I have worked, because I transferred branches mid way through working there and my payslips were sent to the old store. Does anyone have any advice on this matter?

Hi all. I'm hoping some of you caggers will be able to relate to my experience and hopefully provide some advice. I've received notification from DWP that I owe about £500 in overpayment of tax credits. A brief overview of the issue: We were claiming £53 per week while I was working. My wife was at home looking after our disabled daughter. I ended my employment some time in April of this year, and attempted to apply for JSA. I was advised that my wife would be better applying for ESA and having me included on the application, which she did. We informed DWP that I was no longer working, but they continued to pay the tax credits into our account. It was a good job they did because two months, and then three months later we still had not received any of the ESA or other benefits we had applied for. We basically lived on family handouts for months, and relied on the good will of our housing association as we began to fall behind on rent payments. Our arrears on council tax and also TV license all mounted up. Thankfully in June I returned to work and the tax credits payments stopped. Now I have received a demand for payment in full or they'll take it out of my wages. I've explained that their mistake in continuing to pay us was all we had to live on due to receiving no other benefits, but they aren't interested. I'm not denying we spent tax credits and I'm more than willing to make affordable payments back. However, what I do mind is the fact that they want their overpayment of tax credits back but that was just a fraction of the entitlements we were never paid. We struggled like hell as a family and now we're trying to get back on our feet and paying our way, they are forcing more hardship on us. I just want fairness and a level playing field. Any help or advice will be truly welcomed. Craig

I was receiving tax credits roughly between late 2012 and mid 2014. Around early 2014, HMRC wrote to me asking for identification documents for my older child (possibly both children, I don't clearly recall, unfortunately), but I was not able to submit this due to the fact that my older child's passport (not british) had expired. Nevertheless, I sent this passport to HMRC in the hope that they would accept it. They did not I had to send the passport away for renewal, and I confess that I did not get on this immediately; it may have been a few months later that I sent it, because I was moving from one city to another while being unemployed. I eventually got around to getting the passport renewed and sent it to hmrc, but they rejected it stating that the deadline had passed (or something) and the matter had now become an overpayment of £4400 which they intended to reclaim. I sent various letters and made some phone calls over a matter of months to explain to them that this overpayment is not a valid overpayment since the child exists! HMRC will not budge from repealing this "overpayment" decision and intend to reclaim it from me. They passed it on to ADVANTIS who contacted me through various channels for a few months, after which they sent a letter stating that collection activity on my account had ceased and the account has been passed back to HMRC. Again, I contacted HMRC but they are adamant that this overpayment will have to paid back no matter what the circumstances. I make close to £1200 a month, and have no other source of income than the full time job that I have now. My spouse does not work. I get no benefits, except child benefit which goes to my spouse. I have recently sent a 'dispute' to HMRC which they have rejected stating that the three month period is over. Today, I have sent two more letters, viz. a complaint and a letter stating that there has been an official error. (I attach the wording of the letters to this post. Please could someone comment on this and advise if I need to include more detail?) In the meantime, I have also sent an application for tax credits since I am seriously on the brink of a situation where the basic necessities of the household may be affected. This application has not even had an acknowledgment sent to me! And when I spoke to them about it via telephone, they say that no application was received. If the HMRC do not respond or remedy this, I plan to go to the independent adjudicator, and then the ombudsman =, if necessary. ANy thoughts, advice would be immensely helpful! Official Error Letter for CAG forum upload.pdf

Hi All My wife and I have been claiming Tax credits pretty much since they began, and have alway sent our renewal back on time and given correct figures. according to our award notices for the last couple of years we were told that there had been an over payment, and any future awards we recieved would be reduced by an amount to pay back the overpayment. On Saturday my wife and I both recieved letters from a DCA called Past Due Credit solutions saying they had been appointed by HMRC to recover £4738.56 regarding Tax Credits! Then this morning I have received a text message from them asking for contact, although the text message to my number was actually asking my wife to contact them!? I have no idea about this debt although I did get a call about 6 months ago from Rossendales who said they were calling on behalf of HMRC and I told them that we were paying back an overpayment via our current rewards and that was last I heard of it. I can only think that this was from a number of years ago as I was unemployed for 2 years in 2012/13 and have be working since but always kept my figures up to date with them even before my period of unemployment. Is it possible that if this debt is very old that it could be statute barred? Also if it is very old why have they started chasing now? I don't know what to do, I certainly haven't got £4738.56 Any advice anyone can give would be greatly apprecieated. Thanks in advance Simon

Hi CAG, thanks for taking the time to read this. I'll keep it snappy. I recently worked for Lloyds bank but left on 20th June 2016 because I emigrated to Spain, where I now live. I had worked at Lloyds for 6 years. This past weekend (29th October 16) I went back to my old UK address to pick up my post and discovered that at the end of July Lloyds sent a letter informing me they had erroneously paid me my 2015 deferred bonus, and a second letter dated 24th October, stating my 'debt' has been passed on to DrydensFairfax solicitors. The bonus in question was £10k after tax, based on my 2015 performance. £2k was paid on March 20th with the remaining payable £8k on June 20th. The 2k march payment is not disputed, but they want the £8k back I was aware of the deferral system and after discussions with my boss (who i had a great relationship with) delayed my resignation until March 20th, which we both thought was the cut of date, meaning I would mean i would pick up my full bonus on June 20th - my last day as I was on 3 months notice, which I did. I have since checked the small print on one of my letters and it did indeed stipulate that if you are serving your notice period on 1st June 16 you are not entitled to the remainder of the 2015 bonus. So it appears me and my boss were indeed wrong about the date you needed to be not serving notice on to receive the second installment of the bonus, and lloyds made a mistake when they paid it to me. From what I've read this seems to fit the criteria for Estoppel. Discussion with my manager led me to believe this money was mine if i resigned on March 20th, and I have since spent the money (and quote a bit more!) on emigration. If i'm right, then I don't know how to put this in motion. I've not replied to anything yet. I have not had any calls or messages from DrydensFairfax directly, just 2 letters from Lloyds, with the second one asking me to contact drydens to payback the £8k I don't really want to do nothing and risk a court order of black mark on my credit record Thanks again for reading. Any help/advice/thoughts would be hugely appreciated Nick

Hi Would like some advice regarding ESA rules on pension income ,I receive 2 pensions on top of my ESA, but for some reason one of them was missing on my original claim in 2011,the DWP have now sent me a letter saying I owe £2927 as the 2nd pension had not been declared this was for £13 a week ,I was under the impression that they stop any income at 50% over £85 this was applied to my 1st pension of £32 extra they allowed me £16, so on the £13 this would be £6-50 but they are saying I have to repay the full £13 were do I stand with this can they make me pay all the overpayment of£2927 or just 50% of it,would be grateful for any help with this matter thanks, Gazshiraz