Hi everyone My dad worked in Holland for a few years but through ill health came back to England and died on the 4th October 2014, but last month (may2015) I received a letter from the Dutch pension body saying they were sorry for our loss but they overpaid my dad for the month of October by 195 euros and they wanted it back. (I didn't even know he was getting a Dutch pension) I phoned them up to explain he lived in a council flat and only had around 2000 pounds to his name which paid for the funeral and that there was nothing left , I even offered to send them bank acc details and the bill for the funeral to prove it had all gone but they replied quiet angrily saying they weren't bothered if there was nothing left, in Holland the debt goes to the children to which I said I've never had that money plus I live in England and they turned round and said if you don't pay we'll send the bailiffs round and take your stuff to cover that amount yet back in England he owed some council arrears and I explained the same thing to them and they wrote off the arrears. my questions are ? 1 Do I have to pay them or even should I pay them. 2 can they send the bailiffs round to take my stuff . I just cant understand how Dutch law can over rule English law and make me pay. I'm grateful for all and any help cause I just don't know where to turn

I have received a letter from concentrix asking me to send evidence of childcare costs for 2014/2015. I have looked back and my actual costs were around £80 a week less than what I put on my claim form for the year, so obviously I have been overpaid. At the start of the year I did believe that I would spend what i put on the claim form, but as the year went on, for one reason or another, my costs dropped. I know that I should have kept HMRC up to date, but I was worried that I wouldn't be able to cope financially as I have quite a lot of debt. At first I thought I would just let it go on for a couple of weeks, then a couple more and it kind of went on like that.. I know I was wrong, and I want to get it sorted and pay the money back, but I am worried that I will be prosecuted as if I am prosecuted for an offence of dishonesty I will lose my job for definite. I'm just looking for some advice on how best to handle this, my thoughts at the moment are to either ring them and explain all, or just fill in the form and wait and see what happens. i want to get it sorted as soon as possible as I am really worried about what will happen. I am still getting paid too much tax credits right now, although the difference is about £50 a week at the moment

Hi guys recently received my tax credit renewal it states from 2014 to 2015 we was overpaid by £2335 for the year 2015 to 2016 they awarded us 465 so in the payments from april to june we have already received this years entitlement , the thing i find baffling is that they will take the 2014/15 overpayment from future awards , i also find this annoying as i kept tax credits informed of my rise in income and changes to circumstances , am i likely to receive notification from tax credit debt team demanding repayment , any info gratefully accepted . Thank you

Can someone please help with this. I and my husband have received letters from pcs saying we owe £1007 in overpayment. We haven't had wtc for a few years and don't believe we owe anything. What do u suggest? Friends have said to ignore it because if we respond we are admitting we owe it. I'm at a loss as to what to do I hope you can help me please. I am on disability pip payments at moment and this is causing me to have panic attacks

Hi all, Familiar theme here, my partner and I have disputed an overpayment of £3500 from 2010, we have refused to pay despite being hounded first of all by Advantis, who passed it back to the HMRC and now Rossendales who have sent a final demand before they return it back to HMRC. My worry is that I have heard that HMRC can take the money out of my wages, Is this true? and if so is it something that can happen quite often? Thanks in advance

Hi I just received my annual declaration for this year, I get child tax credits, I work 16 hours a week and work the occasional but of overtime, I have filled out my annual review online but noticed a difference in figures, I earned £6083 but my estimate was £5644, will I have to pay anything back? Also my estimate was slightly over and my actual salary is £5408, I am a little confused.

Hi everyone, I've just joined this site today and I hope you can help me. I've had a tax credit over payment for the last financial year and contacted hmrc to discuss repayment. Whilst on the phone to them they said that I also owe an overpayment of £650 from 2008 which they never notified me about. Hmrc have had my address the whole time and have sent no correspondence. When I asked the advisor why she said she didn't know what the timescales where for sending out the notifications!! I think 6 years is rather late. Can anyone advise me on how I should deal with this?? Huge thanks Vix2531

Attended a Tribunal Yesterday regarding a very large overpayment for each HB and CT. The tribunal listened to My partner and myself and the reps from the local authority. We have been told we have won the appeal on the grounds of the testimony provided by myself and my partner and the fact that they could not prove their allegation that we were living together for the period in question and the written evidence we submitted along with the local authority. My question is can the LA appeal the decision that has gone in our favour.

tax credits, i have just been told i have to pay back my tax credits for the year 2009-2010 from april till june as i was part of a joint claim and then moved to a single claim as i split from my other half, i am sure i was told i didnt need to do the renewal form, later that year we got back together and started the joint claim again, at the end of the year we did the renewal as usual, now my partner when we split rang and did the renewal but i wasnt aware i had to do it as my claim had ended. nobody said i still had to do it when i started the single claim and i am sure i asked, now they are taking it off my child tax credits at 41.34 a week, is there anything i can do with it being so long ago and me not being able to remeber the conversations, we had. they have said it is something to do with the law changing that they can do it, i do not mind paying back overpayment and the like but they are saying i have to pay back everything i have received from the start of the tax year till the joint claim ended, which i was entitlted to, it all seems to stem from misinformation about when i had to do the renewal.

In 2013 we received notification from Tax Credits Office that there was an overpayment of over £1000 from 2010 which they wanted back and they would adjust our tax codes to recover it. We presumed this had been done and forgot about it. In December 2014 we received another letter from Tax Credits Office saying the same thing which was surprising as we thought this had already been recovered. In March this year we received a letter from Pastdue Credit saying HMRC had instructed them to recover the debt and they wanted the whole amount paid at once. We did ask Tax Credit Office why this had not been collected from our tax code as they said they would. They said they had written to us again in February to tell us they could not recover this through our tax code. Neither of us received any communication from Tax Credit Office in February on this matter and we do not believe any letters were posted to us as we usually both receive our own copies of Tax Credit communications. We contacted Pastdue Credit and they informed us the matter had been passed to them and we had to pay the amount in full. When we looked back through our tax credit history there were no payments to us in 2010. What is our best course of action now? I would like to know why HMRC decided to refer this to debt collectors contrary to their own declared course planned actions.

My husband and I separated 6 years ago due to his drinking. He stopped drinking then and is still dry now. When he left the family home he rented a property and as he he was receiving Incapacity Benefit he was encouraged to claim for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. However he did not tell them he was getting a work pension ( having been medically retired due to depression and 2 suicide attempts) and his pension was paid into my account and I paid his rent. 6 months ago the council wrote to say they had received information about the pension and needed details. He contacted his pension provider and sent them the details for the last 6 years. He was then interviewed under caution with a solicitor and told them he had given me his pension due to my being in financial difficulties but did not tell them I paid his rent. Before this interview they had recalculated his claim and he owes £30000 which he is repaying monthly. However when he told them I had been receiving the money they told me they would be looking into my Income Support and CVouncil Tax Benefit claims as I was claiming as I was a carer for my parents. They called me for interview in January and my solicitor told me to give a no comment interview as he thinks what they were trying to do was get me to admit I helped my husband with his claim forms so they could prosecute me for fraud. I did help him with the forms because he was detoxing the first 4 weeks from the alcohol and was in no fit state to do it himself and indeed has no recollection of that time. he has sent a doctors letter confirming that to the local council. In Feb and March I was called to 2 more interviews but on solicitors advice I chose not to attend. He said that if they needed to find out information they could do it but I was not to provide any Fast forward to last week when I received a letter from DWP saying I owe £12000 because I was receiving extra income i.e. my husbands pension so was not entitled to Income Support. I phoned my solicitor with a view to asking for a Mandatory Reconsideration on the grounds i was actually paying his rent from that money. My solicitor said I should get a letter from my husband to say I was paying the rent and provide them with banks statement from my account to prove it and they may look at it that I was actually paying him maintenance by paying the rent. He also advised seeing the CAB. This I have done today and she says I need to go back to the solicitor to ask whether my giving them bank statements showing the rent payment is going against the no comment interview or is that and the reconsideration 2 separate issues. As it stands husband says he will only write a letter if Dwp or local council ask him too. So my question really is can 2 people be overpaid benefits for the same money i.e. the pension ??

Hi – just wondering if anyone can offer me some advice. I’ll outline my situation. Between 2008 and 2011 I claimed Housing Benefit. I was out of work, had no savings, and I didn’t claim Jobseekers Allowance. I ‘got by’ on a day-to-day basis by (a) selling the few possessions I had, and (b) receiving food parcels from my parents. I had been ‘homeless’ (without a fixed or permanent place of residence) from late 2006 to late 2008. I moved around a lot, staying with various friends and family – often for about a week at one place, before moving on. In December 2008, I moved into accommodation rented to me by an old friend. He’d agreed to rent me the accommodation if he received rent. AsI knew I was entitled to Housing Benefit, I asked him if this was suitable –and he agreed. As I didn’t have (and still don’t have) a bank account, the benefit was paid directly to my landlord. I was renting part of a large property. As such, it was a shared property with my landlord – although I lived entirely separately. I had my own bedroom, living room, dining area, toilet, etc.. My old friend, who I’d known for several years, married my sister. So, in effect, my landlord became my ‘brother-in-law’. I knew that a claimant could receive benefit while renting from family – as I’d previously claimed (back in the 1990’s) while renting accommodation from my grandparents, living in a part of their property. I made the decision to rent the accommodation because, as I was homeless, I needed a place to live. I was, at the time, suffering from mental health problems. I was diagnosed – at the time of my claim – by my GP as severely depressed and suicidal. Additionally, I suffer from an anxiety disorder – which makes me incapable of interaction with others if they are in a position of authority. It was because of my anxiety disorder that I was not claiming Jobseekers Allowance. To do so would require me to attend interviews –and I simply can’t attend any sort of formal interview. I suffer an anxiety attack, and either freeze-up or harm myself. For this reason, I was – and continue to be – out of work, as I can’t attend normal job interviews. The local council sent out a rent officer to view the accommodation that I was renting, and they decided that I was residing separately from the other occupants of the property. A couple of years into the claim, another rent officer visited the property – doing so without an appointment – and again decided that everything was legitimate and that I was residing separately. I had, at the start of the claim, asked the local council if they could find me a council property to rent (rather than the accommodation I was renting from my friend), and if possible do so near my parents home – so thatI could be close to them, and they could help support me. But the council never responded to my request. I voluntarily ended my claim in mid 2011. I had experienced too many bad times – in terms of my suicidal feelings – while living there, and I wanted to move on, even though I had nowhere to actually go. I left, ending my claim, and once again became homeless. My mental health problems are ongoing. I have relapses every so often, during which time I get severely depressed and suicidal. I experienced such a relapse last year, and am now receiving mental health counselling (as well as strong anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds). The relapse was caused by the chronic neuropathic pain I suffer from, in my spine, which makes me bed-ridden for weeks on end. Anyway, in September of last year the council got in touch with me saying that because my landlord was my brother-in-law so they suspected me of benefit fraud. I explained that this wasn’t something I’d deliberately hidden from them – as it was rather obvious we were ‘related’ due to our identical surnames (he had, strangely, taken my sister’s surname). But, because in my original letter to the council I described him as “an old friend” so they think I was purposefully deceiving them. I tried my best to explain that my circumstances were genuine, that I apologised if I made a mistake in not informing them of what they wanted to know (and that even if I made a mistake, I possessed an underlying entitlement), and that I because I resided separately so I was nonetheless entitled to benefit. I pointed out that the ‘Housing Benefit / Council Tax Benefit Adjudication and Operations Circular A1/1999’ and clause 3.238 of the ‘Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit guidance: Part A3’ document (part of the ‘Housing BenefitGuidance Manual 2009’) state that a claimant is entitled to rent from close family, so long as they are not residing with them. They requested a formal interview with me, under caution, but I refused – citing my medical condition. Eventually, I agreed to an informal interview. Still, the meeting was on my mind so much that – prior to thedate – I cut myself several times on my wrists. I attended the meeting, but once they saw my wrists the meeting ended. Since then, my former landlord – my brother-in-law – has received an invoice for the full amount of benefit, saying that it was an overpayment of £8,500. I have received an email (not a letter, as I don’t have an address) saying that it was an overpayment (due to Regulation 9, i.e. that I rented from family) but my former landlord is responsible for paying it back. Now, as it happens, my brother-in-law is about to make himself voluntarily bankrupt (due to his own financial problems). He’s now cited the overpayment on his bankruptcy documents and it will commence in about 6 weeks. Until then, he’s repaying about £10 a week. Then the full debt will, in effect, be written off. But I’ve heard nothing more. It’s been 6 weeks since I received the email saying there was an overpayment. I responded, saying I disagreed but – due to my health – was not challenging the decision. Yet the council’s note says that they may take criminal proceedings. I am aware that, in cases such as this, my circumstances ought to make criminal proceedings statutory time-barred (in accordance with the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Circular F1/2011). The regulations say that cases of suspected benefit fraud under £20,000 should be dealt with as summary offences, and proceedings must be issued within 12 months of date of representation (that is, when the claim form was completed) or within 12 months of end of the offending period (usually the end of the overpayment). If I am suspected of false representation, then this occurred some 6 years ago; if I am suspected of overpayment, this ended over 3 years ago. Only in exceptional circumstances can a local authority pursue a case after it has become time-barred. And this requires the issuing of a S116 certificate in an effort to ‘save’ the case. If a S116 certificate has been issued issued, then – on the basis of point 16 of this circular – this means that the investigators have only 3 months from the date on which sufficient evidence to justify a prosecution came to light (not the date the certificate was issued or signed) to commence court proceedings. The local council concluded their investigation in late last year, and have had no ‘new’evidence’ since then. But they’re not contacting me – and I’m left worrying. Given these details, is it likely that the local authority will instigate criminal proceedings for fraud? Many thanks for reading the details of this case.

Hi. Would just like some advice on behalf of my 80yr old mum. She had a letter from pension credits asking to fill in income/savings details. Nothing has changed in years, she has just received a letter stating that since dec 2008 they had paid her £15 per month as they didn't know about her private pension. She is sure she told them previously. Can she send a subject access request to get copies of all the old forms she has sent back as she didn't keep copies? Many thanks

Our circumstances have not changed yet we are having a large lump sum for PC paid into our account. Recently we had a visit to our home from the Pension Credit people and they went through a few things with us. I am on Pension Credit and State Pension plus I receive DLA and wife gets PIP plus her state pension. I phoned to query the rather large amount and was told that this was due to an underpayment for the past 24 weeks however this works out to an underpayment of about £120 a week? By my reckoning it should be about £30 a week or a £120 a month. I am wondering if they took the monthly figure and then times it by the 24 weeks? I asked the lady again to give us a breakdown on how this figure was deduced and she repeated what she had said earlier and assured me that it was correct. I asked her to place a note on the file relating to the conversation and she refused stating it would take up too much room. I then asked for a note to be made that I had phoned in and queried the amount and again she refused! She said for us to go ahead and enjoy the windfall however I am not so sure and have concerns. Should we take her advice and enjoy it or write a letter requesting a breakdown of the amount to cover ourselves? Thanks.

There has been a new guide issued in relation to Housing benefits and the recovery of any and all overpayments it was issued on the 27/02/2015 and this can now be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/housing-benefit-overpayments-guide This guide covers all aspects of Housing Benefit overpayments, including: what is an overpayment classification and recovery of overpayments calculating overpayments recovering overpayments decision notices appeals courts and civil proceedings the legal requirements This guidance is not intended to be an authoritative statement of the law. The law is set out in the: Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 Social Security Administration Act 1992, as amended regulations and orders made under those acts

Can anyone advise me hear. My partner has been seeking a tribunal hearing and made a request in August 2014 for a hearing. They sent a letter saying from the evidence they presume in all probability she was receiving payments when she should not have for one reason or another. We have awaited the tribunal hearing date only to be told by he council that no tribunal date has been applied for although they have our letter asking for one. The local authority have sent through a big folder with their evidence an when we told our solicitor he said he id not need to see it until we receive the actual date? which baffles me. My questions are should we look for someone else to represent her and can she be criminally prosecuted on the balance of probability?

Hello, I'd be grateful for any advice on the following; I made payments to Lowell via standing order and have been informed by them that I have now overpaid. I requested they refund the overpayment to a bank account and received the following response: "Unfortunately we are unable to refund straight into a bank account. If you are not wanting to transfer the over payment to another account [they now tell me I have one other open account with them] you would need to speak to your bank and complete an Indemnity Claim. This will allow you bank to pull back the funds into your account. " I've never heard of this before and any overpayments - including standing orders - have just been refunded. Has anyone come across this before? Thanks in advance.

got letter from hmrc stating wed been o/p ctc got married good Friday last year and reported change in circs on april 26th after returning from honey moon explained this to hmrc this am not good enough. good Friday was 30/03 and was told we should have reported it then. how many hmrc work good Friday or easter Monday. am I being daft or unreasonable in thinking I may have been a couple of days late and that the tax man is just being silly. to be perfectly honest @58 widowed and remarried I wasn't thinking about ctc reporting for a fortnight .I am of course asking for a mandatory reconsideration. I would be very gratefull for some advice as to how to proceed when the mandatory recon is declined; I suppose if I owed them millions a couple of lunches would have cleared the matter up ok but it appears being honest must be done on a bank holiday, oh yes got a call from some dca about this but they don't count.

Hi, im think in the wrong forum so sorry if I am, I just wonder if I can get some advice, the council has decided that I owe £2000 in overpayment, despite having EVERY change of circumstance reported to them, I have all evidence of this, so very worried about this as im not sure what they will do next, I am paying back £10 per month as this is all I can afford, they have refused this and sent me a statement of means and said I have to pay £50 per month, any advice would be very helpful even if you not really sure on advice

Hi, So I received a letter telling me my HB was being over paid to the tune of £3.5K to my shock. My income has not changed at all and I had a review in the Autumn and they confirmed I was getting the right amount. Now they are saying they have received information from HMRC and have reduced my entitlement and told me I have to pay the money back. However I'm certain something is wrong somewhere. I have not had a pay rise for years and the gov.uk website HB calculator confirms I was getting the correct amount based on my income not the amount the council are claiming I should have been receiving. My benefit was stopped last year when they said they had received information that my earnings had increased but once I sent proof it was reinstated. The letter they sent said it is reasonable to assume that I knew I was being overpaid but that's rubbish considering my money has not changed and I only had it reviewed last Autumn. It goes on to say that paying back the money will not prejudice any further action they may take. I'm hoping they have made another mistake here but it's a bit worrying as I assumed they had calculated correctly and I don't want to end up in court when I have done nothing wrong because of a reasonable assumption basis. I've always been straight up with them and not lied or with held information. Any ideas or anyone with experience with this? Thanks

Hi, just before Christmas, our finance manager got in touch with me to say that he had had a deduction from earnings demand from (I think) the DWP with regard to overpaid Tax Credits (I'm assuming - it may have been JSA). The total came to £650 and they took out half just before Christmas and half coming out end of January. Now, first thing to say is that I have no problem paying what is owed and the second payment will go out as demnanded and the matter will be closed. However, to me it raised a few questions and I wondered if I might get some answers here. Firstly, the only time I received such payments (and it was a mixture of JSA and tax credits) was when I was made redundant in 1999. I remember there were certain problems thrown up by the fact that I was claiming both, started a redundancy training course which meant a complicated system of signing off JSA to attend the course and then signing back ON to JSA in order to keep payments up, only one person in the Job Centre was able to understand the process fully. My then wife managed to take on part time work and I asked at the job centre if this would affect payments - they looked at the contract and said no. We carried on in this way for several months before getting a call to say we weren't entitled to JSA because of her work and wanted a repayment. My wife explained the situation and they agreed to let the matter drop. We heard nothing further. Since this time - 15 years ago - I have gone back into full time employment, having worked for 3 companies plus my own company for 1 year and heard nothing up until now. I have also moved home and registered my new address on the electoral register. My current company got the demand, with a copy sent to my previous address of several years ago. Presumably I would have had the right to appeal or arrange a less difficult payment regime had they sent to my current address. If they have my work address details how are my home address details so out of date? I haven't lived there for 3-4 years. I assume that where public funds are concerned there is no rule of statute barred? The problem is, after 15 years I have no documents relating to the period of alleged overpayment nor names of people who dealt with the initial query - this seems a little unfair as it leaves me with no defence. Like I said, I'm paying so this isn't a scream for help to get out of payment but I'm extremely curious as to how this situation has come to pass. Hope this is the right area to post in.

Does Housing Benefit become statue barred and the usual 6 years I called to checked the amount.. and was told it's less than what Dukes Baliffs are requesting.. I have got them to put on hold for 28 days, while i check things.. But remember buying house in 2007... and all debts to council where paid off.. (Or so i thought) I apparently spoke with council in Jan 2013 about the debt.. Will do my checks with council But in mean time... do these sort of debts become statue barred if no payment been made in the last 6 years Thanks in advance for any help

hiya, been a while since I've been on here. this is a bit complicated and probably not an everyday problem, but hope someone can help. A friend of mine, a couple of years ago, was investigated for fraud, the DSS were saying she had her boyfriend living with her at the time, when she was claiming as a single parent. They had bits of circumstantial evidence, like, his car was parked there overnight then all the next day. He paid the sky bill. There were reasons for all that, which wer explained at the interview, but she was prosecuted. The court actually stopped the proceedings as they felt there wasn't any case to answer. So, it was not a 'not guilty' verdict, it didn't get that far, although she was attended court and plead not guilty. Anyway, that was around 15 months ago, she thought that was the end of it. However she has just told me today, they are taking £10 a week from her, and have been for the past 15 months, due to the overpayment created by the claim during this period. She has always denied any fraud, the court stopped the case due to there being no evidence. Surely it can't be right she has to pay this money back when the DSS's own court case failed against her? At the time she never queried it or asked for help as she was just so relieved not to be going to jail, she didn't want to argue. Anyone any idea if she should be paying this back, and if not, what she should do? thanks in advance for your help

Its a long story but I will keep it brief. I have a friend who has had problems with Alcohol to such an extent that his marriage crumbled and he now lives in a rented flat on his own. To his credit he has stopped drinking and is putting his life back together. However he has a problem with Benefits. He is on long term sick with depression and gets ESA. When he left his wife he arranged for his company pension to be paid direct to her to cover part of the mortgage on their house. He did not want to see her in dire straits through his own fault. However when he applied for Incapacity Benefit, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit he did not tell them about the pension. Now he has had a letter saying the Inland Revenue have told the Council that he was getting company pension since at least June 2013 if not before. So they have reworked his benefit and his HB is now halved and he has to pay back the overpayment at £10.00 per week. However he will no longer get CTB so now as a bill for 18 months Council Tax to pay although the letter does not say how long he has to pay this. He now realises he has to tell them about the pension from when he 1st claimed ( 2008 I think ) and they will obviously rework the benefit and he will have arrears to pay back whilst still receiving a smaller amount of HB. But I think the Council Tax arrears will be chased more vigourously by them. Also not sure what other action they might take against him He was a long term alcoholic and besides depression has high blood pressure and has attempted suicide on more than one occasion and the pressure of this may push him that way again. When he told me about this I did a Benefit Check and it seems that he may have been entitled to the pension and ESA at same time due to rules about minimum monies to live on but when I did the check it seems that he would probable be better off claiming pension credit as that would mean less income but he would get full HB and CTB and it would mean ATOS ( or whoever they are now) would not need to see him and he could just get PC until retirement in 2016. So the question is firstly what does he tell the council about the pension ( I realises he has to tell them ) as he does not want to be prosecuted for fraud whilst realising he will have to pay overpayment back. Secondly is it easy to go from ESA to PC and how would he do this Many thanks.

apparently after claiming wtc and being awarded it for 2012-13 was earning 7.00 ph on a 32 hour week hmrc claim that i earned £24k in this tax year, though for life of me cant figure that one out now had to finish work and told overpayment is 1200 pounds letter arrived today saturday [gotta admire their timing arriving on a weekend] rang them and they say they require me to pay at least 50 per cent of any disposable income per month which after answering questions on expenditure and income comes out at 14 quid a month can they insist on this amount