DWP Compliance Telephone Interview 2021

[WelshRMT]

Hi there,

 

A week ago I received a pretty scary sounding letter from the DWP informing me that they will be conducting a Compliance Telephone Interview in a weeks time and a list of all the paperwork I needed to have available etc. 
I quickly jumped on beloved Google and started to read all sorts of nightmare stories so quickly jumped back off Google!!! 
I’ve been feeling sick with stress all of this last week and not sleeping with worry.

Today was the dreaded call and it was nothing to worry about really. Not sure why they have to word their communication in such an aggressive manner but basically the lady I spoke to was really friendly and helpful. All it was about was an advanced payment of £640 that I’d received back in 2019?!? I’d received that advanced payment and then was signed off and working within weeks so I suppose it looked a bit dodgy or she even said maybe looked like someone had used my details to scam the system. 
I was honest and said I can’t even remember last month yet alone 2019. She did say that they’re working through all the advance payments at the moment and if they think it was a way of making a quick buck and then signing off, they’ll send out a warning letter to those people, but basically to bin it if I do get one. 
Just wanted to jump on here quickly to try and reassure any people out there who are feeling as worried as I was. I was in two minds whether to even answer the phone I was so stressed…….but it lasted about 8 mins not the allocated 30 mins on the letter. 
Hope this helps anyone out there who’s just received a dreaded letter. Take a deep breath and stay calm because chances are it’s nothing at all to worry about.

[unclebulgaria67]

DWP have had a lot of issues with advanced payments.

 

It is very important for people claiming Universal Credit  (UC) to always report a change in circumstances.  People make the error in thinking that UC is similar to Job Seekers Allowance.  This is not the case. UC is for people who could be in work or unemployed.   If a claimant is working, then the benefit is adjusted to take into account any earnings. 

 

If you take out an advance and close a claim shortly after without advising of any changes in circumstances, it looks like the only reason a UC claim was made was to obtain the advance, without any intention of following the UC claimant process agreed to.

 

And please do not ignore any warning letter.  Keep the letter and make notes of the conversation you had.  If you needed to claim UC say within the next 6 years, they could block any advance payment being offered.