Please can someone tell me my rights here!

Back in 2005 I received a letter from the DWP regarding £939 that I owed them. I sent them a fax requesting information and never heard from them again.

In August I received another letter stating that they were going to take £9.00 per week from my Job Seekers Allowance to repay this debt. I called their Bradford office which is titled debt management and was told that an overpayment of Incapacity Benefit had been made 11 years ago and that it was a fraud case! This overpayment or fraud I know nothing about although I do believe I was claiming IB at the time.

I requested a copy of all the information held regarding this and filled in an Income & Expenditure form that they had sent me and stated that as I had been on JSA for 18 months, that I was on a very tight budget and could not afford any repayments at this time. They agreed and all was forgotten until October, two months from hearing from them previously.

This time they were asking for even higher repayments so I called them again and got a very sarcastic and unhelpful woman on the phone who said there was nothing I could do to lower the repayment amounts and that I had already paid some back (unknown to me! via a previous claim for JSA).

I again requested information regarding this amount and what it was for. A week later I called them again and explained that after my bills were paid I was left with £2.41 to live on. They decided that they would take £1 per week from the pitiful amount I am left to live on and this had not been agreed by me at all but as they take it directly from my JSA there is nothing I can do.

I still have not received the information I requested in 2005, August 2008 and twice in October 2008.

What are my rights here? I have no knowledge of any debt especially one from 11 years ago, I am not being sent the paperwork I have requested and money is being deducted from my benefit without my agreement!

Any help would be much apreciated, sorry if this is very longwinded but didnt want to leave any info you may need out.

I would get your local CAB involved, as being asked to pay back an amount you have no knowledge of and at a rate which leaves you in considerable hardship is not right.

The DWP are notorious for not listening to ordinary people, so I would get someone on your side.

Thank you.

I will give them a call today.

If you have asked for an explanation you should get one - if you don't, phone debt management again and ask specifically for an explanation of the overpayment and also a calculation to be sent to you. If they can give you no information on the phone at all when you ask about the reasons why, it means they will probably have to recall the file containing all the information regarding the overpayment from their remote storage.

In this case they should get back to you when this file is found - of course, if they can't find it, and there is therefore no evidence of the overpayment, then you need not worry about it as it will be written-off. If no evidence can be provided you have nothing to repay.

Unfortunately, DWP debts are not like other debts and a different legislation applies to them. IE when a debt is in dispute, all repayment action and requests for repayment should be halted. This does not apply to government debts if you are in reciept of benefit. They can and will continue to take the deductions from benefit. However, if you formally dispute it and ask for proof of debt they must comply.

Like I said they can continue to take deductions from benefit in the meantime, but if they are unable to prove the debt, they will have to refund any deductions to you. But do be aware that although different legislation applies, there also applies what I like to call "Automated drivel legislation" - which means they make it up as they go along. If they ever try to tell you that their guidelines or legislation suggests something, ask them to provide you in writing with the exact quote for that piece of legislation, and which regulation states it. This is back up if they do chose to send "automated drivel legislation" which al in all is desgined to throw you off, as they don't expect people to understand it. They use key words such as "regulations", "guidelines", and "legislation" in letters as nifty trick designed to make you think it;s not worth pursuing, so please do make sure if they mention these keywords, they also provide you with the exact piece of legislation they are referring to. If they provide you with more drivel, if need be, you can use this later.

What you should do is write to Debt Management, (send it recorded delivery) stating that you dispute this debt, and would like to be provided with evidence from them that this debt exists. What they will then have to do is arrange for the original casepapers to be returned to their office, photocopy them and send you a copy which proves that you owe this money. If they are unable to locate proof of this debt, then they have no case for recovery action. If they can prove it, they will continue to take deductions although you are entitled to ask for a reduction of the deductions, and they have to consider it, but they do not have to honour it. If you went back to work and refused to pay they will chase you, even if it means waiting till you're on a state pension and taking it out of that.

Now, they are notorious for feeding crap to people about "guidelines state we do not have to provide proof" blah blah blah. Not the exact wording they use, but you get the picture. They will try it on. If they try this crap on with you, get in touch with your MP and ask him/her to act on your behalf.

I got a letter from them ages ago stating I owed them money from ooh I think it was about ten years or so ago, for a Social Fund Loan. I have never in my life had or applied for a Social Fund Loan, therefore I knew it was incorrect. As I wasn't claiming benefit they couldn't take any deductions but sent regular threat-o-grams that if I didn't pay up, this that and the next course of action would happen. My requests for proof were initially ignored till I sent a recorded delivery letter, then I recieved their automated drivel that "In accordance with guidelines we are not obliged to send proof....blah blah blah" - this went back and fore for months, until I contacted my MP who wrote to them on my behalf. They confirmed to him within two weeks that no casepapers on me could be located and they were writing the debt off. Rubbish, can't write off a debt that never existed in the first place. Anyhoo, I never heard from them again. My advice where government is concerned is always "If all else fails (or they keep sending automated drivel) involve your MP". Works wonders.

Best of luck.