Hello all. Just joined up and need some advice. I received a letter today from the DWP saying that I owe them 1293 pounds. I have no clue! I was on jsa over two years ago and it was stopped over confusion with my veterans disabiltiy pension and nothing more was ever said. I have not claimed jsa since. According to the letter they say they have written me before about this but I can totally assure you that they have never contacted me until today. They say if they do not hear from me by november 9 they will take further action. I am not working and exist only on my vets benefit (220 pounds a month) so there no way I can pay it back if I had to.

Welcome to CAG.

I have moved your thread to the correct forums and site team are aware that you need some urgent assistance.

Someone will be with you as soon as they can

Thanks Citizen. Was not sure where to post it Anyways I should also mention that the letter does not say what the payment is about. Just that I supposedly owe that money. I am assuming that it is JSA related. I saw a template letter on here on another DWP related post about overpayment that was about requesting information from them so I wrote it up and sent it off today.

No worries.. there are a lot of forums and it is easy to get lost.. I still do

Yes, you need to obtain as much information about this as you possibly can. I have sent out a couple of S.O.S's for you and I am sure someone will be along later on today.

You've done the right thing in asking for a breadown of how they obtained that figure, which is what I assume you have done. Then you will know where you are wrt liability.

I would think the most likely explaination is your pension would reduce or remove your eligibility for the JSA during the time you were claiming meaning there was an overpayment which will now need to be paid back. They can only ask for this at an affordable level so if you income is very low then the weekly amount you will pay back should also be very low as they will need to leave you enough to live on.

Thanks to CitizenB for bringing this thread to my attention.

Have you spoken to SPVA about this, Gixser? If you don't have a welfare case officer, call them on 0800 169 2277. They should be able to sort out what you are entitled to and more to the point, what the DWP have to disregard.

You can also get help from certain CABs; the RBL has a scheme where ex-service personnel can get specialist money advice. Let me know if you want the link.

If it turns out that the money is owed, there are some other potential sources of assistance I can help with.

Lastly it seems to me that you are probably entitled to some other benefits as well as your pension - are you getting help with this?

Hello all. Just joined up and need some advice. I received a letter today from the DWP saying that I owe them 1293 pounds. I have no clue! I was on jsa over two years ago and it was stopped over confusion with my veterans disabiltiy pension and nothing more was ever said. I have not claimed jsa since. According to the letter they say they have written me before about this but I can totally assure you that they have never contacted me until today. They say if they do not hear from me by november 9 they will take further action. I am not working and exist only on my vets benefit (220 pounds a month) so there no way I can pay it back if I had to.

Hi,

The advice Scarlet Pimpernal has given you is correct, especially the RBL schemes can help, I presume you have no dependants.

Is the letter from the DWP or from one of the debt collections agencies now employed to collect over payments.

Is this from the DWP debt Mnangement department? If so send the letter I'm going to draft for you below send it by recorded delivery addresses to the Manager of the the department.

Ref:( this will be your NI number)

Dear Sir,

I refer to your letter datd xx xx xxxx inwhich you claim that I have been overpaid JSA in the amount of £1293.00, as you should be aware my JSA ceased over 2 years ago and I have had no income other than my veterans benefit of £220.00 per month.

I have NOT at at any time since the JSA was stopped received any correspondence regarding any alleged payment and I do not acknowledge any liability for this.

I require a full break down as to how and why this alleged overpayment has accrued and why the DWP has left contacting me for so long.

What ever action the Department may wish to take is not going to achieve anythng in regards to repayment of the allged debt, I am seeking work with great difficulty on a total income of £220.00 per month so there is no money available to meet this alleged debt.

I do feel very much let down by a system that seeks to take money from someone who has served this country and is left to cope at a breadline level wth the pressures of daily life, it would perhaps benefit everyone in my position if the DWP sought ways to help people in my situation rather than seeking to leave the virtually pennyless.

For clarification is the simplest terms I have no money to pay this alleged debt.

I am sending a copy of your letter and a copy of this letter to my MP.

gixer seek help from RBL and or SAFA as soon as you can , send this letter.

What exactly is your pension - is it a war disablement pension or is any part of it a mobility supplement from the war pensions scheme?

Also were you claiming income based or contribution based JSA?

Lastly can you find out when the original overpayment decision was made?

Apologies for the delay in getting back guys and thanks for the all the advice so far! I have sent a letter similar to what you wrote Brigadier but not in such detail. I basically asked what it was all about and provide me with all the information regarding what they are claiming including dates etc.

Contact Centre Trafford

Debt Management (SF)

PO Box 171

Mitcheldean

GLOUCESTERSHIRE

GL17 0XG

October 22, 2012

Dear Sir/Madam

REF:

You have contacted meregarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owedby myself.

I would point out that I have no knowledge of any such debt being owed to theDepartment of Works and Pensions. Yourletter has also stated that you have contacted me previously and this iscategorically not the case.

I am familiar with the Office of Fair Trading debt collection guidance whichstates that it is unfair to send demands for payment to an individual when itis uncertain that they are the debtor in question.

I would also point out that the OFT say under the Guidance that it is unfair topursue third parties for payment when they are not liable. In not ceasingcollection activity whilst investigating a reasonably queried or disputed debtyou are using deceptive/and or unfair methods.

Furthermore ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts have been settled orare disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment amounts tophysical/psychological harassment.

Given the abovelegislation and my having no knowledge or prior communication of any debt beingowed to the Department of Work and Pensions I therefore require you to provideme with further evidence of this debt i.e. what it was for, when this debtoccurred (including all dates) and most importantly when the DWP decided thatthis debt was actually due.

I would alsorequest that any other correspondence related to this debt be forwarded to meforthwith so that I may consider my position and seek further legal advice.

I would request that all correspondence in relation to this matter be done vialetter and that I will not discuss this issue over the telephone.

I am very interested to know just when they decided to pursue this. The letter I got from DWP does not say what the money I owe is for I have no clue and am assuming it is JSA related. It does not say overpayment or anything. Just that I owe them 1293 quid! I am on a veterans disabilty pension.

Thanks Scarlet! I will keep you in mind and once I find out what this is all about I will get in touch. One thing I did find strange is that I got a call from Housing benefit yesterday asking me to clarify my last name spelling as they said there was some confusion and they thought I had moved out. The guy said there was nothing untoward and my hb was okay but I got that niggling feeling in the back of my mind. Thing was the call was from another council and not the one I am with which I did not realise till after the call.

Oops..forgot to answer a couple questions you guys asked. Estellyn..I started out on contribution based and went to income based after 6 months. My pension is from the Canadian army but I served in the brisitsh army as well when I came to the UK 14 years ago. Brigadier...I do have a son who is 9 and disabled (dyspraxia and adhd)but he does not live with me but I get him every weekend and holidays. Last time I contacted the RBL, which was when i was tossed off JSA and HB because of this pension thing back in 2009/10 they gave me some food vouchers and that was it. Nothing was ever said about what I might be entitled to.

TRY SAFA they may be more helpful.

Brig.

Oops..forgot to answer a couple questions you guys asked. Estellyn..I started out on contribution based and went to income based after 6 months. My pension is from the Canadian army but I served in the brisitsh army as well when I came to the UK 14 years ago. Brigadier...I do have a son who is 9 and disabled (dyspraxia and adhd)but he does not live with me but I get him every weekend and holidays. Last time I contacted the RBL, which was when i was tossed off JSA and HB because of this pension thing back in 2009/10 they gave me some food vouchers and that was it. Nothing was ever said about what I might be entitled to.

Is any part of the pension a mobility supplement?

Is any part of the pension a mobility supplement?

no there is not

Okay finally got a response from the DWP. They totally ignored the letter I sent them. I know they received it as I have the screenshot from royal mail website tracker showing it was signed for.

I received a letter from them today the 17th November (the letter is dated the 9th of November) that states I have until the 23rd of November to pay them or arrange a payment plan via the phone. No evidence to support what they say as I requested in my letter. Just a letter saying they have already contacted me and do not ignore this letter and pay us or we will do one of three things. Go to my employer ( I dont have one), take me to court or pass it to debt collection agency. Now what do I do?

What advice did the SPVA give?

Have you spoken to one of the RBL's specialist money advisers? They are based in CABs.

I have not contacted them yet. I was waiting for a response from DWP before I went to them so I had some info to bring with me. Guess that was a wrong move.

Hi gixser my inbox is clear now.

Hi Brig. Well as you can see from my post the DWP completley ignored my letter and sent me the new letter basically threatening me to pay up or else. No info as to whatt his debt is about or breakdown or nothing. As I replied to Scarlett I have not contacted anybody yet as I wanted the info from DWP before I did. Seems now that not gonna happen!

I think it most likely that DWP's failure to respond properly is likely to be the result of chaotic admin at their end than a wilful effort to ignore you. They are often weeks behind with mail. Nonetheless, I think it would be wise to send an acknowledgement along these lines:

Dear Sirs

 

I refer to your letter dated XXXXX. However, I am unable to provide a detailed response because you have failed to reply to my request for information dated XXXX, sent by recorded delivery and signed for by you on XXXX.

 

Yours etc.

I'd suggest ringing SPVA tomorrow, and asking them to assist.

You might also like to look on the RBL website for details of their CAB money advisor scheme. As a veteran you should get priority service, and they will be able to contact the DWP on your behalf.

Ok, Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act 1998 is the next step, there is a £10 statutory fee but the DWP don't take this, so use the template from the CAG library for this and amend it to suit, request specifically the records on the alleged debt and state that your request is not limited solely to that data but includes all data the DWP holds on you, send to DWP DM dept.

Thanks guys. Will do the letter Scarlett suggests and put the SAR in with it and call SPVA/RBL as well.