Sorry, had posted a question but feeling very paranoid right now so deleted. Apologies for not updating just been a very tough time. Thanks.

Hello.., I've had a very tough few days....I won't go into detail but it involved many hours at the hospital. I haven't had time (or the health ) to edit my letter to the job centre much and the appointment is coming up soon. The one friend I have left helped me with what they could and we removed some bits but couldn't stay with me too long as had other commitments I know one bit of advice was to just stick to the facts and no reasons, but I feel i have to explain fully to try and avoid any interviews as I wouldn't have anyone to attend with me and cant cope alone. I should be focusing on my health but can't until this is sorted. I think due to the way the assessment periods fall i may owe an extra m month uc as the period the student loan was supposed to cover runs 1 week into the next assessment period and I read the dwp don't calculate the income on a pro rata basis. Every time I look online I see something else to worry about. Although due to being so stressed i am probably reading things incorrectly.

Thank you so much. You've been incredibly patient with me.

No wasn't fraud as thought student loan company would have been in touch to sort repayment. As I said during the course of trying to deal with so many things at once it didn't cross my mind to say thing about it and forgot as was swallowed up by debts. It not for this DRO I wouldn't have remembered at all. I guess if I had carried on with uni and not said anything it might be more serious, but was only there a day. My grand plan was to get a loan to cover my living costs as the student loan would have ended up as £1100 in fees and £500 to last 5 months. When I say down realised how stupid that was as was in debt already and had no way of paying it back. That one day I attended uni to enrolled i felt 'normal '. Hard to describe but felt like I was worth something, a glimmer of hope at a dark time. Just would have been the worst time as did sofa surfing, in debt and going through a terrible time mental health wise. Would last wage from work be fraud though ? That was for a time worked before I put in the UC claim , but got paid for during the 7 waiting days and outside assessment period, but it's still earnings. Like you said maybe they were aware of it but will still mention as don't want any other worry later on I have an email conversation from employer back then. The last day I was at work was 9th or 10th August 2017. However my old doctor signed me off work due to the stress i was under, then over that weekend i was kicked out, so the offical resignation was on 17th August (still in the waiting days) during that time I had to sort various things, plus to and fro emails from employer was wanting confirmation i resigned as I guess they could not sack someone who is ill. The question online when I first claimed said when was the last day I worked, so that's what I put, 10th august. what a mess . I know I'm over thinking again, I apologise, will leave you to get on with your sunday now, I know I'm being annoying over things several times. I really appreciate you being patient with me.

Ok thank you. I am starting to feel a bit more clearer. I should have taken more care, and the situation is not ideal , especially with my recent DRO and health problems, and I should told the job centre immediately not a year later, but as soon as I realised the errors i took action to try and resolve so hopefully they won't be too harsh on me. One last questiin, I read any amount over 2k means court. Is this just for fraud or overpayment too? Will update once I know more and in the meantime try to go to the doctors and get my mood a bit more stabilised. As you can probably tell everything is just so overwhelming and the lady at the CAB saying benefit fraud has been in my head and all my internet search es. I'm exhausted mentally and physically P.s you all have been amazing tolerating my over thinking and obsessing. I really need to get reassessed by the doctor as I never used to have these symptoms. Been checking my door is locked 5-6 times in a row...going back home to triple check. Googling cancer all every every day. It's not right.

Thank you For your reply. From what I've read because I'm not in DLA i woulden't have been entitled to universal credit whilst studying in a part time masters anyway, so would that amount still be disregarded?Although I was only a student for a few days. Guess the job centre thought I wasn't severe enough for DLA or PIP as it's never been suggested to me, only my therapist and the person I saw at the CAB said I might in the the wrong work group. To be honest if it was just that one issue i wouldn't be freaking out So much....But the last wage I didn't declare because it was received in the first 7 waiting days, plus the ex partners earnings thing is cause for concern. Will they contact him to ask? I don't fullybtrust that he would tell the truth. Just puzzled why that question was asked as I was not livingg with him when I put in the claim, but when asked about my previous address (before being kicked out and putting in my claim) i said I had lived there with a partner. Was only for 3 months though and in the year prior to my claim i only worked for 3 week. The rest of The time I was a student or living off my credit. I hope they will be understanding as I'm a year late telling them, it's my fault really, with all the upheaval going on i was neglecting so much stuff. Only attended uni one day and thought they would ask for the loan back. I guess if I had a healthy bank account i would have remembered, but within a couple of months the money was swallowed up by my debts. Its been one thing after another and a lot of things were neglected, including e my health. The medication in on seems to be doing nothing for me so I guess I should go back to the doctor s and see what else they can do. I have a feeling when I see my CBT person for the eating disorder, he will say to put everything on hold until my mood is more stable. Then I'll have to go through the entire drawn out process again. Thank you all again for putting up with my ramblings. I am just terrified by what I've read online about interviews under caution and needing lawyers. The money i have to pay back isn't a issue. Was my error so I have to put it right. Just pray it doesn't effect my DRO otherwise that's another problem to add to the pile

Thank you for your reply it helps to know I'm not totally alone. For the last few days I've spent all day every day looking up uc overpayments, the past month googling cancer and the month before that debt relief order s. I've always had mental health issues but they were fairly manageable. The past 12 months my anxiety is sky high, I find myself obsessing over things and feel like I'm having a mental breakdown. For anyone reading this , mental health problems are exhausting. I hate my life and being like this. Last July i got a degree, something I thought I'd never be able to do. Now look at me. How did I go downhill so fast? The lady I saw at the CAB asked her supervisor and said it could be viewed as either an overpayment or benefit fraud. And that was before I went back and saw the last wage from work and previous earnings errors. Convinced it's going to be fraud . Just like I'm convinced family member has cancer

Driving myself crazy with worry. Can't cope with this. Can't call the crisis team as that'll delay telling the jobcentre. Feel so lost and tired. 3 different things it seems I was careless with. The earnings in previous 12 months, the final wage from job, and the student loan. What if they say it's fraud? Interview under caution? Court? No matter what I always maintained in life that there's a glimmer of hope things could get better. That's gone now

Here is a quick draft i written, I'm going to try and recover deleted emails and texts to see if I can find the one where ex sent a picture of my stuff outside his flat. I really hope they don't contact him as I wouldn't put it past him to try and cause issues for me. This statement is to inform yourselves of a possible overpayment of my Universal Credit. August 2017 when I first claimed I was asked online about previous earnings in the 12 months prior to my claim, I put my partner at the time and I were earning less than £430 a month. I must admit I should have checked the wording of everything properly. In the 12 months prior to my claim I was a full-time student at university with full student loan and grants. This covers the period August 2016 to 20th July 2017. I lived alone at ......... from 2011 to late May 2017. I had to leave as my ex-partner kicked me out of his home (only he was on the tenancy) and had to come back to .... as I had nowhere to go. I needed an address for my mail to go to and to register for a doctor et c so I put ....as a care of address. Could only stay there a couple of nights a week as ....has mental health issues too, and no room for me, so I spent the rest of the time on friends sofas. My mental health had deterioted badly by that point so unfit for employment. On the initial claim I also ticked that I wasn’t expecting any future wages, I wasn’t because I had to leave the job in a hurry. I don’t have a p45, I assume ..... sent it to my old address but have asked for a copy to be sent to me. On 18th August 2017 during the ‘waiting period’ of my claim I received about £440 for my final wage. As my first assessment period was from 20th August 2017 I assumed this wasn’t relevant, I should have double checked and was my error. In December 2017 I paid ......back around £85 of this as they had overpaid me. At some point in June/July I applied to study for a Full time Masters at the same university I completed my degree. I was in two minds about it so didn’t accept the offer at the time but applied for a postgraduate loan, so everything was in place should I decide to go. I changed the course to part time as the goal was to try and work alongside it. On 26th September 2017 I go and enrol on the course start date 2nd October 2017. As soon as I got back to where I was staying I realised what a mistake I made. I was homeless, in debt, and my depression, anxiety and bulimia had worsened signifcally following the end of the relationship and being evicted. I had nowhere stable to stay and didn’t know if I would ever at that point as the local authority were still deciding whether I had a right to be housed. I was in no position to think about work and study. I withdrew from my course a few days after enrolling, the official date was 9th October 2017. I wasn’t liable for any fees as withdrew during the cancellation period. I received £1,697 in student loan to cover 2nd October 2017 to 28th February 2018. I thought the Student Loans company would be in touch to take back the loan but did not hear from them. From then until now the money was swallowed up by my debts and costs associated with my eating disorder. During October 2017 until now life has been very chaotic. The stress of being homeless, strained relationships with family and friends arising from having to sofa surf, assessments for my mental health, problems in the property I signed for on....March 2018, and finally getting help to deal with my debt has taken its toll. I completely forgot about the loan as I was dealing with so much and trying to get through each day as it came. The period I’ve been claiming the housing element for does not overlap with the period covered by the student loan. The Citizens Advice Bureau helped me with a Debt Relief Order, and this was approved in 2018, however the, 4th September 2018 I was reading online, and someone said although student loans are excluded, they still had to be declared. I contact the Insolvency Service, who made a note and asked how much I owed. I didn’t know I logged into my account and found out. Following this, I looked through the correspondence stored online, and see that on the withdrawal letter it states the student loan may affect benefits and should let the office know. Once again, I look online and see that its classed as income and should have been declared. I couldn’t take any further action from then on . On the 6th September 2018 I went to the Citizens Advice Bureau as I was hoping someone would help me put down everything in coherent manner so I could explain the situation and pay back anything I owed. They said I had to do it myself but said afterwards they will help further. They also signposted me to The Samaritan’s. That same day I made an appointment to see my work coach to explain everything, this was booked for 12th September 2018. Someone said I had to report it via online journal, so this is what I am doing in addition to telling my work coach. This is all my fault and I accept responsibility for not declaring all this at the time. My anxiety means when I go to the jobcentre I don’t really take in information properly, as I just concentrate on when I can leave, but I should have told my work coach, who is aware of my mental health issues. Because of shuttling between places when I was homeless, plus my health conditions, I didn’t keep on top of my paperwork as I should have. Things have been lost in transit or forgotten about. For this I can only apologise and hope this will all be taken into consideration. I accept there will be an overpayment to pay back, but I’m glad this all came to light now rather than further down the line. I have attached all the documentation I have including; Student Finance Letters Payslip Emails between work and I Emails between The University and I Email from DRO advisor from Citizens Advice Bureau Withdrawal form from University I am also hoping to get a letter from my doctor or CBT therapist detailing my health issues and how they affect me. i finally have some sort of timeline, i've tried not to add unnecessary things. there may be slightly different dates etc as unfortunately i deleted a lot of stuff last year, plus cant find some documents at all. I just neglected everything as was feeling so low and the focus was on getting somewhere to live. I might see if i can recover deleted files from my phone and computer somehow though. August 2016 -July 2017 - Income purely from student loan and grants for undergraduate course 2011- May 2017 – Lived alone in home town 24th July – 10th August 2017 – employed, wages paid weekly In arrears. Last day of work 10th august, but official resignation 17th August. 14th August 2017 – submitted universal credit form online , see previous posts for those errors 18th August 2017 – 440 wage from job 21st August 2017-20th September – assessment period for first UC payment 26th September 2017- Enrolled on masters 2nd October 2017- received 1,667 student loan to cover from now until 28th February 2018 9th October 2017- Withdrawal from course processed by university At some point between October and November I have my medical assessment and placed in limited capacity for work group December 2017- Paid back overpayment of 85 to previous employer ...March 2018 – Sign tenancy for housing association flat, housing element of Universal Credit added from here 4th September 2018– Saw online about Student Loan having to be declared although excluded from DRO so inform Insolvency Service and check student loan balance online. Find out that classed as income and should have let UC know 6th September 2018 – Got advice from CAB signposted to Samaritans and Womens Aid. Made appointment to speak to work coach at Jobcentre in a few days. Decide to check through journal to see if there was anything else I missed, got wrong and found the 12 months prior to claiming and if im expecting any other wages errors. Note: from 12th August – 5th March was sofa surfing so didn’t claim housing element then, was just basic UC

Thank you so so much. I was hoping the Work coach would have helped me organise it, but as a previous poster said, everything is done online now. The CAB said I only go back to them I've told the job centre and they have sent out the next steps. Will get a timeline together shortly. Is it best to send by private message or post on here? Hopefully work coach will be willing to provide some sort of background to the decision maker about my health et c

Ok thank you. Just realised I didn't even reciev e a p45, it probably went to my old address and ex threw it away. I can't really tell them anything about my ex partners earnings as I have no idea. But I can show them my undergraduate student finaonce and the pay slip from the job I did for 3 weeks and that would cover the 12 months prior to claiming. I had no capital that I got rid of in order to claim benefits or anything like that so hopefully be ok. If I redact/ change some info on my statement is it possible for one of you helpful people to have a look at it before my appointment next week please? As you may have noticed i ramble and I want everything to be crystal clear so they have all the information needed to calculate the overpayment. Hopefully I'll have enough evidence but because I was staying at various places before I was housed some paperwork and other things were lost

Ha, just thought of something. When I finally got somewhere to live i made an appointment with the job centre to show them my tenancy agreement etc. When I got there they said because I'm housing association i had to declare it online and didn't need to come in and see them. i was unaware of this. I completed the housing costs and detail bit online. A month later i didn't reci Eve the money so queried it.I Apparently I had to change the address on another part of the site and because it still had my c\o address on there they couldn't verify my housing costs. I think because I get So anxious going to the job centre i dont really take in what is being said as I'm concentrating on getting out of there. For the future i need to tell my work coach how i feel as don't want to miss anymore vital information than I have done already. Had to stick a months rent on my credit card otherwise if would have been in arrears so early in my tenancy. After that I could no longer juggle my debts around as I was reaching my limit on everything, hence the DRO. What a catalogue of errors the last year has been. I have no more years left after my breakdown at the CAB yesterday, so I guess I have to laugh instead

Hi, should I mention the previous earnings and the final wage from the job I started and had to leave before I claimed as well then? I just don't want something else to come up later It will be impossible to know ex partners earnings as I can't contact him and he might lie to be vindictive (abusive relationship) i lived with him 3 months of the last year before I claimed and in that time he wasn't working the whole time or claiming benefits for any of it. I only worked for 3 weeks and didn't claim anything then with him as I was living off credit cards and overdraft. Plus he is nothing to do with my UC claim as I was no longer living with him when I signed up online. Was homeless then and splitting my time between 3 places. Also say I submitted the claim on the first of the month, and I got that final wage on the 4th, does that effect the amount of UC As online it said i could not receive anything for the first several days, and that assessment period ran from 6th to the 28 days after that. Thank you so much for your help

Thank you so much for your advice. I'll spend the next few days writing everything up, will the work coach be able to upload the documents for me? Will I need bank statements as back then I had another account which was included in the DRO and since yesterday I can't seem to access online statements. It's only because after the DRO was approved i was googling and someone said although student debt is excluded you still have to declare it, so the insolvency service asked how much I owed*. Then I logged into student finac e and reviewed the details and saw the bit about it being classed as income and may effect benefits. Which then led me to scrutinise my journal and picked up about the other stuff. At least this all occurred before I claimed the housing element otherwise I would owe a lot lot more. * It turns out I owe a lot, over the past decade I've tried further education a few times, plus a mental health nursing course for some God forsaken reason, but due to my mental health always had to leave. Before my degree i was on ESA for years. I just want the chance to really focus on improving my mental health and have something resembling a normal life. Going tovwork, paying into the system, having conversations with collegues. I guess that's why I enrolled in the masters. Although I always felt awkward and anxious at uni, and missed a lot of lectures, the support i got from the disability team was amazing, and the closest ive ever felt to bbeing 'normal'. Then I go from that to hands down the worst year of my life

I know, I have a tendency to over think and catastrophise unfortunately. My bulimia has been awful since I discovered these mistakes, plus for the past month all day every day I've been googling cancer stuff because of my family member.