Hiya, CAB will tell you they can take up to 6 months for an appeal!!! You just have to sit tight I'm afraid. They are under strict guidelines of what they can and can't do. They do have time limits for investigations but it can go on for quite some time. If your mum is worried I suggest you go to the CAB, they can help to put your mind at rest...at the mo they are probably still deciding what to do and how far they can go with your mum's case. The CAB Advisor told me at my last app that he is dealing with a dozen or so similar cases. So it's basically when they decide to get back to you. I know it's stressful but until they write to you or stop your mum's benefits there really isn't much you can do but sit and wait. x

Hiya...I had my money suspended 10 weeks after the interview and was notified by letter, not even a phonecall from them. I am currently dealing with it through the CAB and had an appointment today to sign all the relevant paperwork...thats basically giving them permission to deal with the DWP on my behalf. I did last Thurs receive a letter from the Jobcentre agreeing to backdate my JSA. If your mums money is suspended (I really hope it's not) put a claim in for Job seekers allowance, no matter what any idiot at the DWP tells you, you can clam JSA while an appeal is going through and Child Tax Credits for any children under 16, this is paid to you by HM Customs and they are on the ball...a million times better than the Jobcentre!!!. I went through hell and back with them to get the JSA backdated I really could be here typing all night telling you about the incompetence of the people who work at the jobcentre. As for my appeal it's all been logged and I am just waiting for a decision. At the moment it's going through a reconsideration process...which roughly means a group of people are re-examining whatever evidence they have and deciding if they have enough to prove I was living together as husband and wife. The CAB worker said he is dealing with a number of these cases at the moment and if they have the slightest bit of evidence to prove an overpayment they will push it as far as they can. As of yet they have not contacted my ex or visited his property, not even a phonecall. The CAB have been fantastic so if you do have any problems I can't stress the importance of contacting them, they really are a godsend...!!! I am just sitting and waiting now...I signed on for the first time last week and the whiole experience was just soul destroying...grown men with cider bottles in their back pockets being told off for smoking by security guards...!!! I just wanted to cry...!!! I have had 2 job interviews though so fingers crossed I will get something pretty soon! I don't mind what I just want to get back to work and as far away from the DWP as possible...I just feel I have been treated like a criminal with no real evidence to prove I have ever done anything wrong...!!! I hope your mum is ok...if you have any questions just ask as I have found out quite a bit of info over the last few weeks...you have to find it out for yourself because no one at the DWP will volunteer any info whatsoever, they basically don't give a s***. Sounds harsh but it's true...!!! Contact me if I can help you in anyway I will...I really do understand what you are going through...x

Hiya...just had a successful crisis loan application off to get it now...I can also apply for jobseekers allowance on top of tax credits so i'll be no worse off when it's sorted but the hassle and the worry is just so overwhelming, I haven't stopped with phonecalls/letters over the last few days...but I'll get there in the end! Thanks Emma but I think at the mo I am doing the right thing! Dealt with a lovely DWP lady today who has told me I am doing everything I possibly can...xxx

Hiya...I myself am going through the same thing. I was called in for an I.U.C after some lovely person alleged my ex-partner and I were living together as husband or wife/civil partners. Now I know I am bound to say this but I genuinely don't live with my ex or any other man for that matter, I live alone with my four children. I sought legal advice before attending because the Community Legal Advice helpline said I should and that they advise everyone in this situation to do the same. The soilcitor was very helpful and basically said not to comment on questions I didn't feel comfortable asking. I genuinely felt confident enough to go in there all guns blazing knowing full well my partner had his own flat with plenty of mail and evidence to prove it. Anyway when I got there I had my last 12 months bank statements laid out for me to see with certain amounts highlighted. Now I can't remember what went in my bank last week nevermind a year ago...I remembered a few but a couple I was unsure of and my mind just went blank. I had been given some money by my father who gave me and my brother some money last year from a bonus he received at work (he has a decent job, mortgage paid for, lives alone) and I paid some of mine into my BA to pay some bills and I took the kids on a day out with the rest of it...never thought of telling the DWP it was a one off gift not an earning or regular income. I also let my ex partner who cannot have a bank account set up a vehicle insurance policy direct debit on a monthly basis. He gave me the money each month and that was over a 10 month period. At Christmas he landed himself a part time job, lasted 3 months. He had to supply the employers with bank details which of course he didn't have so I suggested he use mine...from my bank statements you can quite clearly see that I accepted some of this money and there are maestro transactions in toy stores etc. Now yes I know what it looks like but it was completely honest...all be it very naive/stupid on my part but I had done it so I told the Interviewer everything...but I would not admit to the allegation made that we are civil partners because we are so not. I do not cook clean or wash for him and I don't see him other then when he has contact with the kids. Anyway the interview concluded and I heard nothing for 10 weeks. No letters or phonecalls asking me to back up where some of the amounts had come from, I stated two of them were from a personal loan company, a cheque from BT because I was at the time in credit with them (they had been taking too much by DD) again the cash from my dad and one amount was from my friend who bought my entire collection of nursery items, pram, cot, baby alarm you name it...she snapped it up! 10 weeks to the day of my I.U.C I had a letter off the DWP Central Debt Agency telling me based on the evidence I supplied in the I.U.C it had been decided by the Decision maker both myself and my ex partner were living together as civil partners!!!!!!!!!! No contact with my ex, no knock on the door of his flat absolutely nothing but undisclosed amounts of around a £1000 (over a 12 month period) my benefits were suspended and I have a month to appeal. MY HB and CTB have also been stopped and I have to reapply, why do I have to reapply when my circumstances haven't changed could this not have been resolved with an overpayments decision instead of causing such turmoil? I have been for the last 2 weeks living on £52 a week Child Benefit. I have had to cancel all SO and DD's. It has been my worst nightmare. All I can say is take it one day at a time seek the advice of Welfare rights at your local council, take any legal help thats offered and keep a log of who you speak to and when, also keep copies of every letter you send them. I have found out the hard way that they really will make a mountain out of a molehill!!! If your mum is on the old system of IS she can apply for child tax credits, it's paid directly to the mother of children under 16 and is not decided by the DWP. It isn't anything to do with them. You can call them on 0845 300 3900 I am awaiting a pack now so I should have my claim go through within a couple of weeks. I really feel for your mum, yes the BA have a duty to wipe out the fraud but I feel a lot of innocent people get caught up in it all. My letter also states that although they are not fraud investigators there is a possibility that they will want to talk to me more and a criminal investigation may follow. This worried me more than anything as I have applied for jobs over the last few weeks. My yongest will be in full time education come September and I am desperate to get back to work, nevermind for financial reasons more for my own sanity! How am I going to get back to work with a conviction of fraud? No matter what type of fraud it is it's still fraud and it will be a mark against my name for many years to come! An added bit of info is the BA don't even allow a one night stay over with a partner as they class that as being in a "civil partnership". I was always under the impression you could have someone stay over 3 nights but the fraud investigator who interviewed me said it was looked upon suspiciously unless it was a family member. Your mum should stand her ground and fight them all the way again taking every bit of advice and help offered along the way...I really really hope things work out for you and your mum is ok...it is the most stressful thing I have ever come up across in my whole life and I feel like it's neverending...

I also have a supposed debt owing to Sky! I have been sent a letter from Red debt agency asking me for £158.00. I had Sky tv at my last address which was almost 4 years ago. I cancelled before I moved in the correct way, after the 12 month subsription period with no outstanding balance. For one thing you are always a month in front with Sky because thats how they collect money from you. Anyway I have had 3 letters within the last few months and after finding this site I will be sending a letter NOT acknowledging the debt and asking them to provide proof of it even existing. I have to say this site is fantastic and after reading many threads posted it has given me the confidence to deal with the debts I do actually have in the correct way. I plan on stocking up on envelopes and stamps tomorrow and getting to work on it all. I am a single mum of 4 and on IS for the last few months after losing my job. Is it true that banks cannot claim charges from customers on IS. I recently got charged £22 by HSBC for going over my overdraft by a couple of quid, £22 is a lot to me at the minute and I wondered if it is worth claiming it back. I have an HSBC account which I pay £12.95 a month for so I can have the privelege of a £100 overdraft! Love to hear from anyone who can help xoxoxo