Hi Erika, thanks for your responses Erika - I agree entirely with you and have no intention of paying!! However, I know that they have no intention of taking me to court, and eventually they will be able to take it out of my pension - even though this is over 20 years away, I am angry at the principle of having to pay this money at all!!

Hi, sorry for the delay in replying but I've been awaiting further response from my MP. Really disappointed to be honest, received a letter from the DWP Minister advising that decision is right, money has to be paid back, the original claim form etc cannot be traced etc.. It seems to be irrelevent to everyone that I KNOW NOTHING about the overpayment and the details do not relate to my own (ie. I was not living at the address, I was not married etc). However, the letter does also state that my details have been recalled from the collection agency asI have made a late appeal which is now being considered - despite my being told previously that my appeal had been refused as it was outside of the time limits!!! I cannot believe that, despite the blatently false basis of this debt claim ,and the countless mistakes and contradictary statements made by DWP, that they can still pursue me - I really do feel let down by the whole system. I still have no intention of paying, but it looks as though I will now have to put up with further harrassing letters from Debt Collection Agencies until I retire..

Thanks for your advice Erika - I have contacted my MP as advised. I got a surprisingly quick reply asking for my National Insurance Number and advising me that he would raise it with the Minister responsible. Sounds promising, but I will let you know how I get on!

Hi, I know that this issue has been raised several times, but I would still be grateful for any advice that can be offered to me, as I really am at the end of my tether! I received a letter in October 2007 from Debt Management, advising me that I had been overpaid Income Support in 1996 and so owed DWP £740! (sound familiar?). I have absolutely no knowledge of this overpayment, and contacted them in October 07 to request further information, advise re statute of limitations etc (I am currently in full time work), but received no further contact until I got a demand from CCS Collect, which was for £440 rather than £740. (I have been given no explanation as to why the amount had dropped!). I contacted CCS but was told to pay up or face court - they were, by the way, the rudest and least helpful company I have ever dealt with! I wrote again to Debt Management in August 08, and received a letter with a breakdown of the overpayments - the overpayments related to an address that I was not living at at the time! I rang Debt Management again in January 09, and was advised by a Team Leader that I should put a request in writing for copies of the original claim form, system records etc, and that when I received these I could submit an appeal. I did this and, after chasing up my letter three times, I received a copy of a letter from a decision maker which was sent in Dec 1998 - the letter had been sent to the address that I was not living at, and was full of errors; the dates did not tie up with the dates that had been given previously and the letter stated that the overpayment was because my wife had been working (I am not, and have never been married!). They have also acknowledged in writing that the original letter was returned to them undelivered as I was not at that address! I wrote a formal complaint to the customer service team and also lodged an appeal on form GL24; I have now received a letter advising me that my right of appeal ran from when the original decision makers letter was sent to me (even though they know I didn't receive it) so they will not be taking my appeal forward.They also advised that I would need to contact my local jobcentre for details of this claim as they do not hold claim records, although they don't think they will still hold records for it due to the length of time since the claim! I am now at a total loss as to what to do - I do not intend to pay this money and I am certain that it is their error, but they seem to be steamrollering over me and it has become a moral issue as well as a money issue for me. Sorry for the long post but as I said I am fuming!! All replies gratefully received!