I hope so. I just wish it would be over and done with yesterday. I had some medications increased today so hopefully that will help but I realise that they won't take affect right away. The council also asked for proof of earnings again this time for aug and sep as well as childcare costs and for this to be filled out by my child care provider. I have had all of this completed today and will post it tomorrow for them.

I know jadeybags I've thought long and hard about this today (as I do everyday just now) but I've decided when I get re lettered to go to the iuc as I postponed the first one until I got legal advice I am going to go and read my written statement the best that I can and hope that they understand what I am saying. I feel saying no comment or not even going looks worse for me and I did not do this all intentionally. I've just made a complete mess of it all and more than likely hurt my son which is something that I will never forgive myself for. I would rather explain my situation that I have been in now for just over two years now as well as explain about how Ill I am and have been. I need to accept that I have done something very wrong and take whatever I get. I really do appreciate the support and the advice that I have recieved on this. It has helped me think of things as logically as I can.

Hi jabba jones The overpayment is for a period of 20 months. The housing benefit was part payment to my rent. My rent is £675 a month and they paid £425 a month. They are asking for the full amount back as I did not declare I was working. They have said I am still entitled to housing benefit but at the amount of £392. Today I recieved a letter advising that they will be taking £10.65 a week from my housing benefit to recover the overpayment. What I don't understand is the rule for underlying entitlement as it looks to me that I am due back £720 to the housing benefit rather than £9500? Income support again was the same period of time 20 month a total of £5149 All of this period in time until now I have been very unwell. I have prepared a written statement advising of everything in my first post about the state of my mental health being unable to cope and trying to support my mother. I would much rather try to sort this out as best as I can but both solicitors have advised no comment or not to attend. I feel this makes it worse. The first solicitor I just spoke to over the phone did not know anything about my health or how this happend he just said he advises this to all his clients. The second solicitor who I seen yesterday feels I am not in a fit state to attend however I would rather read my statement the best that I can and let them know of how much of a mess things have been. I can honestly say with everything that I have been dealing with I became negligent and this is far from how I am. I've never done anything like this and feel ill with my stupidity. I think it's best I turn up. I am seeing my psychiatrist at the beginning of November. I spoke with her over the telephone. She has prepared a letter explaining about my health. Would this even make some kind of difference?

Will i lose my job? i work in sales. if i do i take it i will never work again. ive never been in any kind of trouble and i know face a criminal record and everyone knowing about me. i spoke to my g.p this morning. he said to go to iuc and get it over with as prolonging it is making me really unwell. i dont think they will take into account what has went on in my personal life for the past two years. im just so upset and stressed with it all. last night i slept for just over two hours wish i could make this all go away

Thanks debt4get That makes more sense as to why she said that. Yea MP's ppffftt not that I say they are all the same however a few have really made me mad with what they do and get away with.

Hine moa I'm glad they didn't ridicule you as that is what I am most scared of more so for my son than me. He doesn't need to be tarnished for something stupid that I have done. I fully appreciate and now realise I have done something wrong and the way I was brought up was if you do something wrong you say sorry and rectify the situation. I will pay back every penny that I am due. I am disputing the HB amount due to underlying entitlement which they didn't take into consideration however if I am wrong with this theni will give the full amount back in affordable amounts. I just feel taking me to court is wasting time and resources although I'll probably end up paying the court fees too. If I didn't hold my hands up and try to make out lies or not be cooperative with them then yes take me to court but I've never ignored them every letter I have responded to and called straight away. When I call them they make me feel like an idiot and I start becoming very stressed anxious and nervous alln the one go. Imagine feeling like that when I can't even see them. At the iuc I'll be a mess

Hi nystagmite I see a psychiatrist on a monthly basis as well as my g.p every two weeks. I have a cpn also but she went on long term sick. I contacted her department today and they said they would get someone to call back. Still waiting not that they will call tonight. I have my g.p tomorrow morning so I'm going to tell him I'm finding it quite hard to cope. It's not that I can't do anything for myself or my son but mentally I cannot get this out my head. I have not had a full nights sleep since July as its like a tape recorder in my head. I don't know how else to explain this. My body is desperate to relax yet my head only wants to think about this over and over again. I'm not focusing on anything else Wish I could make this all go away but I can't. Again thanks to all who have been supportive. I was terrified writing this out last night. I really do appreciate the advice as I haven't spoke to many about this as I am so scared X

Hi hine moa As what a sin. I feel so bad they put things in the paper about you. Was it a lot they wrote? I honestly at the time could not see that I was doing something wrong. I know now that I obviously was but at the time I was trying to deal with everything else. I don't know if that was the right advice my solicitor gave me. She was a lovely lady and I cried a lot so I'm glad I took my folder of paperwork and written statement for her to read. She said if I say no comment they have nothing else to use against me but to me that's not right. I'm no expert here and I don't have degrees in law or anything but I always thought honesty was the best policy. I do not have the strength to look anyone in the face and say no comment when I know they have enough evidence to prosecute. How long did it take for you to go to court if you don't mind me asking? I don't think I can stomach a year and a half feeling like I have been since July. I'm going to end up really Ill and if I'm not careful back in hospital. I've only recently increased my hours in work after I took a massive breakdown. I couldn't face another one. It makes me worse knowing I brought this on myself and deep down know I have no right to be worried or upset at what I have done.

Hey all well i have been to see my solicitor. she doesnt think im mentally fit for the interview and if i were to attend she would like me to say no comment the whole way through. she also advised i got medical letters explaining my condition. she said that i will be prosecuted for the amount but very unlikely i will go to prison as ive never been in trouble before. she also said to me to keep paying the money back as this will look better. she said it will take well over a year to ho to court as they are dealing with this daily. (not sure how im going to cope for so long - she said put it out my mind, easier said than done ) ive not to worry about papers as she said journalists are bored of this kind of thing now but only last week i seen two cases in my local paper for a lot less than me. one was for 2500 the other 3500.i realise i dont know the full story behind them but id imagine journalists will have a field day with me i need to wait on there next letter (from dwp) she said they wont rush it on my expense. just feel terrible and would rather say yip ive done a big boo boo here. but i deserve what i get x

I will try that advice Thanks x

Thanks Lillibelle I know you are right just don't feel like that at the moment x

Hey Honeybee Thanks. I just feel there is a black cloud that follows me no matter what I do everything goes wrong and I affect everyone around me. I really hate myself for this. Im so scared of this being in the paper and everyone knowing everything about me and what a mess Ive made of my life. I feel slightly better after getting great advice from here. It amazes me how nice people are when they don't even know you. Thanks so much and I will let you all know what happens tonight x

Thank you all so much for all the comments. I really do appreciate all your help and it is nice to know that there are people out there who do care. I just feel so low with all of this and all I want to do is protect my son from everything and I do not want my family involved as we have all had enough to deal with with things to do with my Mother. I am seeing a solicitor this evening at 5.30PM so I will let you all know how I get on. I really hope I can get this sorted and the DWP and Council do see that I have a disability. I have called my Psychiatrist also who is providing a letter for them. I have prepared a written statement for the DWP and HB department however I do not feel brave enough to read it. I would probably cry the whole time and it would not even make sense. Wish I could get my act together. Jadebags I am not allowed Diazapam as they are too addictive. I am on a lot of medication just now such as Depekote, Quetipine sleeping tablets and Buspirone for my nerves and axiety. Just wish I hadnt made such a stupid mistake. I know I deserve what I get and I will pay every penny back that I was not entitled to but I could not face people ever again if they knew my family history through papers or anything else. I do not want my son to live with all of this either. Such a mess

Hi everyone Thanks for spending the time to read and give me as much advice as possible. I feel like my head is all over the place. I have called my CPN and awaiting a call back. I am going to see another solicitor tonight who seems helpful this time. I just cannot believe the mess that I am now in and all I was doing was burrying my head in the sand to deal with everything else. I have been paying back the DWP £150 a month since July. I have also asked that the IUC is re arranged and they have said that they will re letter me with another date. God knows how I will cope worrying about when the next letter will come in. I know I have make a huge mistake here all i want to do is sort it out without everyone knowing about my illness and my family issues that I have also had to deal with over the past two years.

Thank you abc123def. I really wish I felt like I could. I will ask my cpn to attend. I fully appreciate I have done wrong and feel like an idiot for doing this to my son but at the time I honestly never thought anything of it as I was going through a period of mainia then depression and I was also trying to deal with my mum. I am disgusted at myself. Why did I not see what I was doing was Wong? I just don't want everyone knowing my family situation and what I have done via papers. I've protected my son from it all as he is only a baby (5yrs old) just started school. I don't want him ever finding all this out. Least of all through papers. I feel so drained with it all tbh. I have no one to blame for everything other than myself.

Hi Thanks for your reply I appreciate it. I just feel saying no comment makes it all look worse. I don't know maybe I'm wrong but the solicitor didn't even know any background info. I called him and as soon as I said I was to attend an iuc he said you have two options either don't go or go and say no comment. I advise all our clients this. I just feel that's wrong. I will call my psychiatrist and cpn first thing in the morning for a medical report. Thanks

Hi I am really looking for help. Please don't judge me as I've made a horrific mistake & terrified I lose my son. I will try to put everything down and hopefully it makes some kind of sense. I lost my job in July 2010 due to my mental health. I suffer from bipolar affective disorder and I have went through many episodes of either mania or severe depression. I didn't bother getting legal advice for losing my job as at the time I was so weak and all I wanted was to sort myself out for my son. I applied for income support (over the telephone) as well as housing benefit and council tax benefit. I did not want to sit about so applied for as many jobs as I could. I eventually got offered employment however my probation period was from August 2010 to January 2011. I continued to recieve income support as well as housing benefit and council tax benefit. I was also, during this period of time until now trying to support my mother. She left my father and entered into a volatile relationship. She became an alcoholic and on 4 separate occasions from 2010 to the present day she has tried to commit suicide. One of which I watched my mother on a life support machine for 3 days being told by the nurse in the intensive care unit she may not come around. I was trying to look like I could handle everything life was throwing at me whether it be my own mental health, my son, my job or my mother. In reality I was falling apart inside. I ended up hitting another depressive episode which has gone on for some time. I genuinely forgot about the benefits which I was claiming. I had to take 3 month off work with no pay as I took a breakdown. I recieved a letter in July of this year first from dwp informing me they had overpaid me income support by £5149 I did not ignore the letter. I called straight away and offered to pay back £150 a month. An amount I can barely afford but I wanted to sort it out as quickly as possible. Then in September of this year I recieved a letter from the council claiming they had overpaid me housing and council tax benefit by £9500. I felt I'll! I called straight away to ask how this could be and they said it was due to me not declaring I was working however I still am entitled to housing and council tax benefit? This made no sense so I wrote a letter to the best of my ability asking them to re look at it. I was told over the telephone that they were correct and I was due back £9500 to them. I re wrote another letter asking them about underlying entitlement and going by this it looks as if I am only due back £720 to the housing and council tax benefit. I wish I hadn't bothered. I have now been asked to attend a joint iuc. I honestly feel like ending it all. I have made a terrible mistake and I'm so sorry for what I have done. All I was thinking about at the time was trying to look like I had a hold on everything I.e my life my mum my son when In fact I didn't. I just went on auto pilot and didn't sleep or eat for weeks. I hate myself for what I have done and feel my son is now a target through my stupidity and not thinking clearly. I don't know how to handle this or anything. I spoke with a solicitor who told me to either go to the iuc and say no comment the whole way through or not turn up? Why I have done something very wrong here? Why would I do that and waste peoples time? I would rather be honest with them hold my hands up and tell them what's been going on in my life. But would they listen? I'm so scared. I have never been in any kind of trouble in my life. All I've ever wanted is the best for my son and try to support my mother who is not the mother that brought me up. I am trying my hardest to bring that mother back however she is in such a dark place it sometimes feels like I'd be better off talking to a brick wall. I don't want to go to prison. I wouldn't last 5 mins there. I'd rather be dead than go there. I've let my son down so badly. God knows what he will think of me when he is old enough to know what I have done. I prepared a written statement for the iuc saying all of the above. What should I expect? Will this be all over the papers? I'm sorry I know I am rambling I just haven't got a clue and feel my energy is so drained. Appreciate people reading. Thanks.