income support

[elltel]

hi my name is Terry, i am new to this so bare with me

last week i received a later from DWP demanding £1553.00 saying ive been overpaid, telling me if not paid by 4/2/09 there could be court costs, solicitors costs, credit difficults or impossible to obtain credit in the future, saying they had written before, ive never received a letter from anyone

i rang the appropiate number to discuss what this was all about, i spoke to a lady called Tina, i asked tina what this letter was all about and she really did not have a clue, (she told me she did not write the letter)when i asked her what date this was from she told me 1993-1996 i was gob smacked, i then asked her 1st why did i owe this money-2nd how did they get to this figure- 3rd how many letters had they sent, as this letter had no dates or figures just demands

tina told me they had sent a couple of letters, (in 13-16 years) which i have never received, i have moved address a few times, our conversation went on for a while and i told her to send me some paperwork with the relavent information

today i received a letter saying i had savings in excess of £8000 this letter was dated 25/6/1996, but the decision of the adjudication was dated 29/7/92, this letter says ive been overpaid £3619.90

like i said ive never received any letters from these people asking for this money and would like to know where i stand legally on this matter, can they still chase this money after almost 13 years

can anyone please help Thank you Terry

ps. the conversation with tina was a classic

would be fantastic if someone could HELP me

Edited February 6, 2009 by elltel

[bazak1]

Hi,

i know from my own family members, that the DWP stop £1.00 for every £500.00 or part of £500.00 you have in savings over £6000.00 ( unless that threshold has been updated ) out of every weekly payment.

so if you have had savings over the threshold for that number of years, it would certainly mount up.

 

I personally thought that debt couldnt be recovered after six years, but i'm not sure if that includes benefits etc.

 

I am pretty sure that someone with more knowledge of this area will be along pretty soon.

[elltel]

Hi,

i know from my own family members, that the DWP stop £1.00 for every £500.00 or part of £500.00 you have in savings over £6000.00 ( unless that threshold has been updated ) out of every weekly payment.

so if you have had savings over the threshold for that number of years, it would certainly mount up.

 

I personally thought that debt couldnt be recovered after six years, but i'm not sure if that includes benefits etc.

 

I am pretty sure that someone with more knowledge of this area will be along pretty soon.

 

thanks for your reply, i stopped claiming benifits on the 6/2/1996 and have not claimed anything since so they are trying to claim this money back from nearly 13 years ago, i started claiming on the 28/7/1993 and there was a break in between these two periods

i am just unsure on the time scale that this overpayment has passed

could someone point me in the right direction PLEASE thanks Terry

[MIKEY DABODEE]

hi Terry

 

If you had over eight thousand pounds in savings then during your claim to Income Support and they have found out then you were not entitled to benefit as the capital limit then was eight thousand pouds

 

It has since gone up to sixteen think it was 2004

and yes they can come after you even after six years.

 

Why did you top claiming I.S had they done a match on your capital.

 

You can pay the overpayment back weekly by direct debit

[elltel]

i stopped claiming I.S on 06/02/96

this is why ive been shocked with this letter threatening me with court proceedings ive been led to believe that the DWP are unable to take you to court after 6 years, they can still claim the money but not through the courts is this write or wrong

thanks for the reply this court threat is worrying me and my family

thanks Terry