DWP Overpayment question

[SteveMetal]

My wife received a letter from the DWP at the weekend about an Overpayment for Carer's Allowance which she was receiving some time ago, this debt is from over 7 years ago.

They are going to be deducting payments from her fortnightly Jobseekers Allowance.

 

Now from reading other posts and doing a bit of research, what I understand is that due to the age of the debt being over 6 years it is classed as Statute Barred, so they can not take any legal action against her, but they are able to deduct it from her payments whilst she is claiming.

 

What I want to know is, when she returns to work and stops claiming Jobseekers, will these deductions she has made from her benefits cancel out the Statute Barred status, meaning she would have to wait another 6 years for it to take effect again, or will she be ok and the Statute Barred will still stand.

 

What we are concerned about is receiving a letter from DWP or a debt collector at a later date threatening legal action to claim this debt back.

[ErikaPNP]

Unless she has acknowledged the debt, then it will remain statute barred. But, they can take it back anytime from benefit - even pension. They will send it to Debt Management, who will in turn send it to a debt collector.