Dwp Debt Management Help!!!

[lolo6677]

hi all, right in november 2008 we received a letter from the dwp debt management stating that we owed £3157.17 of overpaid jobseekers allowance.

we called immediately and tried to sort out why we were due this money.

this went on for a couple of months and then eventually in march 2009 one of the staff found that we were not in the wrong and that the original jobseekers forms were filled out correctly and it was there mistake not ours.

we were told to appeal the decision as is had to be put through formal channels so it could be wiped.

i have received a letter today from the tribunals service saying that the decision was sent out on 26/05/2005!! and since the appeal was not received until 12/03/2009 our appeal was more than a year late and has now been struck out by law.

i have just phoned dwp help centre and given no help at all and told to phone the tribunals service?

what good is that going to do as by law they have washed their hands of it.

can anyone please help, it has been proved that its not our fault and can assure you we never received a letter in 2005 because if we did we would have phoned as quick as we did when the letter came in 2008.

we phoned as soon as the letter dropped through the door and when the lady found the error i nearly jumped through the ceiling with joy and am now completely at a loss on where to go from here.

any help i would apprecite greatly

laura x

[IdaInFife]

hiya,

 

i've asked someone to pop along to help you out,

 

Ida x

[ErikaPNP]

Hi lolo. Firstly, I'd like to apologise for the delay in replying - Ida did message me this afternoon, but I was at work and have just this minute signed in.

 

Okay - the first thing that must be done when it becomes evident to the DWP that they have made an incorrect decision, is a "reconsideration" - this is where the DWP decision maker reconsiders the original decision and officially overturns the decision. This should be done immediately where they have noted official error, and as they had stated that it was official error, you should not have had to appeal the decision.

 

Secondly, when an appeal is received, the DWP must again perform a reconsideration, before it is sent to the tribunals service. This is a part of the appeals process and can be found in the "Code of Appeals Procedure" here: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/ch02.pdf. Now, again if it had been discovered that there was official error then the decision should have been revised to reflect what the decision should have been.

 

Here, in paragraph 06065, http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/ch06-23229.pdf it is clearly stated that the claimant must appeal within one month from notification of the decision. (One month standard time limit, can be extended for 14 days if a statement of reasons is requested, and the absolute time limit is one year). You can find the entire code of appeals procedure here: Code of Appeals Procedure (CAP) - DWP

 

Although the decision was made in 2005, you were not aware of an overpayment until November of 2008 when you received the letter from DWP Debt Management, advising you owed money. You then spent months attempting to find out where this overpayment came about. When the DWP received the papers relating to the case, they looked at how the overpayment came about, and subsequently advised you of the erroneous decision and of your right to appeal. This was your official "notification" of the decision.

 

Now, as the decision was erroneous as I have already pointed out, this should have been dealt with as a matter of urgency by the DWP, there should not have been a need for you to appeal.

 

They will argue that you were notified of the decision at the time in 2005. In this case, they should be able to see on the computer system if a letter was actually issued, and what address it was issued to. If the letter was not issued, you were not notified. If the letter was issued to an incorrect address, you were not notified, and you have a case to argue.

 

As they have admitted their decision was erroneous, it is not for the tribunal to make a decision. The job of the tribunals service is to decide if a decision was erronous in law. The DWP have already stated that it is. I would raise an offical complaint directly with the office which processed your jobsekers allowance claim in 2005, outlinging the facts:

 

*You received no notification of an overpayment in 2005

*When you were made aware of an overpayment by debt management, you made several attempts over a period of XXX months to find out how the overpayment arose

*You received a telephone call/letter from the DWP advising you that the overpayment was the result of an error on DWP part (maladministration), and were advised to appeal the decision to the tribunals service

*You followed the advice you were provided, and subsequently received a response from the tribunals service advising that your appeal was struck out as you were out with the "absolute time limit" for appeal

*You have sought advice and have consulted the "code of appeals procedure", and as you understand it the DWP were aware the decision was erronous and as such should have rectified the matter without the need for appeal.

 

I would also submit a "subject access request" - Ida has posted the link - but make sure you include that you would like a "full audit trail" included.

 

Above all, and this is very important - I would enlist the help of a "Welfare Rights Officer" with this. You can find one through your local council who can do all of the above on your behalf, free of charge.

 

If you cannot find a welfare rights officer, I would certainly raise the issue with your MP, who you can find here: UK Parliament - Search (Find Your MP)

 

I'll also move your thread to the benefits forum.