Im suing the Council !

[matt5983]

Back in Aug this year i had a letter come through stating i am under investigation for benefit fraud, i went for an informal interview and found out what had happened

My wife gets paid cash in hand for 3hrs work a week and i didnt disclose it, even though i have a recorded call form them stating otherwise. 1-0 to me.

Secondly, i hadnt informed them my tax credits had changed, again its on record i did ring and was told not to send the award notice in as they can go into the DWP system and find it anyway...2-0 to me.

Then at the interview i was told i had been overpayed £650 in housing and council tax benefit. i argued this and done my own figures to prove it was approx £40m when they saw my workings out they agreed !!!...3-0 to me.

 

Then tuesday i had sent them info of myself claiming ESA as i wasnt entitlied to SSP, BUT im still employed, even though my income went down by £50 a week so i though nothing of it.

 

That was until friday, i had a letter asking for for my WTC and CTC award notice to be sent to them as im not entitlied to it even though im employed over 16hrs, want my wifes pay slips for the last 5 weeks, (dont get them, payed by cash, i sent them a form her employer filled out!!!!)

In this letter it stated i had another over payment of over £200 as they nolonger allow my wifes DLA to be used in there calculations for the disability element, BUT if i cancel my claim and redone it in her name then the over payment will be removed and it would sort it self out. Funny thing is shes had for over a year and they have used it in there calculations since OCT 2010 but are no longer willing to do so as its in my name.

 

Ive never had to claim before and our income from 09 went from 65k a year to 7k due to her illness etc

 

So enough is enough, im taking them to court and im gonna beat them so hard, firstly for having to work out calculations there dept should be able to do but i had to, what happened if it was someone who didnt know like i did???, they would have payed the £650 !!!, secondly for the way there acting now, because of what happened in Aug, im being treated differently.

I have already helped 2 other people who are self employed get the full amount as they done there caluculations wrong !!!

[flumps1976]

Just for info, there are no computer portals to allow any departments to view other benefit entitlements between DWP, the Local Authority and the HMRC departments.These are all admistered by different departments.

I have no access to view HB, CtB or Tax Credits via my JCP card and access to benefits systems.

[matt5983]

Just for info, there are no computer portals to allow any departments to view other benefit entitlements between DWP, the Local Authority and the HMRC departments.These are all admistered by different departments.

I have no access to view HB, CtB or Tax Credits via my JCP card and access to benefits systems.

 

Sorry but I find that hard to believe. When speaking with the council they send they can do it and also informed me that as I'm claiming ESA they will tell the DWP and will wait for the new award notice. Now if they can't do this, why do they say they can ?

[Nystagmite]

It's your responsibility to tell them of changes to benefits. It tells you that on any benefits letters you have. It's not their responsibility to check for you.

[the_shadow]

Just for info, there are no computer portals to allow any departments to view other benefit entitlements between DWP, the Local Authority and the HMRC departments.These are all admistered by different departments.

I have no access to view HB, CtB or Tax Credits via my JCP card and access to benefits systems.

 

Yep one of the many reasons for overpayments

 

S.

[ErikaPNP]

They have access to two systems: The CIS system contains personal information and indicates what a person has claimed and when such as DWP benefits and HMRC Tax Credits in addition to Local Authority HB or CTB. But the information they can access is very limited indeed. From what I understand, the CIS system only allows them to see that there is a claim, not the amounts or any other information about the claim. The ATLAS system is also used which provides notifications to the LA.

 

In any event, what Nystagmate has advised is correct. The systems are there for the government departments to share information but the onus is always on the claimant to notify the LA. I've seen similar cases, where the claimant disputes a recoverable overpayment because the LA should have been notified by the other government department, and argues that they therefore believed that they did not have a duty to disclose. Unfortunately I've yet to see a successful case because in the regulations, it does set out the duty of a claimant to notify, which is communicated to the claimant in the award notifications sent to them by the LA.

 

Trust me, I do feel your frustration - I've had my own battles with my local authority where I've had to write letters of complaint because of the LA's failure to follow the relevant procedure and apply the legislation in the correct manner.

[flumps1976]

Thank you Erica, yes that is correct I do have access to CIS and that system does only tell me that an interest for claiming a benefit has been made and does not give any specific details such as amounts and changes in rates.

[jabba jones]

I do have access to CIS and that system does only tell me that an interest for claiming a benefit has been made and does not give any specific details such as amounts and changes in rates.

 

There must be different levels of access because I had all dates & rates for DWP benefits & then interest markers on Council & HMRC benefits.

 

Unfortunately the info on CIS is not always correct though

[flumps1976]

Jabba Jones, at the risk of going slightly off the subject of the original post, yes you have access to the information about one of the departments namely DWP but only have basic information about the interest of HB, Ctb, and Tax Credits which sounds like the same access that I currently have.

The point I was trying to make originally is that it cannot be assumed that every department has full access to the information across departments as each computer processing system is different and that is why it is ultimately it is a clients responsibility to advise each department of any changes in other departments/benefit awards.

Again that is the same for DLA and Carers Allowance as those are processed by the Carers and Disabilities Departments and again I have an interest marker for those benefits but no full information such as amounts and the changes if any in those rates.

This also include the April uprating increases.

[Surfer01]

When my wife applied for ESA they asked her about the benefits she was receiving and she told them she was receiving DLA and Carer's Allowance. She was then sent a transcript and it showed that she had declared the CA. They continued to pay CA and we were not aware at the time that she could not get ESA and CA. They then tried to reclaim stating that she had not informed them that she was claiming CA and were claiming an overpayment of about £700.

It seems as per the OP that the benefits department are making a habit of not processing information and then accusing you of not notifying them. Makes you wonder how many other people have unwittingly fallen into this trap. Like the OP she will go to court over it if necessary.

[ErikaPNP]

I'm by no means an expert as the systems are internal but the links below should provide some information.

 

Customer Information System (CIS)

 

Automated Transfer to Local Authority Systems (ATLAS)

[ErikaPNP]

Found it!

 

I knew I had seen it somewhere. This link is a dummy screenshot of the CIS system. It does show the amounts - what it doesn't show is components. I'm not sure if it would show the components if the 'details' button was clicked on or what info each department or member of staff will have access to. I presume that like all benefit systems, the level of access is set to the role.