Pending Tribunal - ** WON **

[MissyNA]

Hi everyone,

 

Looking for a bit of advice of opinion about what I am going to put to you. Preferably if there is a fraud investigation or tribunal panel worker as this is more in their league.

 

Obviously a limited amount of speculation can occur but any insight would be most appreciated.

 

I will try and keep it as short as possible.

 

May 7th 2010 I was taken ill into hosp, my hubby had lost his phone whilst working in Amsterdam. He borrowed a phone from a 'steward' on his rig, subsequently I found out he was having an affair. On my birthday 17th May 2010, he left me, saying he needed to sort his head out, in the meantime, I was seriously ill with impending redundancy (31st May 2010) Was optional as he said he would support me.

 

By July 2010 I knew he was for real and not coming back so I went to jobcentre and got signed up for ESA rather than IS due to my health as I found out he had gone on holiday with this woman etc - too much to mention otherwise I would be writing into 2014.

 

After some time my ESA was rejected then I went onto IS, previously to this I sorted the council tax so it was only me and my girls in the house registered.

 

I then started college Sep 2011 and wrote to inform then, I got a letter back asking about course details and this was forwarded onto them.

 

During all the commotion of the split, I was diagnosed with TIA, Depression and I took up drinking to 'help' me. Social Services got involved and my girls were put on the protection register for 6 months due to drink driving charge.

 

During that whole process I tried my damned best to get my hubby back but failed on many ocassion, although we tried when we went on hol together.

 

In that whole time we met twice socially and had that holiday, I served separation order as he introduced this woman to my girls after me asking him not to etc etc.

 

He got his own flat for 6 months in Aug 2010-feb 1011 then gave it up as he was working away in Amsterdam for long periods on courses and working on the rigs.

 

I fell out with family & friends over my contact with him as I required him to take me food shopping for our gilrs and did it online when he was away.

 

A letter arrived for him in Jul 2012 as him to go to an interview and this subsequently led to a IUC for me in the OCt 2012.

 

I since found that I should not have been receiving the IS as I was at college, although I had written to them 3 times by this point, they have no record.

 

I hav had demands of £1982 from council tax, £13600 from CTC and £4600 from DWP.

 

Of course I have written to apply for tribunal as I feel I have done nothing wrong here and on reading the OP they are basically saying he never left me and only taking into account the 6 months he rented, they are basically stating that all I went through was a lie. I didnt seek legal advice before the IUC as I felt I didnt need it, now I realise I should have. I have proof of this affair, relationship from emails I hacked into, I eveidence he took her on hol, bought her things, solicitor letters (which the interviewer tried to tell me was rubbish), social work reports about us splitting, the list is endless. They are saying because we never separated the joint account (was down to me as I knew I could spy if he was buying his tart anything) and I worked in a bank so I knew how much of pain it would be to sort, that we never parted company. I also have Dr letter backing up my claims, Dr letter from my mums Dr as the whole situation made her ill, endless evidence.

 

Sorry for such a long spiel...

 

I just wanted to know what opinion was of my chances in this tribunal.

 

I am aware, due to my bursary of £1000 will be taken into account, Im more concerned about criminal proceedings as my hnd is for business, I got an A for it and am going to uni and feel there is no point in continuing if I am stuffed as most jobs require no fraud criminal convictions.

 

I have also been diagnosed type 1 diabetic since then and the stress is making me ill as I cannot stablise my blood sugars.

 

ANY HELP much appreciated

 

MissyNA xxx

[time4change2]

when is the date of your tribunal?

 

have you got a legal representative such a specialist solicitor for these kind of cases?

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

Could you tell us which tribunal you're going to please? I mean is it the DWP, the council or someone else?

 

That will help us to know which forum you need advice from. I can't promise a fraud investigator or a tribunal worker as this is a voluntary forum and people arrive when they can. I'm sure the guys will do as much as they can.

 

My best, HB

[MissyNA]

Sorry, I just noticed I never made it clear, just so stressed.

 

It it DWP, Child Tax Credit & Council Tax - all rolled into one for tribunal.

 

Their reasons are stating that Me & my hubby never split up and always have been living together as finances were not separated.

 

No date as of yet.

 

This has been going on since 12th July 2012.

 

Thank you x

[MissyNA]

Oh, I forgot to mention I do have someone from CAB representing me.

 

At first she thought I didn't have a chance, but after me telling her the whole situation and forwarding on evidence, she seems more confident but also said she does not want to get my hopes up.

 

Taking benefits is something I have fortunately in my life never taken until that point, have no clue how it works and when taking it after the initial contact face to face was never told that everything had to be sorted separated etc to be entitled, but on the advice of my solicitor at the time I was told not to do anything as I was not strong enough to fight the battle.

 

Sorry if I keep rambling, so stressed, so sick, so worried, and it is another thing to add to my hate list.

 

The split tore my whole world and family apart and I am ashamed of my drinking which got the social workers involved...I just want to be happy again as it has been more than 3 years since my worst nightmares started.

 

xxx thanks again xxx

[honeybee13]

OK, thank you for that. I'll move your thread to the benefits forum, where the guys are used to this sort of query. There will be a short term redirect for you to follow from this forum.

 

It's good that you have the CAB, I hope we can add to what they've said.

 

HB

[MissyNA]

Thank you so much honeybee, I really appreciate it as so stressed etc xxx

[MissyNA]

PS how does it work if my thread is pushed into another forum, can i still follow it easily?

 

thanks again xxx

[honeybee13]

PS how does it work if my thread is pushed into another forum, can i still follow it easily?

 

thanks again xxx

 

Well you're posting on it, so you've either followed the link or found the new forum.

 

HB

[MissyNA]

Thank you HB, totally appreciated, xxx

[estellyn]

It's hard to tell chances, because of course we can't see the evidence brought against you. But I have a few questions if that's OK?

 

Do you have evidence of where he was living? Also where was he living when not abroad/on oil rigs?

 

How does the income support/student issue fit into all this?

[MissyNA]

I have evidence of when he had his flat couple of miles away, other than that I have nothing about where he stayed as I am thinking he was with this woman.

 

As for the IS while being a student, apparently I would not have been entitled to it as I was getting student loans and a bursary.

 

I did write to them and as it didn't stop I thought I was entitled to it.

 

3 times I had written to them and only 1 letter they state they had received it.

 

Of course I have no proof as never thought I would need it. The first letter was done on an old hard drive so thats gone, but I do have proof of the second and third letter.

 

I don't mind if they say I have to pay back money as they have clearly stated I would not have been entitled whilst being a student, what bothers me as that they say I never split with my husband and that everything I have been through is a pack of lies.

 

I would have no need to go IS if we were together as he earns over £100k per year....

 

I went to college so I would never have to financially be dependent on anyone, I now feel it was all for nothing.

 

I am so scared as the social work department said if there were anymore issues brought to light I would deffo have my girls taken off me.

 

Thanks again xxx

[estellyn]

Firstly, regarding the income support/student issue, if you have the letter asking for details on your course, that can count as proof you contacted the DWP, and that they made the error, which would make that overpayment not recoverable.

 

Regarding your being accused of never having split with your husband, you do sem to have a lot of evidence from other sources about your split which is very good, and anything you can provide on his or the woman's addresses, will help.

 

Are you aware of what evidence is being used against you?

[MissyNA]

As for the student issue, I never received a reply other than asking me to state the hours and monies I was receiving, which I did.

 

As for the evidence against me, it is down to the joint account not being separated, few times my card has been used on his account(him spending) as was proven.

 

I signed an eletorol form in the oct of the same year he left.

 

They are also using work forms from him to do with illness and dental work. These are form that were filled in at start of employment (2001) and as they change healthcare companies it is updated.

 

Other than that, no more evidence x

[estellyn]

Missy, the letter you talk about is still evidence - how could they have sent it to you if you hadn't informed them of the course?

 

I would say with everything explained well in a submission (if that is the only evidence they have), then I would say your chances are good on the information given. the key will be to have every bit of evidence against you explained in writing in the submission, give a comprehensive timeline of what was going on, and make reference to all the evidence you have in the submission - your rep should be doing this on your behalf. Too many appellants will try to just verbally explain things and get themselves tied up in knots, and then they do not succeed at Tribunal.

[MissyNA]

That is what I have been doing.

 

I have social work reports detailing his affair and him not living with me. Police reports as they were called to the house on many occasion. Doctors letters supporting me as well as my mums doctor. Solicitor letter when I sent the separation order. I just cannot believe they are taking it so far.

 

To be fair, my rep is really good. On paper with what they say it does look bad but when you look at the evidence I have, any 'reasonable' person would understand that I had done what was asked of me.

 

Council are using bullying tactics, 6 letters sent in one day etc always on a fri or sat, I have lost so much weight because of this and my health suffering massively.

 

It feels like since they have these new powers they are trying to claw back every penny they can, whether they are right to do so or not.....

 

I am rambling yet again...

 

Thank you so much for your responses...it is good to know that I am not alone, you can only cry so much to your parents etc

 

xxx

[MissyNA]

Well, I had my Tribunal on 12th Aug and had to wait for the outcome. Few days later still didn't receive it so my representative called them. They said a decision had been mad on 15th Aug but forgot to post it. I received it couple days ago and I have WON all 6 appeals. I really never thought it would go my way as I now have no trust in the system, but I was proved wrong.....with all of the evidence I was able to supply helped me so much, I am so glad that I kept nearly 100% of any correspondence. My question is however, can the DWP appeal against the judges decision or do they normally accept the outcome. Reason I am asking is that although I have won, I still feel too scared to allow myself the pleasure of winning as this whole situation has taken a massive toll healthwise and mentally, I do not want to think yaaaay then be slammed down again.

 

Any views would be gratefully appreciated x

[estellyn]

congrats on winning, well done!

 

The DWP can ask for leave to appeal, but it is very rare, and highly unlikely in your case. 99% of the time they just accept the Tribunal's decision. In 3 years as an appeals rep, I didn't have a single Tribunal win appealed by the DWP, and I dealt with hundreds of appeals, so that's how rare it is.

 

So don't worry, you won!

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

Great news, well done you. And thank you for letting us know. I'll amend your thread title.

 

My best, HB

[abc123def]

Well done!

[citizenB]

Excellent news

[MissyNA]

Thank you for the feedback - that is great to hear that they tend not to appeal against the tribunal decision, do not think I could bear having to go through more.

 

I feel like I can actually relax now - first time in 3+ years.

 

Has been a hard slog, but on wards and upwards now.

 

Thank you for everyone's help and messages.

 

xxx:smile:

[MissyNA]

Thank you all so much for your advice and info.

 

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you, I had trouble with logging in etc and knowing how to navigate this forum properly lol.

 

It turns out, that I am now due money from the council tax dating back over an 8 year period due to over banding, hhhmmmmm wonder how long that will take to get to me, however, they were really quick to claim 'their' money.

 

TBH I dont care about the money I am still in relieved mode

 

Thanks again folks xxx