over payment of benefit worry.

[tracieann]

jabbajones thank you so much for your advice I haave been ill with worry for six weeks since all this happened.I always kept my hours to the minimum but I ended up being overpaid will no longer claim even if eligible as too scared now I have had my sons DLA reviewed cos I dont want him getting something he shouldnt.Do you defo think i wont here anything now thats a relief i think this website is amazing people on here so kind and helpful Thanks jabbajonea and everyone for your time and effort helping me:-)

[LifeIsAMess]

Hi tracieann, your overpayment letter sounds exactly like mine and I had an IUC first. At the top of my letter it said a civil penalty was not appropriate in this case and there was no penalty added on either nor was I given a caution or fraud mentioned on any of the paperwork. To be honest I think they are just trying to claw back as much money as they can even if it was gained from a mistake

 

DLA is not means tested so earnings/income are not taken into account so go ahead with your sons claim, don't be afraid

[jadeybags]

hi jadeybags and ta so much for your input its invaluable when someones been through it like ypo didnt you get prosecuted I wish they could realise what it does to someones life Yes there are people who set out to defraud hundreds and thousands of pounds but that is fairly rare surely . and the stress of waiting makes people ill Well I guess thats me vented No fraud was the last thing I would ever have done too much to lose not wise enough about payments pensions etc and going through it with our lovely Mum in law was my problem please add any input you feel can help ....as it does

 

No, no mention of prosecution ever. I had been overpaid for 2 years. begining of 2011 I had my IUC. I had started working part time end of 2008 after not working since 1994, when I left full time work 2 weeks before my first child was born. So I was a bit wet behind the ears (is that the right saying?) Didn't know they had worked my housing benefit out wrong from day one of me starting work, so where I should have been paying 20 odd quid a week towards my rent, I was paying nothing! And I had a few days off sick in the first couple of years, didn't get sick pay, so thought it would all even out when we got pay rises twice in those 2 yrs (Sainsburys, so nothing amazing & they never exactly advertised the fact we got pay rises) I was too lax in paying attention to changes & letting them know. Like tax credits changes too (although they're another lot that just pay more into your account without any notification)

Soon learnt my lesson to be one step ahead of them! They recently overpaid me again, even after me telling them what's what, but thankfully I know about Turn2us site now & was on the ball & made sure my landlords left my direct debit as it was, & not lower it to zero like they notified me they were going to do! then the other day got the over payment letter from the council, 70 quid. Surprise surprise!

[tracieann]

thanks jadeybags and lifeisamess for your input ive asked them a lot of times when ive phoned normal carers allowance unit and debt management and all have said not marked for prosecution My anxiety issues make all this even harder for me like its not tough enough I start to obsess about things and become ill with stress , hopefully it helps i informed them when it came to light and have been open all the way through because my conscience wont let me do anything else So trying to chill now thanks to all you lovely people

Edited July 5, 2013 by tracieann

[tracieann]

AGGH help ive had aletter today which scared me to death ive started paying back and made my first payment on 2nd july they recieved payment 4th july i rang to ask to confirm by letter which they did HOWEVER it has the sentence this payment is recieved without prejudice to any further action that may be taken in relation to this debt . It has started the whole thing off again worried sick scared of being prosecuted lady on phone says no its just a letter but im scared stiff again she says carry on paying and not to worry its eight weeks since i informed them but no iuc yet could they be planning just to prosecute and not tell me as ive already admitted being overpaid but not deliberately i cant settle at all please can someone advise is the wonderful Jabbajones around

[jabba jones]

Without prejudice means that they COULD take further action against you should an offence arise as a result of an overpayment.....

 

However that certainly doesn't mean they will & the info on the DM I sent you still stands.

 

They won't prosecute you without inviting you for an IUC first. But even if the worst case scenario happened & the IUC letter arrives, they would still have to prove guilty knowledge on your part to take it further.

[tracieann]

i think ive let myself relax too much with this just because i informed them of my overpayment as soon as i found out and have been open about it i think they are going to prosecute me i have spoken to many advisors from dwp and 99 per cent have said its not down as fraud i believed it too but why would it sat the without prejudice on letter if they werent planning something else it had taken me ages to calm down too the letter was a dm15 whatever that is oh God its scary

[tracieann]

oh jabbajones great to hear from you sorry i hadnt read your post before i wrote this one above yes its been eight weeks since i informed them 7th june recieved op letter and i recieved this today thanking me for payment and terrifying me in the process is it usual to have iuc first and what offence would arise from it im sorry to be a pain but i trust your judgement a lot and also would the dwp advisors say no if it were planning to prosecute or not thanks so much

[tracieann]

also wouldnt the fact that i told them mean they dont need to give me an iuc ive admitted been overpaid but it wasnt fraud so im being honest saying i had the money overpaid but not on purpose why would i tell them myself if it was fraud why would i ask them to check 5 years p60s if it was fraud why would i reapply for my sons dla to be assessed in case he was getting too much if i was defrauding them ive said plenty to them on the phone about how this came about as ive said in my story on here not once have i ever changed my story cos its the truth im told they tape the calls well ive been well upset on mine i can tell you but i need closure isnt there anyway i can get them to write saying im not been prosecuted for fraud if im not im gonna end up sectioned at this rate and im not joking please can i have your opinion jabbajones thanks

Edited July 12, 2013 by tracieann

[tracieann]

or anyone else with any advice of course thanks a lot

[citizenkain]

tracieann,rest yaself easy girl,take a deep breath.........I actually had an interview under caution 3 years ago regards an overpayment of jsa and council tax benefit,they sent me out demand letters for repayment of several thousands of pounds these letters had,"without predujice" stamped on them,I paid the amounts off,in 3 years Ive heard nothing back,they got their money back,you just relax!

[tracieann]

thank you citizenkain it helps that youve been there i have very bad anxiety problems GAD and OCD as well as depression and some thing like this just sends me off the scale when i first found out i spent a week researching prisons all i could think of was theyd take my son from me its called catastrophising and thats what you do sorry to ramble its just i wish i could get proper closure i feel i have to ring them for reassurance as i said 99 per cent have said its not down as a fraud but in my head i think well would they tell me anyhow its just fear of the worst happening thanks again for your kindness

[abc123def]

The without prejudice phrase in the letter is entirely normal and covers themsleves. They have started to receive the overpayment back from you and I assume know when and how often future payments will arrive from you? If you continue paying as agreed a court would heavily frown on any court action taken by the DWP, having agreed a set arranagement and you keeping to it so if you keep to your repayment schedule then you should be fine. The words without prejudice just cover scenarios such as you failing to keep to your agreement by either stopping payments or making very late payments regularly, then the DWP can decide your repayments aren't reliable and they can choose to take you to court and the court then because of the 'without prejudice' statement made cannot penalise the DWP for not trying harder to come to an agreement, because they tried already iykwim.

So, keep to your agreement and make your payments regularly and on time and action is unlikely.

[tracieann]

thanks so much abc123 i phoned and had a chat with a lady who said no prosecution marked for it just to keep paying its a fairly standard letter apparantly thank the Lord so going to chill a bit now thanks to all for your replies and support it helps so much to know your here

[antone]

Yes - I suspect that "Without Prejudice" simply means that they wish to reserve their right to take civil court action against you if you don't make repayments as agreed. It doesn't mean they will do this: as others have said, they're just covering themselves.

 

Note also that civil court action is not the same as criminal prosecution for fraud.

[tracieann]

antone many thanks for your supporting post i feel better that it seems a common enough practice to put this on a letter i have no intention to lapse on repayments i will pay the full amount back its just scary to a worrier with ocd and generalised anx disorder like me the way some of these letters are worded today ive had a nice day with my family something that has rarely happened since this

nightmare started thank you to all you kind people for your help its very much appreciated this sites amazing

[tracieann]

is there anyway i can get dwp to send me a no prosecution pending letter or anything like that people say different things and thiough its been nine weeks since it started i still keep flaring up with the anxiety of it i just want to know its ok advice anyone thanks