benefit review but not needed

[45002]

We have an overpayment of £3487. We were going to appeal, but have been advised against it, so we have to pay.

 

I was going to send this:

 

Dear Mrs ?

 

Following your letter of 21st February regarding the overpayment of £x, I would like to make an offer to repayment of £x a week.

 

This would be added onto the 14-15 bill, which I would like to pay in installments over 52 weeks if possible.

 

The money would be paid monthly by direct debit,/standing order on the 31st of every month, beginning on 31st March 2014.

 

Please find enclosed an income / expenditure sheet.

 

Please advise me as soon as possible if this arrangement is acceptable.

 

Yours etc etc

 

Does this sound ok? Thank you in advance.

 

At this amount, it would be about 4 years for us to pay it off, but it is an affordable amount. Any more and we will struggle. Plus, there's always the possibility of paying it off early, if we got a lump sum etc.

 

I'm just enquiring about the best way to go from here.* Thank you.

 

Reading your previous thread http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?415369-benefit-review-but-not-needed

 

I'm a bit confused and Just out of interest, may I ask why you been advised not to appeal ?

[Mr.P]

Reading your previous thread http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?415369-benefit-review-but-not-needed

 

I'm a bit confused and Just out of interest, may I ask why you been advised not to appeal ?

 

Just as important, who advised you not to appeal ?

 

Appealing the overpayment decision will not see the figure increase, but the council may compromise and agree to a lower amount.

[nattylou]

I was advised not to appeal by a member on another forum. They said that they worked for the benefits agency and that we wouldn't gain anything by appealing and that it would be a waste of everyone's time.

 

I requested an SAR, and we received a long letter detailing the breakdown and the fact that HMRC and the council had been in almost constant contact since 2011. Also, in the letter, it states that they have no record, either phone or writing of us contacting them, even though I know we did.

 

So, if we decided to appeal, how would we do it? Is there a template letter on here?

 

Thank you.

[id6052]

Since the Council have no records of your calls, can you obtain records of the telephone calls you made to the Council from your telephony provider?

 

Just as important, who advised you not to appeal ?

 

Appealing the overpayment decision will not see the figure increase, but the council may compromise and agree to a lower amount.

 

Just thought I would add that although it may not be usual, there are occasions where appeals can result in overpayments increasing.

[nattylou]

So, do we appeal, or do I send the offer of payment letter? Confused now.

 

I just want the whole thing sorting out now.

[porkyp1g]

Surely there will be official call records that would prove that the op phoned to inform them of the change of circumstances.... If not then then I don't see how an "official error" can be used as you cannot prove that the council were at fault here.

[45002]

I was advised not to appeal by a member on another forum. They said that they worked for the benefits agency and that we wouldn't gain anything by appealing and that it would be a waste of everyone's time.

 

I requested an SAR, and we received a long letter detailing the breakdown and the fact that HMRC and the council had been in almost constant contact since 2011. Also, in the letter, it states that they have no record, either phone or writing of us contacting them, even though I know we did.

 

So, if we decided to appeal, how would we do it? Is there a template letter on here?

 

Thank you.

 

Which one ?

 

http://www.legalseagulls.info/forums/showthread.php?46793-how-to-appeal-an-overpayment

 

http://www.legalseagulls.info/forums/showthread.php?47303-letter-offer-of-repayment-of-overpayment-of-ctax-benefit

 

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4907520

 

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4892626

[Mr.P]

I was advised not to appeal by a member on another forum. They said that they worked for the benefits agency and that we wouldn't gain anything by appealing and that it would be a waste of everyone's time.

 

I requested an SAR, and we received a long letter detailing the breakdown and the fact that HMRC and the council had been in almost constant contact since 2011. Also, in the letter, it states that they have no record, either phone or writing of us contacting them, even though I know we did.

 

The advice given elsewhere is (in my opinion) questionable - I have had a demand for overpayment of benefit in the past, had the appeal rejected and then overturned on the grounds of "official error" after penning a terse and very blunt response.

 

When the council responded to your SAR, did it include printouts from their computer system ?

[nattylou]

No, there was no records printed, just a sentance in the long letter that said they had looked through the records and there was no evidence we had called or written to them.

[nattylou]

Which one ?

 

http://www.legalseagulls.info/forums/showthread.php?46793-how-to-appeal-an-overpayment

 

http://www.legalseagulls.info/forums/showthread.php?47303-letter-offer-of-repayment-of-overpayment-of-ctax-benefit

 

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4907520

 

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4892626

 

 

It was a different forum, not financially related.

[Mr.P]

OK. You need to go back to the council and submit a formal Subject Access Request and enclose the usual £10 fee - You will find templates for this in the CAG library - It is only when you have all the computer logs and paper records to hand that you can put a strong appeal together. Unfortunately, a SAR can take 40 days or more to be returned. Here is what I suggest:

 

Send a letter to the council outlining your repayment proposal - Ask that they send you an income & expenditure form if they disagree with the weekly payments.

In this letter, state that you intend to appeal the overpayment and that you require additional time to gather the information from other agencies (don't mention anything about the SAR sent to the council).

 

The SAR and appeal are two separate processes handled by different departments within the council.

[nattylou]

We have alrady done the £10 SAR thing, so are just waiting for that.

 

I will definitely send a letter though.

[antone]

I've merged two threads on the same topic - it makes it easier for those advising if they can see all the relevant information in one place.

[porkyp1g]

What will the op do if the sar comes back with genuinely no reference to the op's notice?

[nattylou]

**update** - we sent a letter offering £x a week, and also in the letter we asked if we could pay the 14-15 bill over 52 weeks instead of 42. We sent the letter on 3rd March. I requested that they were to get in touch as soon as possible if the repayment plan was unsatisfactory.

 

We heard nothing at all until we received the 14-15 bill which was split into 52 weekly installments, as we had requested, so I KNEW that they had read the letter. At the bottom of the bill was the outstanding amount, but that was all it said, that it was outstanding, nothing else. So, I took it that they had accepted the offer of repayment, seeing as there had been no other letters. The first installment is due on Monday, and the standing order is set up ready to go. I've paid the first instalment of the overpayment today, and the s/o for the normal bill is ready for tomorrow.

 

It is now 31st of March and we've had no other communication, no letters or phone calls anything regarding the overpayment.

 

BUT, last Friday, I came home to find a small white van outside our house, and 2 guys, wearing blue fleeces with green ID badges. They rang the doorbell twice but I didn't answer. They didn't even leave anything through the door when they left either.

 

Could these guys be anything to worry about or are they more than likely not even related?

[porkyp1g]

So it is an overpayment and you didn't advise them? Otherwise why would you be paying?

 

They sound like bailiffs possibly, have you any other debts that could have gone to court, if not then they could be calling about this debt. Were you in the house or watching from outside, seeing as you came home?

[nattylou]

So it is an overpayment and you didn't advise them? Otherwise why would you be paying?

 

They sound like bailiffs possibly, have you any other debts that could have gone to court, if not then they could be calling about this debt. Were you in the house or watching from outside, seeing as you came home?

 

I had quite literally just walked through the door,,and not even taken my coat off. I don't understand how they could be bailiffs though, if we've had absolutely NO communication at all since 3rd March, apart from the bill, and I've already stated that I know they've read the offer letter that I sent. We don't have any other debts that could go to court.

[nattylou]

I had quite literally just walked through the door,,and not even taken my coat off. I don't understand how they could be bailiffs though, if we've had absolutely NO communication at all since 3rd March, apart from the bill, and I've already stated that I know they've read the offer letter that I sent. We don't have any other debts that could go to court.

 

We have not yet received the SAR paperwork, so I thought it would look better if I started to make payments when they were due.

[Mr.P]

I think you really need to call the council first thing in the morning and ask questions:

 

• How many Liability Orders do they have in your name and when were they granted.
  
• What steps have they taken to recover any overpayments or outstanding council tax (i.e. have bailiffs been appointed).
  

You need to find out if bailiffs are now involved as it could cause serious problems if the current issues are left unresolved.

[nattylou]

I think you really need to call the council first thing in the morning and ask questions:

 

• How many Liability Orders do they have in your name and when were they granted.
  
• What steps have they taken to recover any overpayments or outstanding council tax (i.e. have bailiffs been appointed).
  

You need to find out if bailiffs are now involved as it could cause serious problems if the current issues are left unresolved.

Like I said previously, the only communication we have had from the council in any form since 3rd March is the 14/15 bill. On the bottom of the bill, it states the amount of the 'overpayment' but nothing else. I have a friend who got into trouble last year and she said on her bill it said "the amount £x is due to court proceedings". Ours didn't say anything like that at all, no mention.

We've had no post, no letters and no phone calls.

[Shoelover]

If they don't have any liability orders then it won't be bailiffs from the council.

 

I work in benefits and I think an appeal is unlikely to succeed - simply because they will argue you were sent award notices setting out what income your award was based on. However I still think it's worth a try!!

 

Please don't be offended by this. But in future report these changes via email if the facility is available- and keep a copy! That way this can't happen again as you can prooce you reported it. My comment re emailing isn't a criticism of you at all, just a suggestion how you can best avoid this in future. It strikes me you are a decent honest person & want to pay your way!

 

As regards your offer you can request they consider holding recovery whilst you go through the appeals process-done councils would others wouldn't

 

I hope you sort this out- clearly you are scared.

[Shoelover]

Oh & the lack of communication may be as it's billing month- lots of downtime on the systems.

 

You could email requesting an update- keeping a copy!!

[nattylou]

Oh & the lack of communication may be as it's billing month- lots of downtime on the systems.

 

You could email requesting an update- keeping a copy!![/quote

 

I sent a letter today, I've sent a copy of the receipt of the first instalment of the over-payment which I paid online on Saturday. I also informed them that the s/o was set up for the 14-15 bill and the first payment was paid today. I requested acknowledgment and acceptance of our offer. I also printed a copy for us. All I can do now is wait.