ESA and occupational pension overpayment

[finn2009]

Hi I'm new on here - I have received a letter from DWP and they have stopped my income based ESA as they now know i have a pension - as a result of this I am now being investigated - my fault - but when I first started claiming I was on IB - when i contacted the DWP and told them the amount - I didn't have to declare as IB was not means tested - that was in 2007 - then I started to receive IS which I now know is means tested - my occupational pension was £120 per month - I am now in a mess - I have not received a letter from my LA yet but I'm sure that will be next - hope this helps - you have to declare all monies - no matter how little - it's an income - I've been reading some scary stories that they film you and all sorts - but I dont work and I do live on my own - I NEED OF SOME INFO - I received the DWP letter on Friday 29 Sept' waiting now for the dreaded letter from everyone to arrive -

[antone]

Hi there, and welcome to CAG. I have moved your post to a new thread where it should hopefully get more replies.

 

What letter did you receive from the DWP? Is it an invitation to an Interview Under Caution (if it is, it will say so in so many words)? Or just a request for further information/a Compliance interview?

 

Regarding your Housing Benefit (I presume that's why you're worried about hearing from the LA) it is possible that you have not been overpaid at all. If your pension left any amount of IS or ESA payable then you would probably maintain full entitlement to HB.

[jabba jones]

It sounds like Real Time Information via HMRC.

 

 

It's potentially going to catch loads of people out & an IUC letter should follow soon after the disallowance letter.

[finn2009]

Hi thank you for your reply - DWP letter states - We have worked out your entitlement to Employment and Support Allowance using information about your income given to HMRC by you or your employer or your pension provider - We now know that your average income from my ----------- Pension is £39.69 per wk - this is information that we had not previously been told about. As the amount of Employment and Support Allowance that you get is worked out based on your income - this new information means that your benefit amount has changed from £184.80 per wk to £145.17 -

 

Our new decision on your benefit entitlement means you have been paid more ESA than you should have received - we will contact you about this - it goes on to say - I could face a financial penalty or criminal prosecution - I think im ok for HB - it will be CT

Edited October 6, 2014 by finn2009

[finn2009]

Will the DWP write and let me know the amount of monies owing - or will i just receive IUC letter.

[finn2009]

Hi Antone - I have just read the letter in more detail - on the back it says - There are two types of ESA CB based and Income based - then it says - You are entitled Income based and contributory based ESA.

 

I'm so confused

[antone]

Will the DWP write and let me know the amount of monies owing - or will i just receive IUC letter.

 

Jabba Jones knows more about this sort of thing than I do, but I would say you'll probably receive both. The main purpose of the IUC is to gather evidence for use in a possible criminal prosecution (or, if you're lucky, to help them decide not to prosecute). Even if they decide not to prosecute, the overpayment will still exist and need to be repaid.

 

If they do call you for an IUC you are entitled to seek professional legal advice, and I would advise that you do so.

[antone]

Hi Antone - I have just read the letter in more detail - on the back it says - There are two types of ESA CB based and Income based - then it says - You are entitled Income based and contributory based ESA.

 

I'm so confused

 

Yes, you can receive both types of ESA - if the amount of contributory ESA is less than the amount the law says you need to live on, and you have little or no other money coming in, you may receive a top up of income related ESA.

 

The way occupational pension income is taken into account is different for each type of ESA.

[jabba jones]

Jabba Jones knows more about this sort of thing than I do, but I would say you'll probably receive both.

 

I no longer work for FIS/FES, but from what I've read internally it appears that a specialist team (BIC) are being sent all the Real Time Info cases.

They correct benefit from a current date & then pass the case onto Fraud to arrange an IUC & obtain an overpayment for the past period.

 

An overpayment of less than £4000 will be considered for a 50% Administrative Penalty, an overpayment of over £4000 will be considered for prosecution.

 

I think finn2009 has received the first letter correcting benefit from a current date.

The IUC letter should come next & then the overpayment letter after the interview.

[finn2009]

Thank you Jabba - It's just a waiting game now -like so many people on this site - but it's a comfort to me that I can explain my situation without being judge.

[finn2009]

Morning - well still not had any news on my overpayment - just thought I would let you know - this waiting game is a killer..... I suspect I will receive a IUC letter - but how long the wait for that - how longs a piece of string - anyway will be back when I know more - It makes me feel better when I write on this forum - its hard when you have to keep things to yourself.......

[finn2009]

Information needed - after my IUC am I allowed take a holiday while the investigation is on going - I do understand I will have to inform the DWP.

[finn2009]

Hi - can you plse help - Im so confused - I've just had a look at ESA rate's support group - £108.15 so is the rest of my ESA made up of income related -

 

DWP have stopped £39.63 per wk - that is the same amount of occupational pension i am receiving - this to me looks like they will want all the amount of monies I have been receiving from my pension -OMG Overpayment will be huge !!!!!!!!

 

Still not had a letter fro DWP -

[neword]

You keep saying "Still not had a letter from DWP". They do not rush themselves.

My wife has been waiting for 4 weeks for the DWP (PIP) to send her a letter

that shows her actual PIP award.

We had her first PIP payment 4 weeks ago and will get her next payment tomorrow

Isn't that a really weird way to run a business... Make payments but don't let the

people who are having the payments know about them via letter.

 

So don't expect a DWP letter to quickly.

[neword]

Oh and as for taking a holiday. I cannot see why that would be a problem.

Just make sure you let them know in advance that you will be unavailable

for the period of the holiday.

 

But make sure you tell them by letter and make it either signed for or special delivery

so that you have proof they received it. I say this because many many phones calls and letters

tend to disappear within the DWP departments.

[finn2009]

Neword - I'm sorry for repeating -" still no letter" I'm just worried - and trying to calculate my own overpayment its a nightmare

 

Regards

[finn2009]

HELP!!!!!!!

 

I phoned DWP y'day re overpayment - the lady I spole to told me there was no overpayment showing - well i clearly know there is - after receiving a letter - she advised me not to worry !!!!!!!!!!!! Well I am worrying - Can someone plse explain - my IS was stopped on 16 September - any advice would be welcome....

[anmarj]

The problem is that you are one of many that have been referred, they have to gather full information and then send it back to the benefit centre for a decision, this takes months to even to get to that stage. I have referrals going back to last year that I am still waiting to hear about. I take it that you are no longer entitled to income base ESA? You need to conctrate on getting your correct enitlement now.

[finn2009]

Thank you for your quick response - this is my previous post:-

 

Hi thank you for your reply - DWP letter states - We have worked out your entitlement to Employment and Support Allowance using information about your income given to HMRC by you or your employer or your pension provider - We now know that your average income from my ----------- Pension is £39.69 per wk - this is information that we had not previously been told about. As the amount of Employment and Support Allowance that you get is worked out based on your income - this new information means that your benefit amount has changed from £184.80 per wk to £145.17 -

 

Our new decision on your benefit entitlement means you have been paid more ESA than you should have received - we will contact you about this - it goes on to say - I could face a financial penalty or criminal prosecution - I think im ok for HB - it will be CT -

 

Yes Im receiving both Contributed and Income related ESA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you

[id6052]

i assume you are getting DLAC at higher or middle rate or PIP(living) at either rate? can you confirm

[id6052]

the purpose of income related ESA is to top your income up to the level the government says you need to live on (in your case £184.80)

 

if you had no other income you would get the full £184.80 - which is what has been happening

 

however as you already have income, you were only entitled to the difference between the amount the government says you need to live on and your other income

 

so there are a couple of issues here, the first is how much you have been overpaid, the second is whether the overpayment is recoverable, the third is whether the DWP decide to recover it

 

depending upon the outcome of those issues, the remaining issues will be repayment of the debt and whether they take any action against you (such as applying a caution, a penalty or taking you to court)

 

at this moment in time, you need to try to be patient as it can take months to get an overpayment decision and there is very little you can do until you get it

 

the good bit is that if you are getting DLAC at higher or middle rate or PIP(living) at either rate, then your Council Tax support should not be affected

[finn2009]

Yes Im on DLA - not on PIP yet - im 60yrs - and I think my category is at the start of Oct 2015 for assessment....

[finn2009]

Thank you so much for you reply - I really appreciate it....

[jabba jones]

HELP!!!!!!!

 

I phoned DWP y'day re overpayment - the lady I spole to told me there was no overpayment showing - well i clearly know there is - after receiving a letter - she advised me not to worry !!!!!!!!!!!! Well I am worrying - Can someone plse explain - my IS was stopped on 16 September - any advice would be welcome....

 

No overpayment decision will have been made yet. As its an RTI case the BIC team have corrected you benefit from a current date & passed the case to Fraud to look at the overpayment period.

 

Any decision & overpayment amount will come after you've been interviewed by Fraud, but I believe there's one or two issues with RTI cases at the moment, which might be causing delays in them contacting you.

[finn2009]

Thank you for your information.