DWP overpayment fishing exercise re mother’s estate

[DavidRichmond]

After obtaining probate to deal with my late mother’s estate

 

 

I was contacted by the DWP in one of their standard fishing exercises re: benefit overpayments.

 

 

This initial letter included the line “We will let you know whether or not we need to make further enquiries within 20 working days”.

If only.

 

Despite returning the form the next day I was chased for a response a month later.

2 days after that they confirmed receipt of my original response!

 

 

Based on this my expectations of response time from DWP are poor.

That was 2 months ago and I have heard nothing further.

 

 

I have no desire to wake these sleeping dogs but as executor I would like to finalise and distribute the estate

and would like to know if there is any legal limit to how long I can be forced to wait.

 

I know that a Trustee Act notice in the London Gazette provides a time limit for creditors to come forward

but in this case a letter notifying a potential debt has already been received prior to publication of a Notice.

 

 

If this case got lost in the cracks would I be expected to hold the funds permanently in limbo awaiting a response or is there a limit?

 

 

I haven’t been able to Google an answer so I thought I’d ask the experts!

 

DR

[Shoelover]

May I ask how long ago the overpayment occurred, how much it is & the reason for it?

[Lapsed Workaholic]

Welcome to the site despite the difficult circumstances that brings you to it and sincere condolences on your late sad loss.

An acquaintance of mine recently had a similar predicament while acting as executor for one of his relatives.

He said that he had legal advice to the effect that it was for him as executor to settle all debts accruing to the estate of the deceased before the remainder could be disbursed.

This involved him in taking steps to speed up any requests for settlement by creditors.

No mention was made of a time limit but had he not taken steps to speed things up it would surely have taken longer, which could have resulted in other complications and possible expense.

Perhaps you could inform DWP that they will be held liable for any expenses accruing as a result of their delay.

[DavidRichmond]

May I ask how long ago the overpayment occurred, how much it is & the reason for it?

 

I have no idea what benefits my mother may have received or how much,

 

 

my guess about "when" is that it would be between June 2009 and August 2013,

the latter being the time of her death and

the former a time when I know her savings had been small.

 

 

During that period I believe she spent very little of the benefits she received

so her “savings” would have grown but without amounts & dates from bank statements

I’ve no idea when she would have ceased qualifying for some of those benefits

& what the extent of any overpayments might be.

 

 

I don’t want to fork out an arm & a leg for 4 years’ worth of statements until I know how far back the DWP thinks the overpayments go.

 

I’d like to bring my duties as executor to a close and the usual Notice in the Gazette won’t achieve that

because I’ve already been advised of the DWP’s “potential claim”.

 

 

I'm hoping there's a legal time limit to how long they can expect everything to remain frozen awaiting their decision.

 

 

(Or, failing that, the matter slips through the cracks for six years so it becomes unenforceable.

Only joking on that one

- I know it doesn't apply to debts to the Crown.

Unless this would just be considered a debt to a local authority, in which case I'm not joking.)

 

DR

[Mr.P]

[...] between June 2009 and August 2013, [...] I don’t want to fork out an arm & a leg for 4 years’ worth of statements

 

Tip: Send a SAR to the bank concerned enclosing the usual £10 fee they normally charge - As the executor of the estate, I believe they are obliged to respond to the request even although the account(s) is not in your name.

 

Having said that, it would be worth contacting the Bereavement Centre of the bank concerned and asking for their assistance in providing copies of the statements - Came across a post on another site where (it is claimed that) Barclays BC provided all the information free of charge.

[dx100uk]

yes sar to the bank concerned

 

 

as an exec you are legally entitled to do so

 

 

wont hurt either as likewise

you are entitled to reclaim any PPI too etc etc

 

 

and not only on the accounts with that group.

 

 

when my mum died I got over £7k out of barclaycard

 

 

dx

[DavidRichmond]

...(it is claimed that) Barclays BC provided all the information free of charge.

 

...which would be exceptionally good news if true, as that's who I'd be dealing with.

 

DR

[Shoelover]

If she was claiming pension credit they will take a very long time indeed.

Have they indicated that there is a definite overpayment?

[DavidRichmond]

If she was claiming pension credit they will take a very long time indeed.

Have they indicated that there is a definite overpayment?

 

.“...may have been paid too much income related benefit” was their phrase. Care to put a figure on “very long time” and any clue if there’s a limit to how long they’re allowed to take?

It was interesting to note from today’s news that the various celebrities whose tax avoidance methods HMRC took a dim view of will not be subject to penalties because investigations took too long. It would be nice if there were a simple table showing the time limits applicable to different kinds of investigation to save questions similar to mine (but, as far as I could find, not the same) popping up repeatedly.

[Shoelover]

pension credit decisions can take months. It may be that your Mother was in an assessed income period & that there isn't an overpayment.

 

Write to them setting out what you have said above. Give them 28 days to respond then if they don't, involve your MP.