Pension Credit

[123cruiser0]

My mum passed away 4 months ago. now the HMRC estates office is saying she may have been overpaid. The HMRC pension credit office told us some time ago that she would no longer be accessed. why is it that these people come up with this accusation at this time. Is it lawful of them to to this?????

[des8]

Re: Pension Credit

Hi and welcome to LB.
My condolences on the passing of your mother.
It is not only lawful for DWP to investigate any possible overpayment of pension credit, they are positively bound to do so.
The executor(s) should await the outcome of the investigation before they pay non priority debts or distribute the estates assets to the beneficiaries.
The executors should also check DWP calculations if it is claimed there was an overpayment of benefit or an incorrect claim by your mother

[123cruiser0]

Re: Pension Credit

Thanks des8

[sharonb]

Re: Pension Credit

you have my condolences as we are going through the same problem with the dwp my step father died a year ago and they are still looking into his claim for pension credit going back 10 years they also want info of my late mother who died 3 years ago so you have my full sympathy and hope that yours will be dealt with more sympathetically and much quicker

[Openlaw15]

Re: Pension Credit

My mum passed away 4 months ago. now the HMRC estates office is saying she may have been overpaid. The HMRC pension credit office told us some time ago that she would no longer be accessed. why is it that these people come up with this accusation at this time. Is it lawful of them to to this?????

Hello 123crcuiser, sorry to hear about your mother and problems.

We have had many people post here their facts where DWP have tried to claim against their dead parent's estate for overpayment of Pension Credit. It is an absolutely diabolical law that came from the Tories in 1992 to manipulate a law made in 1925 for what was likely rich estates (ie property left when rich people who died) for person they owed money to, ie creditors.

DWP may be able to claim against your mother's estate but only if it was your mother's fault, ie she failed to disclose a change of circumstances or fraud etc. DWP cannot force you to pay the money unless they have a court order from a local County Court judge (ie not criminal). If it is DWP's fault then it's unlikely they will succeed. You do not have to show DWP any joint bank account statements by the 1992 law unless you volunteer it. So yes it's lawful but lawful doesn't mean they have automatic rights at all!

[Openlaw15]

Re: Pension Credit

you have my condolences as we are going through the same problem with the dwp my step father died a year ago and they are still looking into his claim for pension credit going back 10 years they also want info of my late mother who died 3 years ago so you have my full sympathy and hope that yours will be dealt with more sympathetically and much quicker

hello, Sharon, can we assist with your situation?

[sharonb]

Re: Pension Credit

we as a family are at our wits end our solicitor has tried contacting them (dwp) only to be told we are dealing with the matter oh and by the way can we have more information bank statements savings etc(again) they have so much information now we don't know what else they want or can need we have supplied all that we can short of a séance to ask him

[Openlaw15]

Re: Pension Credit

we as a family are at our wits end our solicitor has tried contacting them (dwp) only to be told we are dealing with the matter oh and by the way can we have more information bank statements savings etc(again) they have so much information now we don't know what else they want or can need we have supplied all that we can short of a séance to ask him

You do not have to hand over certain bank statements, ie joint bank account to the deceased. DWP need a court order to get anything. So what is the current situation?

[sharonb]

Re: Pension Credit

thank you for replying I am afraid all bank statements savings info for both has been sent also his pension details from when he worked at a coal mine we thought that if we did not comply we would be fined for withholding evidence or worse, so they cannot prosecute him its only us left I think all skeletons are out of the closet but there maybe a penny left in some dark recess (excuse the slight humor but its better than losing our cool) is there anyway we can hurry them up a year to sort this out is long enough its prolonging the grieving process and for us to get on
he passed away on 04/04/2015 we informed the dwp the next day so that no benefits /pension would be paid from that date we have done everything above board but they are dragging their feet perhaps no one wants to touch the file because of the amount of information to sort through

[Openlaw15]

Re: Pension Credit

thank you for replying I am afraid all bank statements savings info for both has been sent also his pension details from when he worked at a coal mine we thought that if we did not comply we would be fined for withholding evidence or worse, so they cannot prosecute him its only us left I think all skeletons are out of the closet but there maybe a penny left in some dark recess (excuse the slight humor but its better than losing our cool) is there anyway we can hurry them up a year to sort this out is long enough its prolonging the grieving process and for us to get on
he passed away on 04/04/2015 we informed the dwp the next day so that no benefits /pension would be paid from that date we have done everything above board but they are dragging their feet perhaps no one wants to touch the file because of the amount of information to sort through

It's ok Sharon, how you are you supposed to know.. DWP are crafty little so and so's. It's a civil matter and the little crap bags won't tell you that, so they can't prosecute as they have no power to prosecute, that's the police/ prosecution's job. You can potentially ask them to deal with it swiftly or report them to Parliament Ombudsman if they do not act reasonably, etc.