DWP claiming overpayment from 1997

[BossBig]

Hi All

My father died in 2001 and my mother died in 2020, I have now received a letter from the DWP in regard to my father's estate asking for 5k in an overpayment of retirement pensions to my father in 1997. However, I am dealing with my mother's estate, as she did his estate. My question is do I need to pay the invoice for the overpayment which was over 20 years ago?

[Wylderose]

Before you make do anything else, I would suggest you get a whole load more information from the DWP as to where, why and how the overpayment occurred. Also an explanation of why they are only now, some 20 years later trying to recover it.

Your mother would not be responsible for your father's overpaid state pension and neither would you be responsible.

The general principle with an overpayment of benefits is that when someone dies, the debt dies with them, so the DWP should have been making this request from your father's estate as this would be the correct route for collection of a debt owed by him, assuming that the DWP made a claim for the money owed at the time of your father's death.

If there were no funds available after your father's estate had been through probate, then the executor at the time would/should have made a statement to the DWP to that effect and the debt would have to be written off as non-recoverable. His debt cannot be passed off onto another person without that person being complicit in the creation of the debt in the first instance.

[BossBig]

Before you make do anything else, I would suggest you get a whole load more information from the DWP as to where, why and how the overpayment occurred. Also an explanation of why they are only now, some 20 years later trying to recover it.

Your mother would not be responsible for your father's overpaid state pension and neither would you be responsible.

The general principle with an overpayment of benefits is that when someone dies, the debt dies with them, so the DWP should have been making this request from your father's estate as this would be the correct route for collection of a debt owed by him, assuming that the DWP made a claim for the money owed at the time of your father's death.

If there were no funds available after your father's estate had been through probate, then the executor at the time would/should have made a statement to the DWP to that effect and the debt would have to be written off as non-recoverable. His debt cannot be passed off onto another person without that person being complicit in the creation of the debt in the first instance.

Thanks for the information, I will proceed with your advice.