Can DWP claim an overpayment from an estate when there is only a house

Re: Can DWP claim an overpayment from an estate when there is only a house

Thanks for your response, but unfortunately the house does count as capital according to DWP and therefore that is why families have to sell a home owned by parents to pay care home fees. It would only have been ignored as capital if the disabled person living there was my mother's dependent, which of course they are not as they are a child and my mother was 92 when she died. It is only when the money from the sale of the house is almost completely gone that residents are entitled to have have their fees paid by the government. I personally think it is very unfair as my mother had no savings, she only had her home and she struggled all her life to pay the mortgage on that home, but it is regarded as a capital asset.

My husband and I also had to pay family contribution to his parents nursing home fees for many years, they were entitled to have their fees paid after all the money from the sale of their house ran out, but the fees were more than the government would pay and at that time family were still being forced to pay top up fees and we had 8 years of that. If we could have continued to care for all our parents at home we would have done, but they developed dementia and needed constant care, neither of us were physically able to care for them any longer than we did.

I don't know what benefit exactly has been overpaid at this stage, I only have a figure estimated by the executors after discussions with my mothers solicitor. They seem to think a care component part of what she was being paid by DWP when she lived at home should not have continued after she moved into the nursing home and it is this they think I will need to repay. But as it was over such a long period of time it has become a large amount.

There were a number of government departments involved when my mother was being assessed for care, both medical and social responsibility. I think they should have been looking at the whole picture to ensure the person they were assessing received the correct amount of benefits, along with the payment for the nursing care. But they don't do this, every department is only concerned with their own little bit of the jigsaw and it seems they never communicate with each other. Then they set up another department, give it a name such as the NFI and employ people to investigate all the mistakes and over payments that have been made by all the various other parts of the jigsaw.

The whole system is a total mess and it is completely unfair. Residents of the nursing home who lived in the same street as my mother with a lot more in the bank than she had, are all entitled to have all their fees paid for them by the government, just because they did not buy their own home.

I am the only beneficiary as I am the only one of the family still alive and as the residuary beneficiary I only get what is left after all the legacies and debts are paid. But I very much do not want to sell the house to pay DWP. I knew that to keep the house I would need to pay the legacies, and all the other debts from my own money, leaving me with nothing yet again, but I am quite used to that situation. I will just have to pick myself up as I always do and start from scratch once more. But this from DWP is just the last straw on top of everything else.

My main concern now is the family living in the house. I am being told by the executor that I must sell the house and he wants to start doing this now to have enough to pay DWP when they eventually come back with a final figure. I am well aware of the fact that in all this his only concern is for himself as the executor and what he gets out of it all. But I don't want to sell the house and I just want to know if what he is saying is right. Can DWP force the sale of the house to recover what they consider to be an overpayment even when I am prepared to take full responsibility for the debt and in doing so discharge the executors. I will pay the money to DWP as I have no option, but I want to do it as a planned repayment schedule from my income and not from the sale of the house.

I know people may be saying well it is only a house just sell it and buy another one, but it is not as easy as that. Finding a house suitable for a disabled child is very very difficult and finding a house that is affordable and can be adapted is equally difficult. That family tried for years to find a suitable home they could afford without success, my mothers house was perfect as it was already adapted, which was done for her as she too was disabled. To find something else like this in the same location or even within traveling distance of their work and where they have support set up for their child would be impossible with the money left from the sale after payment to DWP. I have considered getting a loan to pay them but that is quite difficult when you are 65, even with a full time job.

If anyone can give me any answers it would be much appreciated, under the circumstances finding money to pay yet more legal fees for help to sort this out is not an option right now.

Can DWP claim an overpayment from an estate when there is only a house

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