DWP Recovery from Estates - over 2 years into investigation help!

[NathalieM]

Hi - my mother passed away in July 2015. My sister and I are executors, we're not using solicitors as the estate is not big or complicated. Around October 2015 we received a letter from the DWP Recovery From Estates team stating they wanted to investigate her pension and pension credits payments. We have provided them with statements whenever they wanted, apart from any more than 5(?) years ago following banks advice that they did not have to provide statements from periods longer thgan this. Every time we provide a statement they take around 3 months to come back to us, then ask for more statements. Since this has been ongoing now for over 2 years this is causing some distress as you might imagine, we want closure. Is there anything legally that I should know about time limits that their investigations can take?

[Amethyst]

There isn't any time limit, sadly. However 3 years seems an awfully long time, are they asking for individual statements each time, or have you just sent them the whole 5 years the bank supplied ? ( did they do a transaction list or give you individual statements ? )

Have they actually stated ever what their concerns are?

Have you made a complaint to them about their investigations taking an inordinate amount of time? ( if not you could do that and look at taking it to the ombudsman )

Have you distributed the estate as yet ?

[NathalieM]

Hi Amethyst. They're asking for individual statements each time, and not stated their concerns. We have split the proceeds of the house between my sister and I but that's it, both mindful that we may need to pay the DWP some money.
What seems also unreasonable is that they should have asked my mother at the time she claimed for evidence that she was entitled. We have no idea whether there will be money owed or not, and what if anything that amount may be.
I take your point, I should write to them with my concerns asking them to explain what is concerning them, asking for a final list of any statements they want, and then a detailed breakdown of their workings on any money they estimate as owed.

[enaid]

A long shot but do you have anything from DWP about your mums PC?
As you do not say how old your mum was when she passed or claimed PC then I will give you this bit of info.

If you are over the age of 65 you may have been given a Pension Credit award that lasts for 5 years or longer. This is known as the assessed income period (AIP). During this period annual adjustments will be made automatically for increases in your state and private pensions and you do not need to report most changes in income, such as increases in your savings, private pensions or income from annuities.
Indefinite assessed income periods

You may have a Pension Credit award with an indefinite assessed income period (open-ended AIP) if you or your partner are aged 75 or over.

This means you no longer have to report changes to most kinds of income you receive, unless the change would increase the amount of Pension Credit you receive. Changes you do not have to report if you have an open-ended AIP include:

• income from equity release schemes
• income from annuities or private pensions
• savings or investments

If you have a open-ended AIP it will remain in place until your circumstances change.

So if you have any idea at all as to when your mum first claimed and her financial circumstances at the time of the claim you may just be able to work out you have nothing to worry about. As a side, along with your request for a detailed breakdown ask them for the original claim.

[JJW]

Enaid

The DWP went back 10 yrs to deduct a pension of 30p per week, which increased to 50p ~ said they could go back 20 years, from when it started if they wanted.

[MIKE770]

Enaid

The DWP went back 10 yrs to deduct a pension of 30p per week, which increased to 50p ~ said they could go back 20 years, from when it started if they wanted.

Hello this is an old thread

[JJW]

I know but we are all still looking for information and advice.

[MIKE770]

I know but we are all still looking for information and advice.

start your own thread that keeps it right and easy to update