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Dear all,
I've had a search of this wonderful forum, but haven't found a thread that answers my query. I'm having trouble with the DWP in that they seem incapable of reading or understanding anything I send them. Their reply this morning only serves to underscore this, and indeed makes me think that they're blatantly lying to me.
In 2013, both my parents died. My father died in a nursing home in April, and my mother in hospital in December. I had managed to keep her out of a home by caring for her at home, but her last few years were punctuated by many emergency admissions, typically due to UTI events, or heart attacks. My late parents held all assets jointly, save for my father who had a small ISA. That paid for his funeral, and a small amount passed to my mother, as per their joint will. Their will stated that whichever spouse died first, the survivor inherited their estate. As the remainder of my father's sole assets were so small, my solicitor at the time told me that probate wasn't needed, and all that needed to be done was to remove my father's name from all joint assets. My father received both the state pension and AA. We received a bill in May 2013 from DWP Recovery at Mitcheldean for an overpayment of his state pension. We paid that immediately. No other bill was received. To reclaim the pension overpayment, Recovery wrote to my late mother, expressing their condolences at my fathe'rs death, so they knew at the time that he had died, and that my mother was the person to contact about this matter. This is important.
Fast forward to when my mother died. Because of the size of the estate, probate was needed. It was granted sometime in Spring 2014, and the estate finally settled in June. I took all bills etc to my solicitor (the same one who handled my father's affairs when he died). From memory, there was a small overpayment by the DWP which they wrote to me (as executor of my late mother's estate, just as I was named executor of my late father's estate). This bill would have been handed in to the solicitor, who paid it when probate was granted and she was able to gain access to bank accounts and so on.
In November, because of a seperate matter I'm looking into regarding overpayment by my father (with a separate solicitor I should add), I was advised that to proceed the case, probate was now needed on my father's estate. This was achieved the same month. I then had a letter from DWP Recovery stating that there had been an overpayment to my father of AA, and requesting its repayment. It was a four-figure sum. I wrote back saying that the estate had long since been wound up. They weren't at all impressed by this, saying that it shouldn't have been wound up without all debts first being paid. My reply to that was that all debts were paid. It's a bit difficult to pay a bill when no such bill was presented to me until November 2014. I also laid out the facts of the case, detailing when my parents died; when probate was obtained for my mother's affairs; that probate wasn't needed for my father's affairs. I can only assume they chose to ignore this, as their next reply completely ignored all these facts, and continued to chase me for this sum. In my next reply, I stapled the letter they sent my mother requesting the state pension overpayment, proving to them that they knew in April/May 2013 that my father had died, and that they knew to contact my mother about any other overpayment (which they hadn't). I also requested to put the case in their formal complaints' procedure, which they have done. In today's reply to me, they claim that they had read and understood all my previous correspondence, but still insist that the winding up of my father's estate before all bills was paid "is the fault of the executor" and still demand payment. See what I mean about not paying any attention to anything I've sent them? One of their letters also stated that the Act of Probate gives legal protection against creditors, in that bills can only be presented against the estate for a period of two months. I mentioned this in one of my replies, again highlighting that they knew in April/May 2013 that my father had died, yet they didn't present us with any bill to reclaim AA overpayment.
I'm at my wits' end with them. I suffer badly from anxiety and depression (I claim ESA for them as a result), so this is the last thing I need. How on earth can I make them read and understand that the solicitor did all the executing work (for want of a better phrase). I simply collated bills and handed them her way for her to deal with. They also continue to ignore the fact that they knew in April/May 2013 that my father had died. They claim that they only put into motion the steps to reclaim the AA following the filing of the probate in November 2014, and that the estate should not have been distributed until then. I'm banging my head against a brick wall with these people - they don't understand any of my clear and erudite PC-printed letters. Would it be advisable to take this matter (and all correspondence) to my MP to see if he can bang their heads together?
Most grateful thanks in advance if anyone has any light to shed on this matter.
Stalloe
I've had a search of this wonderful forum, but haven't found a thread that answers my query. I'm having trouble with the DWP in that they seem incapable of reading or understanding anything I send them. Their reply this morning only serves to underscore this, and indeed makes me think that they're blatantly lying to me.
In 2013, both my parents died. My father died in a nursing home in April, and my mother in hospital in December. I had managed to keep her out of a home by caring for her at home, but her last few years were punctuated by many emergency admissions, typically due to UTI events, or heart attacks. My late parents held all assets jointly, save for my father who had a small ISA. That paid for his funeral, and a small amount passed to my mother, as per their joint will. Their will stated that whichever spouse died first, the survivor inherited their estate. As the remainder of my father's sole assets were so small, my solicitor at the time told me that probate wasn't needed, and all that needed to be done was to remove my father's name from all joint assets. My father received both the state pension and AA. We received a bill in May 2013 from DWP Recovery at Mitcheldean for an overpayment of his state pension. We paid that immediately. No other bill was received. To reclaim the pension overpayment, Recovery wrote to my late mother, expressing their condolences at my fathe'rs death, so they knew at the time that he had died, and that my mother was the person to contact about this matter. This is important.
Fast forward to when my mother died. Because of the size of the estate, probate was needed. It was granted sometime in Spring 2014, and the estate finally settled in June. I took all bills etc to my solicitor (the same one who handled my father's affairs when he died). From memory, there was a small overpayment by the DWP which they wrote to me (as executor of my late mother's estate, just as I was named executor of my late father's estate). This bill would have been handed in to the solicitor, who paid it when probate was granted and she was able to gain access to bank accounts and so on.
In November, because of a seperate matter I'm looking into regarding overpayment by my father (with a separate solicitor I should add), I was advised that to proceed the case, probate was now needed on my father's estate. This was achieved the same month. I then had a letter from DWP Recovery stating that there had been an overpayment to my father of AA, and requesting its repayment. It was a four-figure sum. I wrote back saying that the estate had long since been wound up. They weren't at all impressed by this, saying that it shouldn't have been wound up without all debts first being paid. My reply to that was that all debts were paid. It's a bit difficult to pay a bill when no such bill was presented to me until November 2014. I also laid out the facts of the case, detailing when my parents died; when probate was obtained for my mother's affairs; that probate wasn't needed for my father's affairs. I can only assume they chose to ignore this, as their next reply completely ignored all these facts, and continued to chase me for this sum. In my next reply, I stapled the letter they sent my mother requesting the state pension overpayment, proving to them that they knew in April/May 2013 that my father had died, and that they knew to contact my mother about any other overpayment (which they hadn't). I also requested to put the case in their formal complaints' procedure, which they have done. In today's reply to me, they claim that they had read and understood all my previous correspondence, but still insist that the winding up of my father's estate before all bills was paid "is the fault of the executor" and still demand payment. See what I mean about not paying any attention to anything I've sent them? One of their letters also stated that the Act of Probate gives legal protection against creditors, in that bills can only be presented against the estate for a period of two months. I mentioned this in one of my replies, again highlighting that they knew in April/May 2013 that my father had died, yet they didn't present us with any bill to reclaim AA overpayment.
I'm at my wits' end with them. I suffer badly from anxiety and depression (I claim ESA for them as a result), so this is the last thing I need. How on earth can I make them read and understand that the solicitor did all the executing work (for want of a better phrase). I simply collated bills and handed them her way for her to deal with. They also continue to ignore the fact that they knew in April/May 2013 that my father had died. They claim that they only put into motion the steps to reclaim the AA following the filing of the probate in November 2014, and that the estate should not have been distributed until then. I'm banging my head against a brick wall with these people - they don't understand any of my clear and erudite PC-printed letters. Would it be advisable to take this matter (and all correspondence) to my MP to see if he can bang their heads together?
Most grateful thanks in advance if anyone has any light to shed on this matter.
Stalloe
but a complaint can work wonders 
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