DWP : Claim against Estate.

[AVON C]

Re: DWP : Claim against Estate.

The root of this evil imho is the pension credit. Although with good intention and set up to make sure pensioners are on a decent income and can survive, the do gooders who set up this benefit (social workers, CAB and carers etc) are often not given the full financial facts probably not intentionally but because the old dears they are trying to help have no clue as to what's coming in or what capital they have.
I know this as fact through my own parents as when mum was alive they were claiming pension credit as a couple, set up by the CAB. I knew full well my mum would never have told a stranger everything as she had no idea what my dad had lol (yes it was the norm in their generation to live together and have separate finances).
When mum passed and I helped dad, I was relieved he was no longer due pension credit because of his capital,it meant I didnt have to go through what you and many others go through eventually.
Bearing in mind the assessment periods and how lapse they are with the actual assessments they should really be delving into their own paperwork before they ever contact relatives of a recently deceased person.
Just my opinion and my little moan, rant over lol
Enaid x

Thank you for your view on this matter. I have sent the DWP 9 years of my Mums bank statements and hope they have fun going through every transaction. As an accountant I can seen that there has been nothing untoward going on regarding her finances. I now wonder if I will ever hear from them again. What a dreadful time this has been.

[Openlaw15]

Re: DWP : Claim against Estate.

I am still dealing with my fathers estate following his death in 2014. It complicated and sorry for the length of this post. I did not know my father he left my mum and me in germany when he was serving over there. He never attempted to contact me in over 40 yrs. I did meet him once and it was a nightmare. I next heard about him when he sadly passed away. Consequently his brother contacted me and told me following his death i was a benficiary to my late uncles estate. This lead to another estate that i was a benificiary of. My father was not aware of any estates that he was a beneficiary to. He was penniless wearing glasses with only one lense and claimed pension credits. The DWP are now requesting that his estate pays back £16,000 from 2004. I have proof that my grandmothers will states he would be entitled to a quarter share if he appeared. She states that he had not been seen for 12yrs but also states that it is at the trustees descretion and that they are not obliged to try and find him. They told me that they did look for him but to no avail. The trustees then placed his share in trust for which is now part of the estate funds."

Have the DWP got a case if at the time of claiming my father had a valid claim as he was not receiving any income and did not have any savings?

Sorry for the lengthy post

DWP may only claim for overpayments in certain circumstances under DWP law. These overpayments include where person did not disclose a change of circumstances but rather than explain this law in detail, what were your late father's circumstances? When you say you are dealing with his estate I assume you have been appointed executor of it. About DWP, don't use words such as request if DWP hasn't used the word 'request.' Did DWP use the word request in the letter? Can you copy the letter or its content and put in here? No matter what, DWP has to prove the debt of the overpayment first and only then could they take it to a County Court and ask the judge for an Order to that effect.

[Openlaw15]

Re: DWP : Claim against Estate.

Thank you for your view on this matter. I have sent the DWP 9 years of my Mums bank statements and hope they have fun going through every transaction. As an accountant I can seen that there has been nothing untoward going on regarding her finances. I now wonder if I will ever hear from them again. What a dreadful time this has been.

You didn't have to give them your mum's bank statements as DWP law states they need the person's permission acting for the estate (ie you). Now DWP will find the evidence if there is any which may strengthen their case to make a claim. You're an accountant, how else would they have been able to prove the overpayment from 12 years' ago except going through their own records.

[AVON C]

Re: DWP : Claim against Estate.

You didn't have to give them your mum's bank statements as DWP law states they need the person's permission acting for the estate (ie you). Now DWP will find the evidence if there is any which may strengthen their case to make a claim. You're an accountant, how else would they have been able to prove the overpayment from 12 years' ago except going through their own records.

I have been through all the transactions and there is no evidence of any other income other than her Pension Credit and Housing Benefit. They told me that these letters are sent out as a matter of course. The DWP do not just go away if you refuse to respond. I got sick to death of being hounded by their endless letters. It was quite evident that Mum's savings were accumulated from the pension credit.

[Openlaw15]

Re: DWP : Claim against Estate.

I have been through all the transactions and there is no evidence of any other income other than her Pension Credit and Housing Benefit. They told me that these letters are sent out as a matter of course. The DWP do not just go away if you refuse to respond. I got sick to death of being hounded by their endless letters. It was quite evident that Mum's savings were accumulated from the pension credit.

DWP's claim is that your father was overpaid Pension credit. If they can prove there has been overpayments made they can take the estate to court anyway.

[AVON C]

Re: DWP : Claim against Estate.

This does not involve my late father. Bye the way, receiving a pension credit does not prohibit the recipient from saving a portion of it. This has been confirmed to me by the dept.

[cooky1257]

Re: DWP : Claim against Estate.

I'm also under the DWP cosh. My Mum died in January '16 and left about £18k in savings and they've sent me the stock PC reclaim letters asking me to provide account details, passbooks balances etc from 2003.
My Mum had AIP covering 2003 to 2009 and after reassessment and open ended AIP from 2010. I've also found a letter in 2015 stating she had another open ended AIP.
If my Mum wasn't obliged to inform the DWP of any capital changes during her AIP's while she was alive what's changed since she passed away, can they do this?
This as others have stated is so stressful and feels like a fishing expedition from the DWP looking for a slip up or mistake by an old lady. How should I approach this matter. Help!

[enaid]

Re: DWP : Claim against Estate.

The rules for AIP are simple and fully explained below, I would either ignore the letter as you have the proof or write back sending them a copy of the proof.

If you are over the age of 65 you may be 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. It is useful to record when your assessed income period ends so that you know when award changes may take effect. The calculator’s estimate should be checked again when the assessed income period ends. Indefinite assessed income periods You can have an indefinite assessed income period (open-ended AIP) if you or your partner are aged 75 or over.If you are eligible for an open-ended AIP you will 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 are eligible for an open-ended AIP include: income from equity release schemes income from annuities or private pensions savings or investments Not everyone is awarded Pension Credit with an AIP, so you may need to check whether these rules apply to you. If they do not, then changes to all your income and capital must be notified in the normal way.

[cooky1257]

Re: DWP : Claim against Estate.

The rules for AIP are simple and fully explained below, I would either ignore the letter as you have the proof or write back sending them a copy of the proof.

If you are over the age of 65 you may be 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. It is useful to record when your assessed income period ends so that you know when award changes may take effect. The calculator’s estimate should be checked again when the assessed income period ends. Indefinite assessed income periods You can have an indefinite assessed income period (open-ended AIP) if you or your partner are aged 75 or over.If you are eligible for an open-ended AIP you will 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 are eligible for an open-ended AIP include: income from equity release schemes income from annuities or private pensions savings or investments Not everyone is awarded Pension Credit with an AIP, so you may need to check whether these rules apply to you. If they do not, then changes to all your income and capital must be notified in the normal way.

Thanks,
Can you tell me if they(DWP) are obliged to provide me with all the info they have to do with my Mum's claim?
I have to admit to be very intimidated by them and under the circumstances, grieving for my Mum doesn't put me at my best state of mind to take them on.
Thanks.

[enaid]

Re: DWP : Claim against Estate.

I would imagine they have very little detail hence the standard horrible letter they send out at a time when people are at their lowest.
If you can I would ignore them , if you cant or they persist just send them copies of the AIPs and ask on what grounds are they saying there has been an overpayment.
Someone else may offer different advice, I am only saying how I would deal with it, whatever you decide, please let us know how it goes it will help others.
Dealing with a loss is bad enough and I wish you well, good luck, Enaid x

[cooky1257]

Re: DWP : Claim against Estate.

Thank you Enaid,

I am about to contact them today so any other input from members/experts would be most appreciated.

[Brian Rawlinson]

Re: DWP : Claim against Estate.

DWP may only claim for overpayments in certain circumstances under DWP law. These overpayments include where person did not disclose a change of circumstances but rather than explain this law in detail, what were your late father's circumstances? When you say you are dealing with his estate I assume you have been appointed executor of it. About DWP, don't use words such as request if DWP hasn't used the word 'request.' Did DWP use the word request in the letter? Can you copy the letter or its content and put in here? No matter what, DWP has to prove the debt of the overpayment first and only then could they take it to a County Court and ask the judge for an Order to that effect.

The letter from DWP states:
We have compared the information you forwarded to us with the details given when James ........was paid benefit and decided that too much benefit was paid. This is because the Department for Work and Pensions did not know about all their resourses. Notes about income and capital are enclosed.

This is then followed by information relating to pension credit claimed and the period claimed.

The fact is my father was not aware of any resourses either.

My uncle has told me he can providevproof that efforts were made to contact my father.
Appologise for stating that dwp requested !!!
My father claimed pension credit as he was penniless and entitled to this benefit with the knowledge he had.
I am the executer.
Any assistance would be a great help. I have contacted them by phone and was going to follow up with a lettercafter i gain further info from my uncle.

[Openlaw15]

Re: DWP : Claim against Estate.

This does not involve my late father. Bye the way, receiving a pension credit does not prohibit the recipient from saving a portion of it. This has been confirmed to me by the dept.

Pension credit like any other benefit where it been paid out is the recipient's, for them to put it in their bank account or do with it as the person chooses.

[Openlaw15]

Re: DWP : Claim against Estate.

The letter from DWP states:
We have compared the information you forwarded to us with the details given when James ........was paid benefit and decided that too much benefit was paid. This is because the Department for Work and Pensions did not know about all their resourses. Notes about income and capital are enclosed.

This is then followed by information relating to pension credit claimed and the period claimed.

The fact is my father was not aware of any resourses either.

My uncle has told me he can providevproof that efforts were made to contact my father.
Appologise for stating that dwp requested !!!
My father claimed pension credit as he was penniless and entitled to this benefit with the knowledge he had.
I am the executer.
Any assistance would be a great help. I have contacted them by phone and was going to follow up with a lettercafter i gain further info from my uncle.

Thank you for that, Brian

DWP's claim for overpaid Pension Credit allegedly goes back to 2004. The estate is still being dealt with by you. What date/ or year etc did your father or you become aware that your father was beneficiary to your uncle's Will? I assume the Will's resources are what DWP's claiming to not know about? DWP have not stated expressly that there was a change of circumstances undeclared by your late father.

"I am still dealing with my fathers estate following his death in 2014. It complicated and sorry for the length of this post. I did not know my father he left my mum and me in germany when he was serving over there. He never attempted to contact me in over 40 yrs. I did meet him once and it was a nightmare. I next heard about him when he sadly passed away. Consequently his brother contacted me and told me following his death i was a benficiary to my late uncles estate. This lead to another estate that i was a benificiary of. My father was not aware of any estates that he was a beneficiary to. He was penniless wearing glasses with only one lense and claimed pension credits. The DWP are now requesting that his estate pays back £16,000 from 2004. I have proof that my grandmothers will states he would be entitled to a quarter share if he appeared. She states that he had not been seen for 12yrs but also states that it is at the trustees descretion and that they are not obliged to try and find him. They told me that they did look for him but to no avail. The trustees then placed his share in trust for which is now part of the estate funds."

&, "Have the DWP got a case if at the time of claiming my father had a valid claim as he was not receiving any income and did not have any savings?"

ps: I cited the original question/ details at post #30 for reference purposes. It's difficult to keep track etc.

[Brian Rawlinson]

Re: DWP : Claim against Estate.

Father did not know of any inheritance. Uncle died intestate and still awaiting estate to be distributed. I found out about my grandfather will and that i was now a beneficiary shortly after father death in 2014.