DWP Chasing Me Over 11 Year Old Debt

[Kitty13]

So today I got a letter from the DWP stating that I owe them nearly £700 and that I have until the 30th of this month to come to an arrangement or they will be seizing money from my pay.
This was news to me so I phoned them - they tell me this is relating to crisis and budgeting loans I took out in 2007 and 2011.
They can give me no information on why they've never contacted me before, they can't tell me why the repayments weren't taken from my benefits at the time or at any point since or why they've suddenly remembered I owe this now. I do know that crisis loans etc WERE taken out of my benefits at the time but I can't prove anything and I can't prove which ones were paid off and which ones weren't all these years later.
I've asked them to send me a breakdown of these debts showing how much I borrowed and when and they say they'll post that out to me but I have 2 weeks before they start proceedings to take £73 a month out of my wages.
What is my next move? Is this really legal? Can they just announce a decade later that someone owes them money and then take it? With no court proceedings? No proof? And only 3 weeks notice?

[des8]

Hi and welcome.
Although a debt (even those to DWP) are statute barred after 6 years,DWP can recover from any benefits you receive.
They can also recover overpayments of benefit from your wages by direct earnings attachment
This includes loans administered by the social fund (which I think includes crisis loans)
You may be able to avoid the DEA by negotiating to repay by instalments
You need to check their figures against your own, and you will need more than a breakdown of their figures.
I would suggest sending a SAR to DWP requesting all information regarding these loans, including the signed application forms.
It would not be the first time that a person has fraudulently used someone else's identity
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/request-...k-and-pensions