Pension Credit Overpayment

[Kati]

A thread for [MENTION=62964]E Stack[/MENTION]
I am in receipt of a basic pension and pension credit.

My husbands occupational pension was awarded to me 3 years ago and I have now been told that they have overpaid me by thousands of pounds. Therefore they wrote to me to say it was my failure to inform them of this money.

Although they did phone me in early 2012 and asked me how much I was being paid and at that time I genuinely did not know and was too fragile to give a damn about anything.
At that time not only did my husband die unexpectedly but so did other family members and so the discussion on pensions ect were not high on the list of priorities.

I asked for a re consideration on payment and they sent a reply today saying that they expected to receive the repayments from me or the bailiffs will be sent in.

I told them that due to them having all of my husbands details concerning his pensions surely they could have made a phone call to my former husbands private pension to ask how much they were awarding me? Apparently they can do this now or am I wrong in thinking this? The compliance officer said there would be changes in 2015.

My question before awarding me any pension credit couldn't they have made a bit more of an effort to find out if my husbands pension was being paid to me and the amount before awarding me anything?

They stopped my pension credit straightaway in 2014.

[wales01man]

Re: Pension Credit Overpayment

Sorry to says its down to the claimant to state what they receive in other pensions ETC you will possibly have to repay any overpayment .

[anmarj]

Re: Pension Credit Overpayment

Dwp cannot contact a third party to obatain pension information as it would break data protection. They can only go on information you provide to them.

[Kati]

Re: Pension Credit Overpayment

[MENTION=62964]E Stack[/MENTION] ... you might also want to have a read of this - https://www.gov.uk/benefit-overpayments/overview
and this - http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/what-to-d...it-is-overpaid

How you pay back overpayments

If you're no longer receiving the benefit that was overpaid, you'll usually receive a bill to cover the overpayments.
Before you start making repayments, you'll be given time to:

• say if you think the decision to make you repay the money is wrong
• agree a payment plan with the office that deals with your benefit

If you are still receiving benefit, a certain amount will be taken off your benefit until you've paid back all the overpayment. You have the right of appeal against most overpayments; deductions will normally be made from your benefit one calendar month from the date you were told about the overpayment.
Some benefits have their own procedures for paying back an overpayment.
Within the Social Security Agency, Debt Management has responsibility for recovering overpayments of benefit and you may receive a letter from this office if you have been overpaid. This office is a legitimate part of the Social Security Agency and is not a private sector debt collection company.