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Hi all just new to this forum and need some advice regarding what the dwp are saying was an overpayment in 2011..
In 2008 i was signed off sick by the company i worked for in the netherlands and for a year received sick pay via the company but after 12 months this stopped and myself and the company parted mutually as i was still unfit for work..
At this point i made a claim for sick pay via dwp and also for housing benefit which all went through no problems..
After about a month on benefits i was sent a letter to say i must go to dwp local job centre and start to attend a work restart program bearing in mind im still under the care of my gp and not fit to work!!!
The dwp seemed to be adamant i would go back to work and constantly pressurising me into finding work which i can say is no easy task even more difficult when you are still on sick leave..
I found some work on an agency and after intiall interveiw took some work from the agency although at this point i did not sign off the sick as my gp would not sign me off untill he saw fit to do so..
Eventually dwp sent me for their own assesment and they signed me off instead forcing me back to work anyway regardless of what my gp thought !!
Next thing i know dwp are now wanting to know why i have committed fraud and want me in for formal interveiw which i attended and i was accused at that point of making a fraudulent claim atho i dont see this as fraud because when i took on the work from the agency i handed in all national insurance details ect so as far as i was concerned it was all above board and legal and i have no knowlage of the system so thought if they are telling me i can work then that must be right, and obviously they know im on sick leave and not going to sign myself off untill my gp sees fit to do so..
After the interveiw no further action was taken and i heard nothing more of it even though i was quite happy for them to take me to court to try prove id committed an offence of fraud which as far as im concerned i did not..
Some months later my wife informed me the dwp debt collecters had been on the doorstep demanding payment for an overpayment i had received and wanted the money there and then!!
The claim was mine so nothing to do with her and they are bullying her on the doorstep..
She informed them it was nothing to do with her and they left empty handed but a few weeks later they rang her and asked if she would set up an account in my name and make payments on my behalf to clear this debt to which she agreed just to keep the peace with them..although at this point i was unaware of any wrong doing..
It was only some weeks later a letter landed on the doorstep to confirm the said account had been set up and obviously i hit the roof at this point as she had alredy made some payments on this..
I told her not to make any more payments and to close the account as it was set up without me knowing which would make her liable for fraud..
After that point we hear nothing else untill now and this time they are taking it back via an attachment of earnings again without my consent is this actually legal?? And the last time we heard anything of this was 2011 its now five years on and the fraud case was closed down and also they sent me a letter to deny any wrong doing on their part for setting up an unauthorised account and said the case was now closed so do they still have a right to chase this up..
Any advice would be great as we are both stressing over this yet again and its causing undue tension between myself and my wife as we thought this was a distant memory only to find its been dug up again
In 2008 i was signed off sick by the company i worked for in the netherlands and for a year received sick pay via the company but after 12 months this stopped and myself and the company parted mutually as i was still unfit for work..
At this point i made a claim for sick pay via dwp and also for housing benefit which all went through no problems..
After about a month on benefits i was sent a letter to say i must go to dwp local job centre and start to attend a work restart program bearing in mind im still under the care of my gp and not fit to work!!!
The dwp seemed to be adamant i would go back to work and constantly pressurising me into finding work which i can say is no easy task even more difficult when you are still on sick leave..
I found some work on an agency and after intiall interveiw took some work from the agency although at this point i did not sign off the sick as my gp would not sign me off untill he saw fit to do so..
Eventually dwp sent me for their own assesment and they signed me off instead forcing me back to work anyway regardless of what my gp thought !!
Next thing i know dwp are now wanting to know why i have committed fraud and want me in for formal interveiw which i attended and i was accused at that point of making a fraudulent claim atho i dont see this as fraud because when i took on the work from the agency i handed in all national insurance details ect so as far as i was concerned it was all above board and legal and i have no knowlage of the system so thought if they are telling me i can work then that must be right, and obviously they know im on sick leave and not going to sign myself off untill my gp sees fit to do so..
After the interveiw no further action was taken and i heard nothing more of it even though i was quite happy for them to take me to court to try prove id committed an offence of fraud which as far as im concerned i did not..
Some months later my wife informed me the dwp debt collecters had been on the doorstep demanding payment for an overpayment i had received and wanted the money there and then!!
The claim was mine so nothing to do with her and they are bullying her on the doorstep..
She informed them it was nothing to do with her and they left empty handed but a few weeks later they rang her and asked if she would set up an account in my name and make payments on my behalf to clear this debt to which she agreed just to keep the peace with them..although at this point i was unaware of any wrong doing..
It was only some weeks later a letter landed on the doorstep to confirm the said account had been set up and obviously i hit the roof at this point as she had alredy made some payments on this..
I told her not to make any more payments and to close the account as it was set up without me knowing which would make her liable for fraud..
After that point we hear nothing else untill now and this time they are taking it back via an attachment of earnings again without my consent is this actually legal?? And the last time we heard anything of this was 2011 its now five years on and the fraud case was closed down and also they sent me a letter to deny any wrong doing on their part for setting up an unauthorised account and said the case was now closed so do they still have a right to chase this up..
Any advice would be great as we are both stressing over this yet again and its causing undue tension between myself and my wife as we thought this was a distant memory only to find its been dug up again
