UNIVERSAL CREDIT OVERPAYMENT

egister

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/922029#Comment_922029

I note that this explanation required payment for the services of a screenwriter, more than 20 actors and a photographer. Does the DWP have a lot of extra money for non-disabled people?

egister

A measly £6000-£16000 turns disabled people and their loved ones into criminals. Ashamed!

anisty

Sorry @Bedgrove - i had been very lazy there and not read this thread from the start!

Oct 24 to feb 25 to work out your overpayment? That's not too bad at all if that's it. I am 2 months in already!

My situation is similar to yours in the feelings i am having (want to pay back asap) and that i am the appointee but i was aware of the 16k and hadn't deliberately saved any payments.

We had all building soc savings correctly declared. I was exactly the same as you in never checking UC statements and i didn't understand assessment periods.

My son was LCWRA so never went near the job centre. Tbh, i very rarely checked his bank acc balance (which is a joint acc with me as he lacks capacity)

This was very negligent of me but i had no need to be checking as i knew his spends are small, there is no overdraft facility on the account so i knew his account was covering his needs easily.

My mistake was in not realising money in his current account was also capital. And as he often has a good 3k sitting in the current acc which i had not declared, the whole claim will need re-checked.

2020/21 are the worst years - obvs my son didn't spend much at all during lockdown. I have calculated about £2800 to repay and hopefully they will come to a similar figure.

But i think my heart will be pounding like the clappers when that brown envelope finally drops.

It can't anytime soon as they haven't called in all statements so i am fairly relaxed just now!

I definitely think there needs to be much more guidance for appointees - i had totally failed to appreciate that UC is a dynamic benefit where you need to be looking at the bank accounts every month and saying what's there - it is so easy to do as well🤣

Part of what went wrong in our case is that my son's claim was begun by his support worker. I was not present as the JC meets where this might be explained. I took over in march 2020 and we were in lockdown then.

I just thought the claim was ticking along automatically with declarations all made. How wrong i was!

Bedgrove

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/986274#Comment_986274

It felt like a long time waiting for the decision, I just assumed they’d want it back as soon as possible, so thought it would be quicker. Hopefully they’ll contact you for statements etc soon and get the review under way.

anisty

Thanks @Bedgrove - i might have delayed it a bit by putting in an MR. I don't think the claim should have been closed as, once COL deducted, capital was below 16k.

Someone from DWP phoned me last weds to say he'd just finished uploading my MR to the system and it would now go to the DM who would be in touch if more evidence is needed.

Well - more evidence is definitely needed as they only have 3 months' statements so far!

Hopefully i will hear something quite soon. Because the claim and journal are both closed, it will be slow.

Unless they accept the claim should never have been closed and re-open it of course.

anisty

Not in my case @Danny123 - i had no idea that money left in my son's current account at the end of each assessment period counted as capital.

In fact, i didn't even know what an assessment period was until about 6 weeks ago! I know that sounds unbelievable but as my son was not in hardship from one month to another, there was no need to be counting down the days til money went into his account.

So - what happened is all the money he had at the building society (13k) was declared correctly at the claim start.

But, because some months (a lot of months) since 2019, he has finished an AP with a few hundred or even a couple of thousand left over - there are amounts of £4.35, £8.70, £13.05 or £17.40 owing most months.

Some months, £38.80 is owed as he's had 2k in the current acc.

Obvs as soon as i realised my error, i have let them know but it's taken 5 years to realise. It is pure luck only he hasn't gone over 16k years ago!! I was really nervous checking back all the statements as you can imagine but he has never exceeded it.

Thank goodness i realised it now as it would have been going on for years.

Because i had no idea on how to work out the balance on a current account (where the amount changes most days)

I looked at my son's balance on the day his bank statement was made up to and it was 3.5k. Stupidly, i then added that to the 13k already declared to make 16.5k and the claim closed straightaway.

I had used the wrong date.

Plus i had not deducted COL. With the right date and COL, 16k was never exceeded. But, there has been long tern under-reporting for amounts between 13k and 15k (ish)

I have explained all this in writing and by phone but they seem to be in no hurry to get the money back.

Fortunately, my son still has the 13k in the building society to pay back what's owed. These were savings gifted by Grandparents from when he was born through to his 18th birthday so i do feel very bad and stupid for having failed to get to grips with the claim before now.

The worst is, i now feel very clued up on the whole thing so,if UC do call me, they probably won't believe i genuinely never knew all this before. . . .i should have remained ignorant!