Hi, my name is LittleFlower1986!
hello, I have joined as I need good advice on a situatuation.
My daughter has a disability, mostly neuro, overlapping migrainal/epilepsy disorders. After finishing 6 form school she went to college to get better marks for English/maths, this was over a 2yr period, she was on dla from 17yrs old, in 2016 she was put on ESA income related and in a support group, in 2020 she started a psychology course, 2 yrs at college moving onto university level, we told ESA everything at each stage, all information about her studies they were given, everything she was claiming alongside of ESA they were told of, it was during covid so all done over the phone, so they knew she was on ESA, PIP and student finance, every department hold the same information, 5 yrs later coming forward they are saying we didn't inform them of her being at university, it has angered us so much as we have been very genuinely honest with all involved with her benefits and university, they are now saying they have no information on file off us, they asked do we remember names, have we emails off them? Letters from them? The answer is no we haven't got anything, they didn't send emails or letters confirming contact between us and them, so in other words we have no proof, so I suppose we are in for a long struggle, one of the call handlers from compliance team actually laughed and said I hope you are sitting down, then told me my daughter owes a large amount of money, I felt like I had been abused, I did cry after the call, if we hadn't informed them of everything then we would have to get on with it, she is on the last leg of university, she graduates this year, they have taken £400 a month off her, her university payments afford her to be a student, paying for books £300 each book, laptops etc etc her benefits pay for rent here, food, bills etc student finance is a loan, it has to be paid back, it isn't income, she will be in the bracket of pay were that will start immediately when she starts work.
The dishonesty from dwp has left my daughter completely broken, she has exams this week, she's not in the head space for them, we trust government bodies to be honest and lead from the front with transparency and attention to detail, we are expected to comply, we have, and we are left completely shattered.
Any advice will be great appreciated.
Thank you
Comments
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Have you tried the official complaints process?
If you can prove the overpayment was due to official error, you have a good chance of getting it reduced or even written off.
I'd recommend also talking to a local welfare rights organisation.
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Going forward it is correct that the maintenance loan affects her means tested benefits. Even if she didn't take that loan it would affect her means tested benefits.
She can request all the information DWP hold on her by doing a Subject Access Request (SAR) if you know approximately when they were contacted to report the changes then you need to make sure you include that date. Some phones maybe recorded so I don't know if it will include information about any of the calls but definitely worth requesting this. You can do that online here.
Other than that I agree with kimmy and expert advice is needed.
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kimmy87 thank you for your speedy reply, I haven't made a complaint as yet, I have done a SAR, I will start complaint procedure right away, thank you for your much-needed advice here, we really appreciate you.
I will also call Disability uk and get appointment at CAB.
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Poppy123456 Thank you for your speedy reply, I have done a SAR requesting all information on my daughter, I am her appointee, I have asked for a full breakdown of overpayment and how it came to this, I have asked if there has also been any issues with their online systems, causing loss of client information in the last 5 yrs, they have proof of dialogue initiated by them to myself, proof of all professional input, documentation and dialogue, they however, have none of myself and daughter.
Most contact was during covid, two phone calls arranged by ESA no face-to face no letters or emails, I have no proof other than my word, I don't stand a chance with them.
All I can say is PIP, ESA and Student Finance England were all given every scrap of information about my daughter, nothing hidden, there's no fraud or underhandedness gone on.
Literally feeling numb, watching my daughter so deflated has been hard to deal with.
Thank you so much for all of your advice, taking time to help us, we appreciate you.
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BernieBrown, this is appalling. Is your daughter going ahead with her exams this week? In her final two terms of uni how dare they do this?
Mine needed extensions at uni and additional support during a crisis at exam time (also psychology). Your daughter's uni needs to know what has happened. If she needs to defer it's ok. They will have communications from Student Finance. It's all linked to DWP.
HMRC will tell you which NIC's were awarded to your daughter aged 18 based on the benefits she received.
Ask the banks for the last 6 (possibly 7) years of statements showing those payments.
Calls to and from mobile phones and landlines are traceable through the providers.
My Right of Access Request (RAR) to the DWP returned an incomplete file because I didn't ask for ALL DATA. I had to make two further requests to get any useful information. Conversations and names were redacted. No questions were answered.
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whatThe Thank you for taking time to read my post and communicate with me, means so much. It has totally deflated my daughter, it is almost like we are in shock, the dread she feels for her future has impacted her enormously. The compliance officer says she has trawled the ESA systems and can’t find any dialogue/correspondence from us to them, they can only see their communications to us and off professionals, you can imagine how that has made us feel, mostly anger, we had two phone calls during Covid alone, nearly a hr long for each, one handler congratulated my daughter for her determination in working toward getting off benefits and securing a future for herself, that and two other calls can’t be found. I have requested a SAR, I suppose I will get the same response, I didn’t put all data, I did specify that I would like all information and contact between all parties to be included, I asked if there has been any breach or loss of client information/ data on their internal systems, in the past 5 yrs. There is a gentleman on the same psychology course as my daughter, the same thing happened to him, they took £400 off him, he has had cancer and lives alone, they took it off him for a full yr, he has now had all of his claim backdated and is on full ESA once again? Everyone is different I know, the fact that destroys me most is, they are doing this to vulnerable, compromised individuals, it is bordering a Human Rights situation, we don’t stand a chance with them, they have obviously lost all correspondence from ourselves. My daughter won’t finish this year that’s for sure, they have disabled her further, a system that can get away with mental cruelty and drive a individual to utter despair, it is criminal.
Thank you so much for your advice, we really appreciate you.
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It is clear that you have made every effort to comply with the relevant regulations. I would recommend contacting the university to determine whether they have any records related to your daughter’s benefits status, such as emails from the DWP to the student finance team or other documents referencing her benefit claims. Additionally, you may want to request confirmation from the university as to whether they have submitted any documentation to the DWP regarding her student status.
Furthermore, your daughter (or you, with her consent) may wish to submit a Subject Access Request to the DWP. This request will allow you to obtain all information they hold on file, including logs of phone calls, emails, and other communications related to her case. It is possible that some important information may have been inadvertently overlooked during the review process.
Would it be possible for you to obtain copies of your phone logs from that period, as they could help substantiate your case?
Lastly, you may wish to consider filing a formal complaint with the DWP, particularly given the challenges many organisations faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The shift to remote working may have contributed to lapses in due diligence across various departments. From my own professional experience, I have observed how, between 2000 and 2021, particularly during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic when many people were working from home, numerous documents, phone calls, and pieces of information that should have been properly documented often seemed to disappear without explanation.
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Hi @BernieBrown20 and a warm welcome to the community!
This sounds like a very distressing this situation for you and your daughter. How are you both doing today?
You are right, it is completely unacceptable to be treated this way especially as you have been so honest throughout.
I can see you have already received some good advice from some lovely community members so I won't add anything else but it definitely sounds like it may be helpful to book an appointment at Citizens Advice or contact Scope Helpline to talk it through and hopefully find a way this can be resolved quickly!
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Maintenance loans do affect means tested benefits so that part is correct. Whether the actual amount being deducted is correct will depend on how much maintenance loan she receives. This is the part I can’t help with because it’s so complex. The Disabled Students Helpline should be able to help with that so I’d advise you to contact them. Details in link
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MW123 Thank you for taking the time today to write to us, we appreciate you so much, it is a daunting time, coming on here and reading all of your advice, feeling the amount of empathy toward our situation really lifts our spirits, I am making notes and a plan from all of the amazing advice from each of you amazing people.
Thank you all for helping to keep us sane right now, your voices are so very valuable and we feel much better for reaching out to you.
Bernadette x
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Mary_Scope Thank you so much for taking your valuable time to write to us, we appreciate you and your empathy toward our situation, we value your input and will keep you informed of the outcome.
Bernadette x
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BB, it's an upsetting account to read because I've been persecuted by them too and had to turn detective.
I urge you to ring HMRC today because they can tell you over the phone which NI Credits were awarded to your daughter while she received ESA and whether they were stopped by DWP (they may need to hear her voice). Also request a complete statement of the NIC's paid from aged 18 up to the most recent tax year. This forum will help you understand any changes to those credits.
I advise submitting a further RAR asking for ALL DATA to avoid any delay. My files took much longer than a month to reach me. DWP can ignore an SAR which is why I recommend the RAR.
When an agency like DWP becomes obstructive, you naturally ask yourself why. That something similar happened to one of her peers who then had his award reinstated should give you hope.
I personally don't believe these are 'errors' but failures.
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Poppy123456 Thank you so much for writing to us and for all of your valuable advice, we have formed a plan going forward and will keep you informed of the outcome, we really appreciate you.
Bernadette x
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WhatThe Honestly, you are so kind, I have read your comments over and over, you really have steadied our ship here, you can find yourself lost and deflated, not knowing how to put one foot infront of the other, thank you from myself and my daughter, I have added the RAR to my list of contacts, also HMRC I am sending a huge hug to you all, for your help and understanding of our situation, I will keep you all updated
Bernadette 🤗X
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You can check her NI contributions here
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When requesting a RAR because I am my daughter’s appointee, do I fill the online form in with my details or hers? I did send for a SAR and put my details, in the comment section I did advise them of me being her appointee and added her details there, if I have done it wrong I would like to resend it, I know they will stall as much as they can, thank you for any advice you can give us.
Bernadette X
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poppy123456 many thanks, i will do this today, i am going to print things out and make a file incase i have to produce anything.
Bernadette X
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When requesting a RAR because I am my daughter’s appointee, do I fill the online form in with my details or hers?I'm not sure about this. Have you had any acknowledgement of your request?
I received a text message from DWP to tell me each application was being processed.
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Sorry, I didn’t see this question when I commented the last time.
Your daughter is the main claimant so the ESA is in her name. You are just her appointee. For this reason you would need to use her details…. Name and NI number.
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poppy123456 many thanks, I will rectify this today also. Thank you for your much appreciated support.
Bernadette x
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