Ongoing issues with DWP and disregarding cost of living payments...
Back in Oct 2024 I made a typo on the date of my savings declaration and mistakenly declared for Feb 2024. The MR didnt add up the amounts to compare and just looked at my total capital and said it was over 6K- so decision stood.
In my appeal I pointed out it was impossible for the decision to be correct as the amounts in my account in Feb and Oct 2024 did not match. I also pointed out the MR appeared to have ignored cost of living payments and benefit backpayment when deciding my capital was over 6k... I asked why.
I provided all my statements and workings out.
Yesterday the DWP responded in my UC journal saying they had indeed miscalculated, but I actually owed more as my capital was over 6K since June 2023. Now its true my savings were over 6K in June 2023, but only before the COLs were deducted (they were under afterwards).
There is a huge saga in my journal around this time as I tried to work out how to declare my savings and get the COLs deducted. Its clearly stated in my journal that COLs are to be disregarded and must be deducted by me- its clearly stated in the letter I got from my MP that they are to be disregarded and the person who has to deduct them from the balance is me. Its all there in the journal.
Yet somehow now despite me asking over and over again why they are not deducting the cost of living payments from my capital... they are now saying my capital was over 6K in June 2023 and are going off to calculated this bigger overpayment.
They have not supplied me with any "bundle" containing anything that helps me understand why they are ignoring the capital disregards. But tell me I have a month to add more evidence if I disagree.
Ive already uploaded all the bank statement that show the COLs going into my account and highlighted them. I transfered all the COLs into my premium bonds and put any benefit backpayments in there too (they have the bank statement showing a benefit backpayment going into my bank account and straight out into p bonds).
Im wondering how much longer this will drag on if I respond rather than relying on the evidence already submitted.
Being as its going back to June 2023 now I have several relevant bank statements that were not include originally that I maybe should upload, and Id like to upload my journal to show me asking over and over and over how to declare capital and being told to deduct the COLs.
The letter they sent today goes on about fraud and not declaring stuff which is pretty rich when I was begging to be given advice on how to declare.
I cant see how they can have read my evidence properly as I included the downloadble sheet on capital disregards and the letter from my MP and all my workings out (though these are excel screenshots).
Im extremely distressed by this as its playing into my mental health issues of it not mattering how hard you try everything always goes wrong. Im already agoraphobic with fear of people and have difficulty with using the telephone except with people I trust. It doesnt take much to make me much worse.
I feel pretty hopeless about getting this resolved, especially in a decent timeframe. The DWP failed to respond to two deadlines and now this- which appears to be kicking it down the road again.
How does it work now, if I upload more docs do they then get more time to respond to that. How long can this go on- is it some sort of strategy the DWP use? Is there anything else they might do to kick it down the road that I need to be aware of.
I dont think I can do this myself nothing Im saying is getting through. The CAB havent responded since Jan; I dont know where to get help.
Why is this so difficult?
Comments
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As you've asked for a MR and the DWP has now responded, you should be able to go to the next step which is a formal appeal.
This might be better than further back and forth with them.
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There was another member who had something similar, and the DWP response was that they'd moved the COL's to a different account which removed the disregard.
That is probably why they get flagged up by the computer system, however there is nothing that we've seen so far saying you can't move the money. Just that your total capital must not go below the level of the COL payments at any time.
Sadly I'm not sure whether the outcome to that was posted on here. I haven't seen it if it was. Would be very interested to know how it was resolved and that may also be helpful here.
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I'm stuck in DWP limbo land here with COL disregard not being applied to my son's claim.
They closed his claim on 16th Jan with capital over 16k.
I submitted MR 22nd Jan to say COL disregard had not been applied. Had it been, 16k was never exceeded.
Received phone call 12th Feb to say all logged to system and was on its way to DM.
Since then nothing. I know they haven't started looking at it yet as they haven't been in touch for more bank statements. I wouldn't be at all surprised now if i hear nothing at all further on this matter. I'm kind of at the point of putting it on the back burner and moving on.
My son doesn't really need UC but we do owe them around 2.5k in overpayments so it does seem strange they haven't been in touch yet. Especially given that i told them we owe them this 2.5k.
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I did wonder about moving them being an issue, but nobody Ive asked seems to think its a problem. Someone on reddit, who said they were DWP staff, said that you have to give proof of them going in to an account to claim them as disregards- which I have done.
DWP are refusing to discuss why they are ignoring it.2 -
Oh that's interesting. I did actually use the COL payments to pay for our fuel so they all went to Octopus energy and got spent on fuel if they want to trace where the actual payments went.
But my son's total capital never dipped below £1850 and welfare rights said it didn't matter that the payments went to Octopus.
Though - in our case - DWP have not yet requested any statements showing COL payments so that's not a reason for them dragging their feet.
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Could you get any answer to why they were ignoring the COLs as capital disregards- they just dont answer when I ask the question.
Sometimes getting MP involved helps with this sort of thing.0 -
Sorry I was a bit unclear. Yeah I am already at the formal appeal stage. I didnt expect anything else about this in my journal either, but it seems to be because they are changing their position during the formal appeal
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Not yet. Initially, i didn't know about them so when i was summoned to the job centre with 3 months' statements, i did not mention them and nor did the agent.
The next day, message in journal to say a case manager had closed the claim.
From info on here and local welfare rights, i found out about COL but i learned it is up to the claimant to speak up about the disregard. I had not spoken up.
So i put an MR in, well within the 30 days, asking for the claim to be re-opened and showing calculations with the disregard applied.
And have heard nothing. Yet. I suppose it is only 2 months since my MR was logged to the system but i thought they might have been in touch on the phone by now at least.
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Ps a week after my son's claim was closed, i got a letter via the post - a UCD68 asking why i was late in reporting capital and telling me a civic penalty might be applied.
No mention of any overpayment. I replied to the letter, letting them know i had under declared capital as only 13k was declared but some months my son had unspent funds in his current account of a few hundred or so which i had not declared. This had been going on for 6 yrs as i didn't realise the current account balance had to be declared.
So i told them that. And no reply there either. Still nothing on the civic penalty.
I have had a UCD68 before, back in 2020. On that occasion they did not apply a civic penalty but, from them issuing the UCD68 in April, it was one month til i heard no civic penalty was due. And that was during the Pandemic year.
Maybe my MR has held things up, which means they might have looked at it and put it to the bottom of the pile again!
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That's an interesting perspective from Welfare Rights. If DWP can prove that the payments were spent, then they obviously wouldn't be disregarded after that point. I can see what they're getting at, but if you paid the exact amount of one or more COL's directly to an Octopus account, the DWP could use that as proof that they'd been spent. Again, I'd be interested to see the follow up to this.
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If DWP are refusing to engage then surely they should be sanctioned? 🤔
On a serious note though, I can appreciate how frustrating this is. You'll just have to go through to the tribunal with the evidence you've got. Also make it clear that DWP have not provided you with a good reason, based on law or regulations, as to why they are not allowing the disregard. I can't see the tribunal refusing it, but you shouldn't have to go through all this hassle and stress to reach that point.
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That's handy to know, @OverlyAnxious - thanks. If that's the case, then the claim has been correctly closed. Although i don't see how they could proove that was their COL payment going to Octopus. One lot of £300 looks identical to the next so my son could have kept their payment in his account and spent his own income on the energy bill (!)
I wonder what the hold up is then with them asking for their money back.
Welfare rights said that DWP look at total capital and disregards and won't be interested in where the money went.
Whichever way it is, he will be able to afford to pay off what's owed from his capital so i just wish they would hurry up!
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