UC overpayment due to backdated Carers Allowance

Goldberry

I was paid £1300 backdated Carers Allowance which was in turn deducted from our UC award accordingly, and new payment statements were produced to reflect the monthly deduction for the awarded Carers Allowance. However, I only checked the amended statements AFTER I panicked when reading "overpayment" and sent back £1000 of the backdated pay to DWP Debt Management (we are both disabled and on UC with LCWRA), only to find that our most recent payment statement has deducted a months carers allowance by £360 and now we are much worse off ☹️

I have informed UC and carers allowance of this and asked for them to send it back to me but don't know how long this will take 😬

Kimi87

If you returned the money to DWP Debt Management then it's them you need to speak to.

I'm not fully understanding how you are now "much worse off" but UC will deduct the Carers Allowance each and every month going forward.

Goldberry

I'm much worse off as I had 1000 now I have nothing

Rosie_Scope

Sorry to hear this has happened @Goldberry, it can be really confusing navigating these systems sometimes. It may be worth getting in contact with Debt management as Kimi mentions, to see if they can help in any way.

Will you manage this month if your payments are reduced? If you'll struggle to get by it may be worth contacting your council to see if there is any emergency funding available. Not every council will offer this but it could be something to look into.

Hope you're managing okay.

OverlyAnxious

Hi,

I accidentally sent too much to DWP debt management a couple of years ago. (UC sent me two letters with different amounts and I assumed I owed both instead of one being a recalculation).

Anyway, a few weeks later, they returned one to me, saying I'd overpaid the repayment. I didn't have to do anything to get the money back, they must have known exactly how much I owed. I'm sure timescales vary but hope that gives a rough idea.

Goldberry

Thanks for replying everyone. I spoke with Debt Management this morning and they are sending the money back

Rosie_Scope

That's great news @Goldberry. Hope it all comes through quickly and everything goes back to normal soon.