PIP mix up and mental health

sarah81

Hi i had my f2f of nov last year only heard back last week.Thats nearly a year later the stress i have been under has made my mental health horrific.So anyway i was delighted to have a letter sayin i was owed over £2,500 i was over joyed as i have had to use food banks owe creditors etc to then get a letter a week later to say i was not going to be getting any of it as they have took it off overpaid tax credits which was due to them not puttin in being married etc over 2 years ago which i had agreed to pay bk monthly on my uc which has been happening ever since.
We had it lowered as we were struggling to live and had to use food banks.
Is their anything i can do as i had told other creditors i could start paying them monthly after xamont was paid out of my backdated money so i would actually be clearing my debt rather than just the interest.My mental health and my copd etc have gone through the roof.
Any help or advice would be appreciated.i feel like im at breaking point .
Thank you.

Chloe_Scope

Hi @sarah81 and welcome to the community! I am sorry to hear about this, it must be really frustrating and upsetting for you! I hope you find the community a supportive network so please do get involved.

I would recommend contacting citizens advice as they may have more information about where you stand. I wish  you the very best of luck and please do let us know how you get on

becky12

Hi 

sarah81

Hi all and thank you.I got intouch with cab and apparently they can do that without your permission.Really upset and down you wait nearly a year of stress for them to take it all away xx

Chloe_Scope

Hi @sarah81, I am sorry you are feeling so upset about this. Is there anything that the community can do to help?

sarah81

I am not really sure as i moved from englanf to the highlands in nov last year so still feel like im new and as i really go out due to my health getting worse i feel like a stranger of my former self ive put on weight i was very active and used gym i worked now i cant i can barely walk the stairs since my last stint in hospital last week for lung infection.Found cracked rib n suspected copd so got a referal to respiratory clinic next week.X

Yadnad

sarah81 said:

So anyway i was delighted to have a letter saying I was owed over £2,500...…...  then get a letter a week later to say i was not going to be getting any of it as they have took it off overpaid tax credits which was due to them 

That to me sounds reasonable. Like any business, bank etc if you owe them money and that you have a large deposit with them it would seem right that they should use that money to set off against the debt.
Are you suggesting that you be allowed to continue to pay off the debt on a weekly/monthly basis and expect the government to give you the back dated PIP money?

Chloe_Scope

Hi @sarah81, it sounds like you have had an eventful few weeks. The community is here for support

mikehughescq

You need to do a mandatory reconsideration and then an appeal ASAP. Tax Credit overpayments are automatically recoverable but not from PIP.

Yadnad

mikehughescq said:

You need to do a mandatory reconsideration and then an appeal ASAP. Tax Credit overpayments are automatically recoverable but not from PIP.

That surprises me though. Arrears of Council Tax for example are recoverable from PIP when setting out a Statement of Income & Expenditure - Your PIP payments are included as income as are payments from Attendance Allowance..

mikehughescq

You include them in a financial statement. That’s not the same as DWP or HMRC being allowed to make deductions from them.

Yadnad

Don't HMRC now have much wider reaching powers so as to attack any income source so as to get the money to pay the debt or extract the money without prior notification from savings, bank account etc?

mikehughescq

Nope. 

All here.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-request-deductions-from-benefit-a-guide-for-creditors

Yadnad

mikehughescq said:

Nope. 

All here.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-request-deductions-from-benefit-a-guide-for-creditors

But is this not the case:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/220243/recovery-hmrc-debt.pdf

mikehughescq

Well that’s a document so far out of date it refers to Family Credit. You’ll also see in the annotations at the bottom of the page that recovery is confined to means-tested benefits. Never been able to recover a penny from disability related benefits.

Yadnad

OK I am convinced.
Just seems a tad bit unusual that the poster owes money to the government (HMRC) in one hand and is expecting  a large back payment from the same (DWP) and there is no way that this can be set off. 
I suppose the alternative is to bank the DWP payment and draw a cheque made payable to HMRC for the same amount.
 Doubt that the poster will want to do that especially if HMRC are forced into accepting a small monthly repayment.

mikehughescq

Sadly DWP are now regularly disregarding the law as it stands. Thus lump sum recovery of historic overpayments from Universal Credit. Can’t do it. Doesn’t seem to stop them

Chloe_Scope

Hi everyone, please be mindful of others situation and they just want the best for themselves and to get what they deserve. The community is a place to get support about what possible options are available. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help.