The DWP are going with failure to disclose

bonniebohemian

F A O mikehughescq Because he really seems to know his stuff, but also any help much appreciated
the dwp  are going with failure to disclose and are basing their case on the fact that they sent the claimant leaflets (no evidence seen in claimants house) the claimant could not read and this would appear to have been accepted by the dwp as they had previously sent
staff to fill in review forms...... the claimant was registered blind also but this was later in life

this is a synopsis, to put the whole saga on here, including the catalogue of errors the dwp would take some doing......i hope i can have some feedback ....this is making me very ill

The overpayment was pension credit.....which was based on a form completed on claimants behalf 3 YEARS prior (2000).......then they just swapped the man onto pension credit (2003) without checking his entitlement was still the same.......sent him leaflets (so they say) for 20 years that he could not read ....you couldnt make it up

woodbine

@bonniebohemian hi and welcome to scope this is way above my pay grade, but i'm sure mike will try and help when he sees this.

bonniebohemian

thank you so much for the acknowledgement, feels so good not to be on my own anymore

bonniebohemian

Wow thank you so much that has given me some food for thought. Its the RFE people that i am dealing with.
My late father was the claimant and he could not read and lived alone. I did not see any letters or leaflets ever in his house. I am (or was) very unfamiliar with benefits so it never registered as its all electronic now. I see it as ......we know you cant read as we sent staff to do form for you in 2000, three years later we swap you electronically onto another benefit based on that form in 2000....... then we leave you alone completely for two decades (send you (apparently) leaflets that you cant read)........then claim to have given you clear unambiguous directions about disclosure......how can that possibly be right........

bonniebohemian

what wrong with call the midwife.......

bonniebohemian

Hello Mike, a short one this time, what's the chances of them having all the leaflet versions from 2003 to 2018? Thanks in advance

bonniebohemian

this is for anyone that has a possible answer.......i received a DWP form ( AT39 gen) from the appeal courts on the front of a submission...... not annotated in the usual way.   it has in bold print across the top       Do not copy this form to the appellant or representative.......... now i have limited legal knowledge but i know  things are meant to be transparent, and I am not supposed to have info withheld from me, and this forms would suggest that some information is withheld......confused.com

bonniebohemian

Hello me again, i really don't want to be a pest but i have some knowledge regarding time constraints within local gov..........would knowing about an overpayment for five months before taking action be outside of time constraints ie an error? anyone shine any light for me .......thanks

Peter99

Hi Mike
Let say if DWP knows about o/p in October 2018 but continued paying benefits until December 2020 and then made the decision on recoverability in June 2020. Is the o/p recoverable?
My second question is what date did Mandatory Reconsideration came into law for legacy housing benefit appeals that were administered by the local authority. 
Many Thanks 

bonniebohemian

thank you mike, you are a great source of info..............am i reading right...............they can find out they are overpayin a 98 year old and continue to do so for six months without letting him know, while waiting for him to die, then go to appeal court and lie and lie and lie again in submissions about when they found out........eventually when they cant lie anymore becuse they have been caught they say ........oh erm we accepted we knew six months before.....we knock a bit more off.........how about talking to the claimant when he was alive, he would have had a legal right to appeal it himself, or maybe pay it himself..........how can it be legal for them to know and continue paying for 6 months and spend three years seven months lying about it.........surely i should go to the press with this........it is unbelieable

bonniebohemian

i really need a barrister, a good one

bonniebohemian

oh yes update re the confusing leaflets that  they sent to the illiterate man held up................he should have told them something he did not know about, ......its ok for them to know and do nothing but not ok for dad to not know and do nothing..........what a system.......if my dad was spanish would they sent him leaflets in hungarian?......they had accepted he couldnt read but sent him literature that he couldn't understand.......this all made me really poorly in the head

AndrewHall

Username_removed said:

Nobody needs a barrister here. The law is simple. In most cases DWP cannot recover for a period during which a declaration prior representation had been successfully made. However, there are exceptions to that and thus the key word is most.

Mike, 
What are the exception in which DWP would be able to recover overpayments even when prior disclosure has been made.  Ta

bonniebohemian

Are the dwp allowed to lie in court submission papers, because they have numerous times, and they are rewarded for this not punished, funny old justice system. I am now going thru the complaints procedure. May the force be with me. thanks tho Mike