Pension Credit what could happen next?
racyguy
Community member Posts: 560 Empowering
As I have said earlier the DWP have now closed my claim down but are still wanting to know what my income was for the past two years.
Admittingly I believe that there might be a small overpayment of benefit, maybe a £100 or so. I am not putting myself through the work that they are expecting from me (copies of bank statements, schedules of what my private pensions have been on a monthly basis, even down to a £1 Premium Bond that was bought for me in 1950 from which I have never won anything)
As I do not now have a live claim and have no intention of starting up a new one despite the loss of £50 a week payment plus all of the other financial advantages such as no Council Tax rebate etc, what is the very worst that they can do to me?
Admittingly I believe that there might be a small overpayment of benefit, maybe a £100 or so. I am not putting myself through the work that they are expecting from me (copies of bank statements, schedules of what my private pensions have been on a monthly basis, even down to a £1 Premium Bond that was bought for me in 1950 from which I have never won anything)
As I do not now have a live claim and have no intention of starting up a new one despite the loss of £50 a week payment plus all of the other financial advantages such as no Council Tax rebate etc, what is the very worst that they can do to me?
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Comments
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woodbine said:Well they will demand repayment of the overpayment and rightly so, I don't see why you think you have a choice in providing what they have asked for how can they work out the overpayment is £100 or £1000 if you don't.?
There could be a civil penalty but only if fraud was involved.
So the worst that they can do is fine me? I presume prison is not an option they have or maybe a prosecution in the Magistrates Court?
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Username_removed said:Plenty of reasons that debt can go up exponentially if you don’t co-operate. See https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/398189/penalties-policy.pdf
What they are now asking is so over the top that due to both physical and mental health issues it is difficult for me to comply.
Having already had the above documents they are demanding that I get monthly 'payslips' which I never receive) for the 6 pensions over the past 2 years. A total of 144 payslips from 6 different companies.
Then they also want bank statements cover the previous 2 years for two accounts that are joint (current and savings) along with those account solely in my wife's name (current and two savings accounts)
In addition they want sight of a £1 premium bond that was bought for me in 1950 ( I have no idea what the reference number is or at what address it was last registered at )
There certainly is no question of exceeding the capital limits (£10,000). At best guess our total capital level has never exceeded £6000 across all of the accounts.
Surely I cannot be the only person who finds this level of work difficult due to health issues? If I am, how do others cope? Is it normal for the DWP in a Compliance Review to request this level of information?
The DWP do have the resources by contacting HMRC for pension payments on a weekly/monthly basis and are able to contact the banks for statements.
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I should also have mentioned that this week is the 4th time of not receiving my £50 Pension Credit payment. As the DWP have closed down the claim and when they eventually realise that the amount of overpaid benefit amounts to less that say £60 and realise that my pension credit should be £49 a week would they (a) deduct the overpayment out of the 'missing' payments and (b) pay me the rest of the lost payments?0
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Your claim was closed because you didn't send them what they asked for, so there's nothing further for them to pay you from the date your claim ended. If there's any overpayment you will need to arrange to pay that back.
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poppy123456 said:Your claim was closed because you didn't send them what they asked for, so there's nothing further for them to pay you from the date your claim ended. If there's any overpayment you will need to arrange to pay that back.
That's what I thought would be the answer. I have just been reading that it is estimated by AgeUK that 50% (360,000) of couples and that single pensioners 37% (840,000) are not claiming their entitlement to Pension Credit. I really do wonder why given the experience that I am going through.
Make that 360,001 now.0 -
Everything that I have been reading on websites says that they should have simply put a halt on further payments and not terminated the claim.0
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If your claim has closed then you'll need ro reclaim. Only they can tell you whether it's closed or suspended. I thought in a previous comment you said you weren't going to claim again.
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poppy123456 said:If your claim has closed then you'll need ro reclaim. Only they can tell you whether it's closed or suspended. I thought in a previous comment you said you weren't going to claim again.
I feel like I am in the middle of a tv farce programme.
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I agree that is a little extreme. If the claim is now closed there won't be any money to owe you, as advised.
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poppy123456 said:I agree that is a little extreme. If the claim is now closed there won't be any money to owe you, as advised.
I agree, no claim, no money. I am happy with that and not having the Pension Service breathing down my neck every month. However this comes at a price of losing my 100% Council Tax benefit (it was previously given on the back of the Pension Credit award according to the Council) . So now the next problem is trying work out how I am going to be able to pay the Council £40 a week out of a £50 a week reduced income. Still these things come to try you.0 -
racyguy said: ... this comes at a price of losing my 100% Council Tax benefit ..0
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Username_removed said:It is correct to say that a failure to supply evidence in connection with a claim should lead to a suspension not a closure but that’s generally at the outset of a claim.Once a claim is live they can suspend if a question arises about entitlement. Once that question is resolved payment either resumes or ends. As you were asked to supply information to aid with that resolution and did not do so they have legitimately closed the claim.What you ought to have done is challenged the reasonableness of the request for information as they can only request information which could be reasonably obtained within a reasonable time. As the claim is now closed that becomes exponentially harder. You could do a late MR but PC will likely argue you’re trying to MR a decision to close rather than the decision to request the specific info. They will likely be wrong but you will have a fight on your hands in which you will likely have to head to tribunal.At some point the penny will drop that just writing back and saying what you could and could not provide and why would have likely kept the claim open and saved all this hassle.You are also correct in saying that take-up of Pension Credit is low. It’s an area I have some expertise in and I can assure you that the scenario you describe is not one of the reasons why. Your scenario could have been wholly avoided by seeking advice at the appropriate juncture.As it is, claim over. As PC decide to pursue a recoverable overpayment you would, ironically, need to provide exactly the info. you have decided to not provide and each time you fail to do so another admin. penalty.
I had no idea that I could have challenged their request as being reasonable given the health issues.
I will certainly cover myself and put in a MR on that basis. If it does end up at a Tribunal then I will let the court have all of the relevant evidence of health and consequential inabilities. Tribunals don't worry me at all.
It looks to me that the best way for me is to do the MR and then if they decide to request the info again, tell them that they are being unreasonable in their request not just because I will find it difficult but that they surely cannot expect all of the payslips and bank statements within the same period of time which was 30 days? I will eventually be in the hands of the Post Office as well as how fast the companies will act. As for the £1 Premium Bond I have no information about it. The last time I saw the small counterfoil was when I moved into my own place 50 years ago!
Thankyou for the advice
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calcotti said:racyguy said: ... this comes at a price of losing my 100% Council Tax benefit ..
Sorry but I must laugh, not at you or your comments but at what the council will want from me.
If I was able to get hold of and had all of that information then it would have been sent to the Pension Service in the first place. Then, and I presume that the council would work like the Pension Service and want me to tell them of all of the changes as they happen even if it is 10p along with the same documentary evidence, weekly/monthly bank statements, monthly payslips etc ?
It was the council way back in time (2011) that kept pestering me to claim Pension Credit as the figures that they were using clearly showed that I was entitled.0 -
racyguy said: Well something else I have learned although the council did not explain it that way to me.0
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calcotti said:racyguy said: Well something else I have learned although the council did not explain it that way to me.0
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Username_removed said:Not sure what you mean about doing an MR based on health issues. Your only argument is that the evidence request itself and the time-scale was not reasonable. Health doesn’t come into that. Needs to be understood that now the claim is closed this is a very long shot.
Interested to note your Council encouraged a PC claim. Few did. Mind if I ask which? I’ll understand if you don’t wish to disclose.0 -
UPDATE
Had another missive today from the Pension Service -DWP Jobcentre politely asking me to fill out two consent forms so as to allow them to ask our banks to send them copies of the bank statements going back to 2019
They, the Pension Service, are being very nice about it!
As I no longer have a live Pension Credit claim in place why are they asking my permission to access our banks? I can fully understand if they had come up with an overpayment figure way above what is due and then leave it to me to either pay it or appeal it. By appealing it it would be my responsibility to prove that their estimated figures are wrong by my having to send them printed copies of the statements as evidence.
Most surprised that threatening letters have not yet been sent in accordance with what Mike [removed by moderator] said would happen - fines on top of fines on top of fines for not co-operating with them.
As I have said before I now have a quiet and stress free life without the Pension Service continually hounding me.0 -
Teddybear12 said:Hi @racyguy The DWP Pension Service are not going to let this be. At some stage you are going to have to supply what they are asking for.
Will wait and see what the next development is.
For the first time I have felt relieved after 12 years of non stop aggravation from them. First claim made 2010 terminated by them in 2012 resulting in a Tribunal hearing - lost. New claim made 2013 with an investigation in 2019 (2016 to 2019) - went to a Tribunal and won September 2021 - they could not collect the £500 overpayment. October 2021 another investigation started resulting in my cancelling the claim but still hounding me for the period 2019 to 2021.0 -
racyguy said:Teddybear12 said:Hi @racyguy The DWP Pension Service are not going to let this be. At some stage you are going to have to supply what they are asking for.
They will continue to do so until you send them what they've requested from you.
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poppy123456 said:
They will continue to do so until you send them what they've requested from you.
The question really is what are they allowed to do?
The amount involved as a potential over payment would amount to under £100. But then I would claim a set off for having had the Pension Credit being reduced by £1 a week for having a non existing excess of savings over £10,000 since September 2020.
At worst case scenario that would result in a net overpayment for the period of £35!
Would they want to escalate the issue to a full blown fraud case - I don't think so.
On the alternative they are actually saving £50 a week that they should be paying me if I had a live claim.0
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