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Fraudulent claim or wrong address?

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niknak7278
niknak7278 Community member Posts: 85 Pioneering
in Universal Credit (UC)
I’m in receipt of a legacy benefit.  This morning a letter came in the post addressed to someone else at my address.

It was a notification from Universal Credit, informing the addressee that a named person had told them they were now caring for them so any extra benefits they received would be reduced etc.

I’ve already emailed a local welfare benefits advisor for help, as somehow my address is in their system.

The envelope it came in wasn’t a UC envelope, it was a brown DWP one with return address in Belfast.

Do these errors happen often?
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  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 54,018 Disability Gamechanger
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    HI,

    Are you sure it was from Universal Credit? They don't send any letters by post because it's all done through the journal. If you had said it was from somewhere like Carers Allowance, i would have said it could be either of the above.

    Errors can happen yes.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
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  • niknak7278
    niknak7278 Community member Posts: 85 Pioneering
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    Hi @poppy123456

    Thanks for that.

    The letter head states DWP and the sides state Universal Credit Full Service.

    It gives the UC website and telephone number but no full address.

    I noticed there’s no personal details like NI Number for the addressee either.

    All will be revealed tomorrow I guess.

    Thanks again.
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  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 54,018 Disability Gamechanger
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    Hmm that's a very odd letter and there's a few things that ring alarm bells to me.

    1/ There's no such thing as UC full service now because all areas are UC and new claims for the legacy benefits are no long possible. Full service areas used to exist when UC first started.

    2/ UC don't send written letters, it's all on the journal.

    3/ If a letter from DWP is received it always has the NI number on the letter.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
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  • niknak7278
    niknak7278 Community member Posts: 85 Pioneering
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    Hello @poppy123456

    THANKYOU!!  I really thought I was becoming paranoid over this.  Which is why I emailed for help.  I’m not even going to attempt to try and unravel this myself.
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  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 54,018 Disability Gamechanger
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    You're very welcome. I don't even know if DWP would tell you if there are any other live claims under your address.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
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  • niknak7278
    niknak7278 Community member Posts: 85 Pioneering
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    @poppy123456 Now that is a scary thought!
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  • niknak7278
    niknak7278 Community member Posts: 85 Pioneering
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    @poppy123456 so the letter refers to a live claim.  This is one time I’m really thankful none of the departments speak to each other as almost certainly would have impacted my DHP/HB.  Advisor is emailing UC dept head to confirm the residents at my address and ask them if they will refer themselves for the data breach or will he do the honours.  I stayed up past midnight Sunday to check the bank. So far so good.
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  • Ross_Alumni
    Ross_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,652 Disability Gamechanger
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    I'm glad the advisor is helping you with this @niknak7278, hopefully it can all be sorted soon :) 

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  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 54,018 Disability Gamechanger
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    Yes indeed and that's what i thought. What's very odd is that live claims no longer exist and haven't done for quite sometime.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
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  • niknak7278
    niknak7278 Community member Posts: 85 Pioneering
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    @poppy123456 okay that’s very strange.  Something else I thought was odd, I was told that the letter was to a child hence no NI number but back in 1995 when I applied for DLA for my 5 year old daughter she was issued with a number, have they stopped doing that now?
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  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 54,018 Disability Gamechanger
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    That's even more strange because it's impossible for a child to claim UC because it's a working age benefit. A child can't claim any benefits in their own right.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
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  • niknak7278
    niknak7278 Community member Posts: 85 Pioneering
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    @poppy123456 the letter is called UCDCE1
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  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 54,018 Disability Gamechanger
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    I have no idea what that is, sorry. I'd be very interested to know the outcome of this and would appreciate it if you could keep us updated, if you don't mind :)
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

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