DWP investigation
I had a scheduled Compliance interview yesterday with the DWP. My Mum died in March and her property was held in a trust that I was not part of and did not benifit from. Someone called the fraud helpline and told them I had money in a trust from Mum's estate. This is a spiteful vindictive act and a deformation of character. The interviewer accused me of having the money until he clearly understood my distress and now we have to send the trust documents and our bank statements. The call was anonymous but clearly someone who knew about the trust. It has severely affected my mental health and it's hard to have been accused of being a liar by the DWP. He said he was only doing his job but the way he did it was very distressing and I'm not sure whether I should complain. Whoever did this clearly aimed this at me not knowing how it would affect us as a couple.
Comments
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Hi @lizptsd, that sounds awful. Can I ask a bit more about the interview itself if that is okay? If you don't want to go over it I understand, but you say they outright accused you of having the money? How was this worded? Again if it's too much to go over then do not worry about it. I am glad they understood your distress and finally understood what was happening.
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Hi, He asked me if my Mother had died in May, I replied that she had died in March, he said I had money in a trust from her estate I said I didn't. He said I did. He didn't offer up any evidence as the phonecall received was obviously hearsay. I said the trust was in my 3 Brother's names and I wasn't included. He asked why I wasn't included and wasn't I bothered. I explained that we had had too much going on and that we didn't want anymore bother. He realised I was clearly distraught and then kept on apologising saying he was only doing his job.
We now have to send the trust documents and our bank statements. As this is deformation of character but by an anonymous caller to the fraud department we will never find out who did this. We have to send statements right back from January 2024.
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Hi, I've had a terrible time since the interview last Wednesday I'm not sleeping and my PTSD symptoms are really bad. My recall of the interview was a bit hazy when I posted last Thursday but the gist was he asked me if he could call me Elizabeth and then asked me about my Mother's Death and said I had the money in a trust. I said I didn't and then he said ' but Elizabeth you do'. He was aware of my my mental and physical health issues but this was done in a very intimidating manner and obviously false. We now have an idea of who made the phone call which is slander. I feel very dizzy and unwell my IBS is terrible and I feel more unsteady than before. I don't think I can cope with any scrutinising interviews after he receives the trust documents and bank statements. We haven't done anything wrong and surely he should have waited for evidence rather going on the callers accusations.
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Thank you it's just that we don't know whether to complain or not as to how it was handled. It's all such a mess. It's awful to think someone is out there revelling in our distress.
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Sorry to hear it's affecting you so much @lizptsd I know how badly stress can effect PTSD. If you feel you could manage to complain, I'd definitely think about doing so, that's a horrible situation to be put in and the DWP could've dealt with it much better.
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I don't know where to start as we know we should complain. I'm not feeling very strong at all but we know it will help others if we do. I don't know the process. I just don't want to feel like this the stress is affecting both of us. My Husbands diabetes is all over the place.
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If you wanted to put in a complaint, here's a link that'll talk you through the steps. Have you got anyone who could support you through it?
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We have a good friend who could support us. He started a Mental health support group due to the long wait for help from the NHS and Minds. He knows about what's been happening and we will approach him. Thank you for the link and as always thank you for all your support.
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This is a difficult situation because the people who genuinely are guilty will lie about it and pretend to be upset. The interviewers do need to be firm and forceful because they don't know who is lying and who is genuine. Their job is to work that out.
Personally I'm terrible with confrontation so I do appreciate how bad it makes people feel though I'm not sure there is any good to come from making a complaint. The interviewers can't be any less forceful and still do their job effectively. And if this was triggered by an anonymous phone call then they won't be able to interview or prosecute the caller either. It may be best just to draw a line under it and move on in this case. I know that's easier than said than done though.
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It's just awful for us both and we are not up for the scrutiny of how we spend our benefits . We had only just settled down after a terrible 3 years and finding out that they cannot give me surgery for my Cervical and Lumbar Stenosis. I've lost a great deal of feeling in my upper and lower limbs. Now someone malicious does this.
Can we ask for someone to support us if we are further interviewed as we would like someone to help us.
It really concerns me that the trust is a complicated legal document and could take ages to decipher, we haven't got a clue what it means only that we are not in it.
It's difficult enough with us both being disabled to have our quality of life poked into.
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Do you have a local disability advice service? They may be able to offer personal support for another interview.
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I'm going to look into it and also contact our Adult Disability Services for some advice. It's so hard having to go over everything again.
My mood hasn't been as dark as this for sometime.
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Thank you, we've spent all day printing off bank statements and photocopying the trust documents. It's cost a fortune in paper and printer inks, not to mention the special next day delivery costs to make sure it gets there on time. It was never taken in to consideration that I was grieving for my mum instead of thinking I'd profited from her death by inheriting thousands. No appolgy is enough.
Let's hope there is such a thing as karma.
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Thank you so much it's much appreciated by us both ♥️🥰
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Thank you again we will try 🙏♥️
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We have just sent the trust documents and our bank statements off. The compliance officer sent an envelope marked in confidence to him. Does anyone know how our documents will be handled as we certainly don't want our personal documents left on someone's desk or taken home.
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I'm not sure how documents are handled but I would hope that they are dealt with professionally and are kept secure in their office.
I'm so sorry to hear about your Mum, it must be so hard for you right now. I hope you're looking after yourself and have good support around you.
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I'm trying to look after myself and we have friends but it's been hard on us and a total invasion of our privacy. This all because someone malicious had something against me
I hope you are right about our documents.
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Put in a complaint lizptsd, you've got nothing to lose and they tend to sit up and take notice when they realise you're being serious. There's a very useful page on this by Shelter here:
Don't forget to mention how it made you feel, loss of dignity etc, it's all legitimate grounds for complaint.
If you try to do it online (the easiest way) and find you run out of space for words, use bullet points. That will also make it easier for them to focus on the main points.
I'm going through the fraud office system myself at the moment, everyone is apparently. What I can say is make you feel like you are a criminal and you need to prove your innocence. I wouldn't be at all surprised if they get a bonus for every person they can find "guilty". Also bear in mind they aren't correct sometimes. Eg I was accused of not declaring a grant by a charity even though you don't need to declare this as it's not classed as income and doesn't affect your benefit. The officer even told me that charity payments should be deducted from your benefit as its like a wage. So question when something doesn't seem right, they might just be plain wrong and so keen to find something at fault, they'll say almost anything to prove your "guilt".
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Thank you for the link. I'm so sorry you're going through the same thing. Surely a charity grant doesn't count.
We are going to complain and going to call the CAB tomorrow we want to check about the confidentiality situation especially as the trust documents are legal. Plus we want to have some support during any further interviews.
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