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Original poster

Received letter saying that I owe Universal Credit £19,000 - have never claimed

133 replies

Twitterwhooooo · 30/05/2022 18:57

Posting here for traffic.

I received a letter on Friday saying that I owed UC £19,000 in overpayments and if I don't pay they'll contact my employer/send bailiffs round.

I've never claimed UC. During the period they state (May 2020 and May 2021) was I self-employed, so claimed the SEIS grants as my income dropped. These were declared on my self-assessment form, of course.

Called number today and explained. The letter/info held on me is my correct name, address, NI number, DOB, phone etc. The woman I spoke to say that 'she'd make a note' and it took some pressing to get her to escalate it to Fraud but she doesn't know what their time frames are etc. She sounded very unconcerned.

Called UC who gave me another number to call, which I'll do tomorrow, as I couldn't keep taking phone calls at work.

It's either identity theft or a massive mistake. What do I do to escalate this? Do I call the police?

TIA

OP posts:
VanillaIce1 · 30/05/2022 21:47

@vegang You didn't need to in lockdown you had a telephone call which then once they spoke to you and listed what you said, you recieved an advance etc

PatAndFrank · 30/05/2022 21:48

Did you check the phone number in gov.uk first? Scammers use telephone numbers etc that are almost identical

Iliketeaagain · 30/05/2022 21:49

VanillaIce1 · 30/05/2022 21:42

There was a scam going around in lockdown where people took out universal credit claims in peoples names as you didn't need to really prove much. I know someone who was doing it and got caught. Thousands of people have been done contact the police and action fraud and it should be wrote off.

Yep - it happened to DH, got a letter saying he owed £2k in some sort of benefits claim.
We had never claimed anything except child benefit.
A couple of calls to DWP and then a discussion with their fraud dept, and apparently he wasn't the only one who it had happened to.

He did ask where the money had gone, worried that there had been a bank account set up in his name fraudulently, but apparently there just wasn't the usual checks done during covid and it happened to a lot of people, and it definitely hadn't gone in to his bank account.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Benefits
nearlyspringyay · 30/05/2022 21:52

It's a Scam. Don't cal the number again. Don't answer your phone to unknown numbers. No one owes UC 19k ffs.

ILoveAllRainbowsx · 30/05/2022 21:56

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55334247

Original poster
Twitterwhooooo · 30/05/2022 22:10

Thank you all.

Just to clarify, it's not a scam. The phone number is the DWP Debt Management line 100%.

OP posts:
Original poster
Twitterwhooooo · 30/05/2022 22:18

Good point re Government Gateway.

Just logged in. Only records are relating to my self-employment eg tax returns.

Thanks again all. Will get on case first thing tomorrow.

OP posts:
Bryonny84 · 30/05/2022 22:18

The DWP are a bloody nightmare to deal with and they will assume you're guilty until you prove otherwise. DO NOT deal with them over the phone - they delete recorded phone calls to suit them "we don't record them all". Of course you don't! Get everything in writing - buys you time as well. They accused me of fraudulently claiming tax credits, even though I didn't. They cocked up and blamed me. Don't accept any blame and dispute everything. They hounded me for 15 years, put me in the debt collectors 3 times, threatened me with all sorts but I refused to give in and I won.

Stay calm, do not let this get to you as you know you've done nothing wrong. Get advice and admit to nothing, no matter how much DWP bully you. Good luck with it.

Mummapenguin20 · 30/05/2022 22:21

This is scary

Gorjus · 30/05/2022 22:22

Sadly OP, you're not alone, as these articles show:
BBC The One Show
Stop hounding victims of universal credit fraud, DWP told
DWP issues apology to victim of universal credit fraud after the Law Centre takes on her case

If you contact Citizens Advice, ask if they can refer you to a specialist, who can help you dispute liability. Your local law centre may be able to help.

Gorjus · 30/05/2022 22:26

Sorry, for some reason the labels for my links have been shrunk and I can't edit my post! Contact Citizens Advice here.

Oblomov22 · 30/05/2022 22:35

Good luck OP. I have cases with DWP and HMRC atm, both in the worst mess I've seen for years.

Original poster
Twitterwhooooo · 30/05/2022 22:50

I know I've done nothing wrong, but I cannot afford to lose 20% of my next pay packet to service a debt that isn't mine.

I will contact CAB as well tomorrow.

OP posts:
3luckystars · 30/05/2022 22:53

Good luck.

twoandcooplease · 30/05/2022 23:00

That's just it @Twitterwhooooo. They're quick to say you're due them money but ime trying to get money back they're due you is a lot harder
I hope you get it fixed before any deductions are made

AntiHop · 30/05/2022 23:11

That's awful op.

Do you have an external post box? If you do, someone might have been stealing your letters to steal your identity.

Dibbydoos · 30/05/2022 23:23

My DD received a similar letter. I wrote a very stroppy response back and sent it to them in Wolverhampton. No response yet. I reminded then that whilst she did claim UC for around 8 months, they paid her c£200 every 4 weeks and £200 towards her £650 pcm rent, so in fact owe her £350pcm x 8 and that they could deposit that money into her bank account.

My DD was suicidal for months due to the fact she had no money for anything and was building up massive debts - she was 19 and ended up living on her own for her own safety based on police advice. She borrowed money from me to cover the costs.

She relocated to the Isle of Man to be closer to her BF and no longer receives any support (rent now £950pcm) so is still borrowing from me. But at least once she'd settled in her mental health improved and she's no longer suicidal, but still has CFS and global anxiety disorder plus a couple of yet to be diagnosed issues.

DWP is fd up just like every other government service is - clearly their staff could not work remotely and are now refusing to return to the office where they can work. It's shocking and an absolute disgrace.

I would recommend writing to them and getting proof of postage ir receipt.

Misunderestimated · 30/05/2022 23:43

If you're in Essex, someone in HR at a care business owned by the count y council applied for covid loans using innocent individuals details - as she was in HR, she had access to DOB, NI, home address details etc.

www.thesun.co.uk/news/13181109/catfish-boss-covid-business-fraud/

CherryRipe1 · 31/05/2022 01:20

It's dreadful what is going on and the terrible stress it puts people under having to prove they are innocent.

Sushi7 · 31/05/2022 03:48

Twitterwhooooo · 30/05/2022 20:19

I don't know how much UC is, but £19,000 in a year seems very high.

This is an insane amount of money. So many people who work full time earn this amount (before tax, so they end up with less). That’s over £1500 a month. If this is normal then I feel like a mug for working!

I hope you sort this out soon OP. Hopefully it’s a UC error and not a scammer pretending to be UC.

BarbaraofSeville · 31/05/2022 04:51

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2ZgN3fXkZ1hVhw80BkSndtQ/department-for-work-and-pensions

The above link looks like it has some useful information in about which department to ask for at DWP and what should happen when you call them, providing it works of course.

Isaidnoalready · 31/05/2022 06:41

Sushi7 · 31/05/2022 03:48

This is an insane amount of money. So many people who work full time earn this amount (before tax, so they end up with less). That’s over £1500 a month. If this is normal then I feel like a mug for working!

I hope you sort this out soon OP. Hopefully it’s a UC error and not a scammer pretending to be UC.

Show quote history

London rents are high that's why they get a higher allowance in London so it's possible most of this is fake rent

MargotMoon · 31/05/2022 07:01

This is an insane amount of money. So many people who work full time earn this amount (before tax, so they end up with less). That’s over £1500 a month. If this is normal then I feel like a mug for working!

Standard allowance for a couple £525
Housing element £450 (2 bed house in my city)
2 child element £530

It's not that much for a couple with 2 children renting a house - how much would you need for your family to live on if you and your partner both got made redundant? Don't you remember how many businesses went under during the pandemic? Was everyone supposed to be left to starve?

ml3jp · 31/05/2022 07:11

This should all get resolved but I understand how stressful it must be for you. I reiterate the suggestion to write back to DWP debt management so something is on file. Another useful thing to do is make a subject access request, asking UC to provide all the information they hold on you. They have one month to respond. It is easy to do online and shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes.

Ferngreen · 31/05/2022 07:16

This must be an example of the 4.9bn fraudulently claimed during covid.