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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:
TheDoveFromAboveCooCoo · 31/05/2022 07:16

We have just gone through the same but a smaller amount of money £1500.

Lots of calls to DWP fraud department to say we had never claimed UC! Eventually they checked bank details which obviously didn't match ours. That was January and we just got a letter last week to say they accepted it was fraud and we don't owe them anything.

Just keep pushing with the fraud department.

Mercedes519 · 31/05/2022 07:24

More likely a system error. When you joined PAYE with your info some system would have matched it against what was already in there. Possibly only on one bit of data like NI number. It would have then connected your PAYE with the UC claim.

The woman on the phone is looking at your account so of course all your data is there. Someone needs to look at the history of it to see the details of the linked accounts and see if they match on any other details.

Hope you get it sorted OP. I also feel for the poor person who was claiming UC legitimately and has now essentially ‘disappeared’ from the system and is no longer getting any benefits and can’t pay their rent.

Mindymomo · 31/05/2022 07:42

I hope you get this sorted. Like a previous poster I would also write to the Debt Management Company and the DWP.

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Then you might like threads about this subject:

Benefits
Original poster
Twitterwhooooo · 31/05/2022 08:41

Thanks all.

I called again this morning, person much more helpful. She confirmed that there have been a lot of cases like this, that a hold has been put on any action happening until it's been investigated by the Fraud/Stolen Identity team. They will call me apparently. They do have record of my call from yesterday.

I called UC but got kicked off after being on hold for 10 mins. I don't think there's anything to be gained by pursuing UC dept, as the letter comes from Debt Management dept.

I'll call every couple of days until they contact me, as I don't trust that the message 'do not take any action at the moment' will have got through the whole system.

But feeling less anxious about it - thanks all.

OP posts:
IsobelElsie123 · 31/05/2022 18:12

Really helpful response

Louzzan · 31/05/2022 18:26

I have worked directly with the fraud squad before both here and in Italy. The first thing they tell you is to not phone any number re cases which may be fraudulent. Everything needs to be done in writing even if it takes longer. Calls can be denied. Wishing you lots of luck.

Grrrrdarling · 31/05/2022 19:02

Twitterwhooooo · 30/05/2022 20:19

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

That will be the monthly payments plus an advance or two! UC isn’t £19,000 a year.

The potential fraud has happened at the point the UC claim was created.
It could be as simple as someone has entered the wrong digit of someones NIN meaning the debt has been tagged to you instead of the actual person it belongs too.
If you get no joy, although reading the comments you may have found a helpful & trained person at DWP, contact your local MP. They have some clout when it comes to supporting the constituents with things like this.

WotsitsMadeIn1927 · 31/05/2022 19:22

would you be able to show bank statements to reflect this money hasn’t been paid to you?

Motorina · 31/05/2022 19:24

That's a brilliant update!

I would follow it up with a letter saying basically, "On date whatever I phoned regarding... you said... Please update me if the situation changes". Basically creating a record of the phone call.

EvilPea · 31/05/2022 19:29

Anything council tax, HMRC, UC related I follow up in writing, either email or signed for letter just confirming the call contents.
I’ve had to use it more then once sadly, once in court.

Insanelysilver · 31/05/2022 19:47

I’d write to them and include a copy of the letter presumably from them, demanding money and check it’s not a sophisticated scam. I’m probably stating the obvious but don’t give any of your bank details over the phone.
We were almost the victims of a very sophisticated scam a couple of years ago. The info they had on us was terrifying!

toastofthetown · 31/05/2022 19:49

Do you have a relatively common name? My husband got a letter from a debt collection agency on behalf of the courts for something he was totally unaware of. Many calls (and lots of stress!) later it turned out the the person who hadn't paid the initial fine shared the same name and date of birth with my husband. They use DVLA to track people they found him there at our address and started threatening bailiffs! It took a few weeks to resolve, but they put the case on hold as they looked into it.

IsabelHerna · 31/05/2022 20:06

I think it's a scam

LilacPoppy · 31/05/2022 20:16

@Grrrrdarling and other , unsure why you think UC isn’t £19k a year? Close relative gets £48k annually it’s tax credits so will be higher when migrated over as the rent element won’t come from housing benefit anymore. Before anyone starts frothing she and her dc have significant disabilities and it includes childcare costs as her partner works.

Hmm1234 · 31/05/2022 20:25

Can report to dwp fraud line it’s probably a scam

FoggySpecs · 31/05/2022 20:27

I would contact the BBC's Money box, get them on the case

yesthatisdrizzle · 31/05/2022 20:33

Hmm1234 · 31/05/2022 20:25

Can report to dwp fraud line it’s probably a scam

The OP has already done that - see their update today.

gianaInfertilitySucks · 31/05/2022 20:40

if it's not a scam it's surely a mistake. Can you book an appointment to speak to someone in person?

IWishIHadNotDoneIt · 31/05/2022 21:07

This happened to my DS2. Long story but he didnt get any money from his UC claim. He then received a letter saying he had been over paid. It did take a while to sort but the person who claimed in his name had his address, DOB etc. DS2 lives at home and is single. Fraudster has a wife and 2 children. Bank accounts didn't match. After an attachment of earning order was in place and deductions were being made from DS2, it was sorted. DS2 had to provide bank statements and payslips and eventually got a full refund. Good luck OP

scoobydoo1971 · 31/05/2022 22:33

I was a victim of identity fraud about 20 years ago. I only discovered when doing a credit check ahead of a mortgage application. I realised that applications had been made for loans, mortgages and bank accounts using details of my husband and myself. It turned out to be tenants in a house we used to rent before we moved to our first house purchase. They had tried to get credit to the tune of around £200k but they lacked my date of birth so it failed. It was quite sophisticated and they had generated fake drivers licences in our names. I had to contact various banks as I could see a fraud alert stamp on our credit files alerting lenders to ask us for further ID etc. If you do a credit check, then you can see if this is just an issue with the DWP or part of a bigger problem.

Cmx · 31/05/2022 23:14

I used to work for UC (before anyone jumps on my case I don’t anymore!)
I will say though is I have seen a fair share of these cases.

If the UC account was set up using your email address and mobile phone number then you may wish to look closer to home as someone would need access to your email to actually set up claim (claim won’t proceed without email verification)
If was set up using a different email address and phone number most likely fraud!

the reason why it will have flagged to the agent is because HMRC report any earnings for a person under their NI which gets sent to UC - if you recently made change from S/E to PAYE that is UC being notified of previous earnings that has affected that claim which they did not know of at the time meaning the claim was overpaid (whoever made the claim that is)

prior comments has said UC don’t have a clue but 9/10 when you call UC you get a telephony agent rather than someone who is able to deep dive your case!

a fraud referral will have been raised but be aware this takes a lot of time from a - b and won’t be a few days.

Hope this helped ❤️

Supermum29 · 31/05/2022 23:18

Knowing dwp it’s likely an error. I informed them of changes, all fine then 2 years later they decide I owe them money, despite not claiming for 2 years. I don’t even think they know what they’re doing which is why the sound confused when you call them. It’s like they make it up as they go along. Hope you get it sorted op and that it’s just a simple over sight on their behalf!

Jas5mum · 31/05/2022 23:34

I have 5 kids but only get paid for 4 and get housing costs and my UC comes to £15k a year so I don't understand how you'd get £19k in 1 year. I used to advise people on UC. Its not exactly straightforward to apply for with checks and security Qs and ID etc.
Sounds like someone has messed up at DWP. Hopefully you can sort it tomorrow.

Mamanyt · 31/05/2022 23:45

I just went through this, although on a smaller scale. They had my personal info, and insisted that the money had been directly deposited. Thankfully, I have all my bank records saved on my computer for the last 12 years (I generally keep 7 years, but got lazy, thank goodness). Pulled up the time in question...no deposit. Told the person I was speaking with, "LOOK...I'm looking at my bank statements. There are no deposits for that time from you. Tell you what, you sue me, and I'll show up with my bank records." That was the end of it.

LargeLegoHaul · 31/05/2022 23:47

Jas5mum · 31/05/2022 23:34

I have 5 kids but only get paid for 4 and get housing costs and my UC comes to £15k a year so I don't understand how you'd get £19k in 1 year. I used to advise people on UC. Its not exactly straightforward to apply for with checks and security Qs and ID etc.
Sounds like someone has messed up at DWP. Hopefully you can sort it tomorrow.

@Jas5mum You could easily get £19pa in UC, for example:

Standard Element £525.72

Housing element £600

First Child £290

Second Child £244.58

Your claim cannot be correct unless you are repaying debt because if the standard element is the lowest one at £265.31 and all DC were born on or after the 6/4/17 that’s 244.58 x4 which is very nearly £15k without any housing element.