Bloody F***ing Pensions Credits, inompetent F***wits

[boringnickname]

I posted about this a few weeks back.

My mum received a letter from the pensions credits people saying they wanted to review her beneits between 2005 and 2010. So i phoned them up and said to hold off beause my mother is ill. Told them that there had been no change in her income during that time. Was told they should have reviewed in 2009 but it was overlooked .

Have been fully open with them in the past with regards to how much my mother receives from my late fathers occupational pension.

Have made a complaint, received a letter today saying that they are sorry that the review didn't take place but they have not taken into account the railway pension my mother will have received since my dad pased away when calculating her pensions credits.

This to me, means she has been receiving too much money for 8 years and not only does this mean she is going to have a drastic fall in income but they are going to try and recoup the money that has been paid to her and reduce her benefits even more :(

WTAF??? We sent all the apporpriate paperwork off when my father died as this would have changed the amount of PCs she was entitled to anyway - so if they were unaware of the railway pension that is their mistake not my mother trying to with-hold information.

Am considering whether she is going to need legal advice? My mother is 75 years old, in poor health, has a medical condition that means she is "physically" as opposed to just mentally, unable to deal with stress and it can be extremely dangerous for her. She has just got over some horrible tests etc following a cancer scare and is still unwell from this.

How the hell do i tell her that her money is potentially going to be all but stopped? Surely they can't do this? Its their fuck up.

Of course is she is receiving too much then the amount she gets will have to be reduced i realise this, but with regards to back pay, we are talking 8 years - this could amount to thousands of pounds This could kill my mother

anyone?

No advice, bumping thread till someone comes along with any for you.

I would contact age uk who give benefits advice for pensioners before you contact pension credits again. IF they are no use then contact CAB. Also gather as much information about your mother's income as you can for the last 8 years.

If your mother cannot cope with the stress at the moment can you get her to write a letter to pension credits advising them that she is authorising you to deal with her affairs and can all letters be sent to your address (am not sure whether they can redirect the letters but you can try).

Hi, my dad had something very similar to this. Sent in all the paperwork, mistake made at their end, overpayments and then claw back. My dad fought it all the way but to avail.

Anyway, he repays the debt at some minute amount as it can't impact too heavily on my parents standard of living. Try not to worry. I know it's hard but if you really press that your mother cannot be disadvantaged then the repayment amount should hopefully be reduced to a very minimal level, and spread over a very long period.

Its your mothers responsibility to ensure she is paying the correct tax/benefits. Illness is no excuse I'm afraid.

(good to hear it was just a scare, BTW).

Did she fill in a Pension coding form when her DH passed away detailing ALL pensions etc? Do you have a copy of it?

As Familyguyfan says, repayment of overpayment can be negotiated down to a piddling amount in many cases, over many years.

If your mother has been taking 10k+ per year in pensions, then she may well owe tax. Maybe quite a lot if the railway pension is big.

She did all that she was instructed to do when my father died, so as far as her responsibility lies, she fulfilled it. So no excuses. Incompetence is no excuse for the pensions credit department for fucking up, but i dont suppose that matters .

I don't have copies of that form, if she filled it in, but it was 8 years ago so im not entirely sure why i would remember.

The pension from the railways is no where near 10k so at least they wont be scamming her for the tax as well.

I have asked for them to transfer responsibility to me, they say i have to have an interview to see if i am eligable? i mean FFS, im her daughter, what more do they want?

Am so sorry for u, what a worry, echo others advice and contact citizens advice or perhaps age concern??

iirc You can claim that if they have had the information or access to it (ie via a shared computer system with another dept such as HMRC) they cannot reclaim money paid by their error - it is a particular reference but can't recall it at the mo. Don't think they can go back as far as 8 years either. Try moneysavingexpert forum for specific info.

Thanks everyone for the advice LIZS yes, they clearly have had access to the Railway pension information as they have quoted the ref number etc in a request to approach them for further particulars. The pension in itself is minimal but will no doubt affect the amount of pension credit my mother is entitled to. I think i will ring age concern first thing tomorrow morning before i ring the idiots from the pension credits. I will NOT have my mother penalised for thier incompetence. Whilst i do konw that the onus is on my mother to inform them of any changes when my father passed away, im pretty sure she would have done so, or i would have done so on her behalf. The trouble is that i had a breakdown when my father died and cannot remember ANYTHING that happened during that time. I wrote a PhD thesis and have no recall of it whatsover either. I would have sorted the benefits out im sure, there was no way my mother could have done this herself.

I can't bring myself to tell my mother that this is going on - she has Addisons syndrome and any form of stress can bring on a crisis which can be life threatening. I am hoping to be able to sort this out for her without too much of her involvement but right now all i can get is cryptic messages because i dont have the authority - i said ok, i'll get my mother to write a letter but no, i have to be assessed for eligibilty

Bastards

update I have spoken to them, there is to be an indepth investigation. The reason i couldnt remember filling the forms in is because someone from the DWP did this with my mohter. The railway pension was disclosed - so i said that it was their mistake, he said it looks that way! He is not sure at this stage if they will want to recoup or not. I told them they wont get a penny, i will be seeking legal advice at the first opportunity. How DARE they do this it is an admin error on their behalf - he called it an "official error" FFS. I have told him that if my mother becomes ill as a result of any of this then i am holding them responsible and i WILL take legal action. No wonder the bloody country is in such a state, we are talking of an overpayment in the region of 30K over 8 years - i am incandescant They have agreed to keep my mother uninformed of this until it is resolved. She will however lose £300 a month in benefits :( I have told them i am not telling her this that they will need to send a representative to her house to explain why this is happening. I am so angry - total incompetence. Could offer no reason why this happened. So not only was this a mistake 8 years ago, it wasn't reviewed in 2009 when it was supposed to be - i dont have the words, well i do, plenty but mostly obscene

they used the term 'official error' because in all likelihood that's what it will be classed as - that is, as your dm had provided the information and the PC failed to take it into account in the calculation of her PC entitlement, it can not be asked for back.

I work in this field and that is the case - tbh i wouldn't take legal advice about that. there is a specific complaints procedure and you could go through that if you wanted. legal action won't get you anywhere. the overpayment will most likely be written off if it can be shown that your mum provided the information when asked for it.

unfortunately there's not a lot (unless you want to appeal but if the calculation is correct an appeal is unlikely to give your mum anything else) that you can do about her entitlement to PC - it is what it is and the fact is that she's been overpaid for 8 years and has had £30k that she shouldn't have been entitled to, whether you like it or not.

you could ask for a referral to the Pension Service special payments team for consideration of 'compensation' - which (assuming the £30k is written off) will just be a token payment to reflect the inconvenience she's been caused.

Only taking legal action too cover my mum but complaints procedure will suffice yes she has medical condition that means she cannot cope with stress that in the extreme can be life threatening so you can see whypu I want too protect her

Note sure id ask for compensation just fair treatment

Thanks for the reply though useful x