Name change for obvious reasons.
A year ago I made an enormous mistake. I left my job through ill health and went to tribunal and claimed Universal Credit. After claiming benefits I received a payout through employment tribunal, got holiday pay returned and was subsequently awarded backdated PIP. I thought I was fine because I thought you were allowed up to £16,000 and I only had £13,000. What I didn't realise was that you can have up to £16,000 but anything over £6,000 counts as bringing in an income regardless if it does or not, and benefits are reduced accordingly.
I carried on thinking I was within the threshold and used the excess money to pay off debts I had been drowning in since my mother died a decade ago. Paying these debts flagged up on my credit file and the next thing I knew my benefits were stopped and I was being investigated for fraud and had to hand over all of my financial details which I willingly did as I genuinely didn't think I had done anything wrong at that point. The most I ever had was £13,000 but the decision maker decided I had over £20,000, had never been entitled to any benefit and owed them £25,400.
I was terrified. I thought I was going to prison and would get a criminal record. In shock because I knew I had never possessed over £20,000 I'm my life, I insisted on a mandatory reconsideration. The new decision maker found that I had only ever had £13,000, was always entitled to a reduced amount of benefit and because I used the money to repay debts which I had been struggling with for years I was found not to have deprived myself of capital. And the overpayment? £733.00! less than one month's money!
This happened over Christmas 2021 and I didn't get the final outcome until the spring. I went through months of hell, ended up feeling suicidal because I thought I was going to prison and my mental health suffered. The Jobcentre sent the police to my door to do a welfare check because they were concerned I may harm myself as a result. And all along the original decision maker had made a huge mistake. I genuinely didn't realize my own original mistake and believed I was allowed more in savings. The case was found in my favour and I was exonerated. It is a bit of a jump from £733.00 to £25,400. The case was closed and I was told to repay £10 per month. I've never had a formal apology and was too weary and Ill from the experience to complain about the original decision maker. I was just thankful it had been properly sorted out.
The DWP really do make huge mistakes sometimes. My mistake of course was not properly reading and understanding the rules, but their sums were like a fairy tale which I was able to prove was wrong. Had I not insisted on a mandatory reconsideration my experience could have ended very differently.