To feel completely overwhelmed with a UC review

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I’m really really in a state of panic . Basically UC have asked for 3 years of bank statements from me by next week ! I have 4 children and life is stressful enough especially before Xmas . It seems they have info I had “inherited “ money from my mother when she died ( almost three years ago ) I did have money off my mum while she was dying as she was worried my step father would take it (10k) with this I bought a car . My mother died within a week of us finding out she had cancer, I was heavily pregnant , moving in to a council house and dealing with a very abusive partner . I spent most of my money on a car , carpets , furniture, white goods etc admittedly also a holiday . My brother has also been helping me over the few years financially ( one large amount towards items I needed then drips and drabs ) I’ve checked and yes a few months I may have gone over the 6k but once was from the money off mum and once off my insurance when my car got written off a year after I bought it . I know I should have declared it and I regret it now but I genuinely was in such a bad place . I suffer from severe panic disorder and anxiety and the thought of this call Monday is making me extremely anxious . Am i going to jail ? Will they cut my payments ? I can’t feed my kids etc . And it’s ruined my Xmas I can’t stop crying 😭 I can barely afford to live on the amount I get now without help from my dad and brother every month let alone lose lots of money on top of it ! And does it sound like I’ve been reported ? My ex always threats to report me

Sorry I have no advice but wanted to send support. There’s no way they would send a
mum of 4 to jail for such a minor thing. Can you call the CAB tomorrow for advice? They are free and impartial

Thank you !! I think I’m feeling extremely overwhelmed and stressed out and that’s even before all this 😭 that’s a really good idea thank you ! I do need some support xx

prison? No. But if they deem you have had an overpayment then yes the could take money from you each month to repay it.

Get a CAB appointment - or have a look for a local group/charity offering benefits advice? I think you need to establish what your actual financial position is/has been, whether you have not been entitled at times and what your next steps may be.

I can imagine it’s a huge worry, but hopefully local groups will provide you some clarity.

You’re very unlikely to go to prison for this but you may have to pay some money back if you went over the amount.

You'll more than likely be asked to repay any overpayments - such as when your family have given you money and your inheritance. I'm not sure an insurance payout counts towards the 6k though

You are not going to prison. Deep breaths.

The worse they can do is say you’ve been overpaid and reduce what they’re giving you.

You won't go to jail . the worst that can happen is that you may need to pay some back for any time period that savings were over 6k. Reasonable spending is ok and gifts are allowed.

Thank you so much . I havnt spoken to anyone as I feel so ashamed tbh . I’ve just left everything go the last few years literally couldn’t cope with anything mentally it’s been so hard . I don’t care if they take money off my UC ( obviously I’m going to struggle a lot more ) but I’d rather that than be completely cut off is what I’m scared of . Like sanctioned for months and things really scare me . And explaining myself scares me a lot too as it’s been over a long time now . I tend to ramble when I’m nervous and the phone call just scares me as I’m worried they are going to be harsh . Plus I feel like I only have this week to go over three years worth and to remember what I even bought exactly! I know I definitely havnt had over 6k for at least 2 and a half years exactly. But I’m also worried about my brother giving me money a lot . Think I’m just a worrier sorry

Unless there’s a lot more info you haven’t included in your post you won’t go to prison OP, try to stay calm.

If you have an overpayment they may reduce your future payments until it has been repaid, but it will be an affordable amount. Otherwise would your brother be able to help you pay it off maybe? Worst case scenario.

Honestly OP just submit the bank statements and don’t look over them too much, you’ll be working yourself up trying to prepare for questions you don’t even know, there would really be no point.

I don't have any experience of this but please don't get in a state. Anything can be sorted.
I don't think you'll go to prison.
We had a tax credit overpayment many years ago. A . was in the wrong place. They were really understanding and we were able to reduce tx payments to get it all paid off.
I would download statements try and write what and who this money was from.

Do you online bank? You cam down load the statements and then upload them to your journal

Hi yes I think he would actually. I do have a lot of close family that would do it too if I needed help and I was desperate. It’s just the unknown you know ? Like if they emailed me a set of questions I would feel better to answer it . Im more scared about the interview . I do find it odd how they are doing the interview before the date of getting my statements ?

Yes I do ! How easy wound it be to send three years across ? Would I need to download page by page won’t that take ages ?

I was hoping to go get them printed off tomorrow so I can make note next to them but unsure my bank will do all of them on the day as it’s hard for me to go over it all online as there is so much plus im dyslexic and dyspraxic so I find things really confusing and complicated x

Do get in touch with CAB and get them to help you manage this, nothing terrible will happen.

Unless you've been sitting on the letter then this sounds like an unreasonable time frame for you to be asked to provide data, so as a first move I would aim to kick this into January. You will then work with CAB or stepchange to agree a reasonable repayment plan.

I've been over 6k a couple of times myself and declared it both times via the UC journal. I was summoned to the Jobcentre Plus both times to show bank statements showing the times I went over 6k. If you then knock it down to sub-6k to pay debts or essential items e.g. car repairs then it's all a-ok. My job coach said it was fine to be over 6k for a few days before you knock it down again.

If you were over 6k for more than 1 payment cycle (1 month), then the Jobcentre will class that as you having over 6k and you will have to pay a bit of it back in the next payment cycle.

TL;DR - you should have really declared >6k when it happened (within a few days) via UC journal but you should be ok if your statements show that you were only >6k for a few days at a time.

With my bank if I log into their actual webbased site desktop (not app) it should let you download statements as files. You will have to downloads each month as pdf. Contact UC via jounal and ask how you can send or upload them.

On mine you just download each monthly statement as a document so it would be 36 statements to download and attach and send.

I’m pretty sure your UC makes deductions of £4.35 for every £250 over £6k you go up to £16k at which point you lose your entitlement.

So if for approximately 6 months you had over £6k in there and had, say £10k, you’d have to pay back £4.35 x 16 because you had £4k too much per month you had it so x 6 = £417.60 so not a ridiculously huge amount.

I know it's terrifying and stressful, but all you can do is send in what they ask and see what happens. It sounds like you will have to pay some back but it won't be much and it's capped on how much they can take off you. Don't worry too much about it.

No I literally had it Friday ! I think it’s crazy short notice tbh and especially this side of Christmas I can’t believe it . It’s really affecting me mentally but then again if I leave it until after Christmas maybe it will be worse looming over my head Xmas day etc 😣

Thanks I’m sure I was over maybe one or two months ! And one of those was when my car got written off and I had to hunt for a new one ! Other time was when my mum just died so I wasn’t in any frame of mind to think of anything other than her plus moving house and pregnant etc all the same time . Just life was too much unfortunately 😣

Your brother sounds very supportive and caring. Would he be able to help you get all the paperwork together?

This might help. You tube video hy dwp on how to upload documents for claim review