Telephone interview compliance latter about my income support! Worried!!!

[MichelleK3]

I have this letter from DWP wanting to telephone interview me because basically they are suspicious.

I have been on a total roll a coaster since leaving my husband in January and my head has been all over the place ( he is a narcissist) and I am now suffering ptsd and anxiety and now the letter!
Basically in short... he moved out in January and I claimed income support. We got back together (stupidly)and he moved back in a week later so cancelled income support. We then broke up again mid March and lived in seperate rooms, I claimed income support again and told them this and they said okay. Then a week later he moved out to his mums so again I called income support and told them this and they said okay. Even though he had left he was still abusive to me, turning up at my home unnamounced, started the smear Campagne and continued to gas light me and control my life in general. I found a job and started for 1 day doing an induction as I had to pretend everything was normal but I was planning on going in to a refuge to get away from him and was waiting on space. I gave the company me national insurance number and they paid me for the induction a month later. I never started the job and I left to go in to refuge 10 days later. My ex also pays me child maintenence sometimes in dribs and drabs sometimes I’m full ( it’s sll s control thing) he sometimes labels it child maintenence and sometimes labels it children’s gifts. As you can see it could be a any number of these things why I have thus letter but I’m so frightened and stressed! I move out of the refuge next week and in to houding association house but if they cancel my income support how am I going to support me and my kids? And what about houding benefit how will I claim that if I loose my money? I suppose my question is, can they stop my money??? And if they do tnfn what? Do I just put in s new chain? I can’t loose my house or I’ll loose my kids!! My children are on waiting list for school at new place (it’s a different town & I don’t drive) so they will be out st school for a while so it’s not like I can even find a quick job to start to save my ass!) please can someone put my mind at ease😞

They clearly suspect you may not be single, maybe they have some evidence of financial links. I can understand why they are suspicious with the on/ off relationship. Try to gather evidence that you do not live together .Obviously if he lives with his mum he wont have a tenancy agreement , but look at where he is on the electoral roll, where is his driving licence and insurance registered at. Do you still have his post coming to your house / joint bank accounts etc.

It's okay Michelle, stop panicking, this is totally normal and routine, and does not mean they are suspicious of you. I had several compliance interviews by phone while I was on Income Support and they had no reason to be suspicious of me. The DWP treats everybody like they're probably a lying, thieving bastard so don't take it personally!

I have also worked in benefits for local councils.

The important thing is: be honest. They will record the call and will use technology to analyse your speech patterns. This can highlight stress in your speech which may indicate you are not telling the truth. The technology will give a rating of green, orange or red. Green means low probability you are lying, orange means moderate probability and red means high probability. If you are rated orange or red they will ask you for documentary evidence to prove that what you told them was true. They might suspend your claim straight away if they think you aren't entitled to it, but more likely they will give you a 28 day deadline and if you don't supply the proofs within that, your claim will be stopped.

Did you tell them you earned money doing the induction? It is sometimes possible to claim Income Support and earn wages, if it is very low pay, so that's not necessarily a problem.

It is also completely fine to receive child maintenance whilst you are claiming. You are supposed to tell them what you get, but any amount is disregarded, meaning it is not taken into account when calculating your entitlement.

Even if they do stop your Income Support you can still claim Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction and Child Tax Credits. Some parts of the country are rolling out Universal Credit so you should check in your area.

My son's father is a narcissist, they totally fuck with your head and leave you broken, don't they? You're not doing anything wrong, you're doing amazing, and I am sure this will all be alright. Feel free to ask any more questions to put your mind at rest.

Babyroobs might be right that they think they have evidence that you were in a couple for some of the time you were claiming as a single person. But again it is normal and routine for them to check records for housing and financial links etc, it's not just you. You say that you called them and told them about the break ups and make ups so you should be fine.

You can definitely prove you've been single since moving into the refuge, and in the future your new tenancy agreement with the Housing Association will be in your sole name.

Thank you, it’s going to be difficult to prove that we were in store are rooms for that week when we broke up in March and then to prove he actually moved out to his mums address a week later. How do I prove this? I know he got his own place in April but again I can’t prove this as I don’t have contact with him other than the contact book regarding the children that the courts gave me.
I actually moved out on the 5th June and went in to refuge and I’m still in a refuge now so can they really take my income support off me when I have 2 small children? And food to buy house to run? His on earth can I prove he moved out of the home in March. I’m very scared because the house I move in to next week I don’t get full housing benefit anyway as it’s a 3 bed and I will have to pay money each week for bedroom tax.

My bank account shows he was putting done money in my account in March Whfn he left 50 and 60 in a space of a few days. This was for the kids but the reference on the bank statements say “I love you” as he never changed the wording so it looks like we are together but it is not true. He then put 200 in a week later and labelled it maintenence. I pulled him up on this and told him he needs to label it child maintenence! Anyway, I can’t prove I’m telling the truth and I doubt I can stall calm on the phone as I have ptsd and anxiety. Also I did not tell them about the induction as I didn’t even realise I would get paid for that. And I knew I was leaving to go on to refuge and wont be starting that job. I just had to pretend tobex I was sticking around so he wouldn’t think I would leave again.

As I have moved out of that house on June I have no proof he was not living there from March to June??? All I can prove is I went in to refuge in June.... I forgot to mention I claimed housing benefit at that address from April and it was in joint names still as the rent was 1,300 and I couldnt afford that rent in my sole name obviously and landlord wouldn’t allow it. I was trapped there and ex was paying the 1000 towards rent and continued to emotionally abuse me and financially control me.

Can they really take my income support off me? Or is it the case of a new claim? Surely they can’t leave a mum and 2 kids no money because she can’t prove he wasn’t there all those months ago. I’m so scared please help. I feel like everything is so messy and I’m unorganised with dates because of the stress I was going through and still am

As another poster said compliance interviews are normal. Don’t worry too much.

You say you claimed housing benefit in joint names. Does that mean you listed your ex as your partner in the HB form? If that’s the case and Yu claimed income support as a single person that would raise a discrepancy.

You can prove that you are not living together now so they should still pay you IS and HB going forward. If they adjust your IS for a past period you will be given an overpayment and can make an arrangement to repay it x

Hi, thank you. I told housing benefit the truth that we are not together anymore and this tenancy agreement which is a new one was dated in December 2018 going forward. Both our names on it as we were on off but the point is I never claimed income support while he was living with me as a couple, I mean why would I? He has money and we are married I would never get myself in to trouble like that.

I know how it looks that we were together joint tennancy and nonproff he moved out until April when he got his own flat but still I can’t prove that as I don’t talk to him. I doubt he is on the electrol register either as never was living with me. I know my ex contacted gas electric and water and told them he had moved out but that was in May he did that but told them the dates he moved out and I have been paying waywr bill backdated since March but I don’t have proof of this as I left everything behind. The gas & electric I called up in April and they was supposed to bill me but never did and I can’t find any records on that. This isn’t looking good for me and if I can’t prove I was single from March to June I will have to pay that money back won’t I???? Also will the cancel my income support? Will they prosecute me? I’m so scared

I never changed the tenancy agreemt to just my name as tbebrent was 1,300 and I could not afford that and I had no where else to live. My ex was paying the grand towards the rent and financially controlling me. Hence one of the reasons I had to escape to s refuge along with his emotional abuse and harassing me at the property.

It sounds like the only 'iffy time (for want of a better word- not saying you did anything wrong) is a couple of months between Jan and April. He then got his own flat, and you moved into a refuge at some point afterwards.
If so, the facts of the matter now are likely to demonstrate that you were actually split up at the start of the year iyswim.
If you were still on/off and he'd been back again it could look like you were lying. But you're not. He's gone and you're in a refuge...and are exactly the sort of family that IS is designed to support.
Even if it gets deemed that you were overpaid a bit, it won't be much and it'll just be deducted off current payments.

Don't worry OP

It would be a good idea to type a short one page time line with the key dates. If someone else can verify where you were living etc then you could add their name (eg XYZ refuge can confirm these dates).

Could be worth looking for a full time job. When my pretty nasty ex and I broke up I was working full time (hard with small children I know but can be worth it) so did not have benefits issues.

Do you have a key worker within the refuge? They can help you with this. I think if they really suspected wrongdoing they would've stopped the payments already. Maintenance no longer affects the amount you can claim either. I honestly think the best thing to do is speak to the refuge staff and ask for support. They'll have plenty experience dealing with this sort of thing.

Is he still on the tenancy now Op ?

My support worker is advising me but the interview is on the 4th and I move on the 3rd

I can’t look for work at the moment, my children will be out of school when I move next week. There is waiting lists and admissions said it’s their busiest time of year and could be weeks and weeks before I can get them in a school (it’s a different town I’m moving to)

There is no tennancy now as I moved out on the 5th June but it was in both our names the whole time due to high rent and that I was trapped there no way of moving out even if I worked all my money would go on the rent the rent was 1,300 and I would not have been a ken to earn that much no way and survive. If had worked full time my ex would have got custody as he works when suited and earns a lot has 2 businessses. He is a narcissist and his goal was to destroy me leave me broken and take the children and live with them with my “replacement” his girlfriend that he was having an affair with for a year and live together now

They are very unlikely to stop your Income Support. There is no evidence that you have deliberately defrauded them.

What might happen, as someone else said, is that they will decide that you received Income Support for a period of time when you were not entitled to it. They will say that that was an overpayment and you have to pay it back. Usually when you have an active claim they take some of your money every week going forwards and give you the remainder, until it is paid back. If you don't have an active claim you can arrange a payment arrangement with them, based on what you can afford.

It is good advice to write down the sequence of events, dates, etc as fully as you can. It will help to have notes during the phone call because if you're anything like me your brain will go blank when you're flustered! There may not be anything you can do about the period of time where, on paper, it looks like you were in a couple, so you might end up with an overpayment.

But just tell them the truth about it all exactly like you have here, including his abuse and your mental state, if you can, and it is very, very likely that your claim will continue.

If you are able to get a letter from your ex's family confirming when he moved in with them, that would be useful proof, or you could ask the Housing Benefit office at the Council to give you a copy of the information you gave them at the time. You may have to put your request to them in writing.

Going through all this must have been so hard for you, but in this instance, going into refuge will really benefit your case. That fact alone is extremely strong evidence confirming your situation.

I would advise you not to even think about looking for a job at the moment. You need some time and space and peace, in your new home, with your children, to begin to recover.

There are some brilliant videos on YouTube, made by a woman called Lisa Romano who calls herself the Breakthrough Life Coach. She is also a survivor of narcissistic abuse and her aim is to guide and support others to understand and heal. I found her really helpful in some really dark times and still watch her regularly xx

Hi everyone. Just a quick update as I have spoke to dwp but not yet the compliance team. From the notes they said that the compliance team have wrote to me asking for bank statements but I have not received this letter back in early August so that’s why they have asked to interview me on the phone. The dwp person I spoke to said he’s not sure if it’s about the maintenece payments but they want to know my income in my bank statements.
Basically My dad put 1k in recently to get carpets and furniture, so now I have 1.5k saved he put it in to get furniture, carpets, appliances for my new house which will show in the statment that 1k has gone in from him. I’m moving out of refuge and I can’t get help with furniture because I’m moving out of area. My support worker thinks this is fine and i should be allowed to receive this money under the circumstances as a one off it’s not regular and it’s my dad.
Secondly, my ex has been consecutively putting 400 a month in to my account for the last 3 months and tomorrow will be the next payment (if I get it) who knows as it’s voluntarily not guaranteed.
I told dwp this a couple of months ago it didn’t say how much so maybe it’s that they want to question?? Also on the statements it shows the regular child maintenece of 400 a month which is labelled on statements as “kids maintenece” so that should be okay shouldn’t it? I understand people fraud the system and stay together with partners and claim but surely they can see that I’m in a refuge and that we are not together as a couple and the money is not for me it’s for the kids. We have just been through a court battle over the kids and going through a divorce so I can show that?? God this is so stressful

You’ll get a slap on wrist and made to pay back a minimal sum. It will be hard for them to proove serious deceit as you have been phoning them up saying “we’re on” “we’re off”. If you were being deceitful- don’t do it again, it’s really unfair. If you weren’t you need to take it all more seriously but in terms of your punishment- it will be pretty much nada with perhaps some over payments to pay back.

Hi, I have absolutely not been deceitful. We were on /off twice because I left him but cane back which is normal I’ve spoke to my support worker about this and because of the vulnerability and the mind games/emotional abuse most women go back first time when the abuser convinced them. My ex actually sat in the car (he tracked me down) and balled his eyes out like a baby literally! Saying how sorry he was and that we are good together. Reminded me of the “good times” when you depend on someone emotionally/financially even though they are abusing the notion of love to you it’s very difficult to break free from that as you second guess yourself from the years of gas lighting they did to you. Anyway, that’s why I went back, it is the truth and then 2 weeks later he was back to his old ways and we broke up for good. Apparently he only got me back for power and control he had a girlfriend already lined up it’s all a sick game to him and I saw through that and this time I went for good. If you read my post above this one I’ve updated what they are wanting from me and their suspicions. Hopefully I will be fine as child maintenece is okay to accept but I just didn’t tell them how much and the consistency of it. I’ve been through a rough time with court as well and I didn’t prioritie telling them the exact figures because I knew that it was child maintenence and dosent take in to account anyway but yes my god I will be on top of everything now

The financial help from your Dad to kit out your new home won't be a problem. If you want, get your Dad to write a letter confirming he gave you the money and stating what it is for.

The child maintenance won't be a problem. You are allowed to receive it without it impacting on your benefits at all.

Yes, send copies of your court paperwork etc, and an explanatory covering letter along with the bank statements. You probably don't need to do this but it sounds like it will reassure you to give them the full picture.

Also keep copies of everything you send and send everything special delivery.

I used to work in benefits and my guess is it's about the money from your husband.
You said you told them you were living in the same house in separate rooms We then broke up again mid March and lived in seperate rooms, I claimed income support again and told them this and they said okay. This isn't that unusual and it looks like you have been clear with them about that.
What's not so clear is the money he has put in your bank. It doesn't matter how you or he label it - "for the kids" "child support" it would be taken into account and you should have told them about it all.

As to the work, for one day you probably earned less than the threshold but again you should have declared it.

As others have said just be completely honest when they call. It may be that you have been overpaid slightly and might be asked to repay by installments.

Hi, thank you for your message. I did tell them that he is paying child maintenece but told them it’s not guarneteed (which it isn’t) and the amount has only been consistent for 3 payments so far but I was under the impression that they didn’t take child maintenence in to account at all because the man I spoke to from dwp in August said he dosent take in to account money to the children. and with everything that has been going on the last few months I didnt prioritise telling them it’s been consistent or exactly how much. Again didn’t think it was taken in to account so not been in trouble. Am I in trouble? What is likely to happen now? I’m so worried!! Will they deduct it from my income support???

Also I’m confused how they take it in to account if it’s not a guarenteed Income? He can pull the plug anytime and then my income support payments would be too low to survive?? We are going through a divorce and each month is a battle to get the child maintenece he has told me he’s not paying it 2 months ago as I’m going for a financial disclosure and then changed his mind last minute saying I’ll give you it because I do t want the kids to suffer financially. Can you see my predicament that it’s not guaranteed? And that tomorrow I might not get any if he feels like stopping it.

I have just been on citizens advice and found this to confirm it’s not taken in to account

Child maintenance is not counted as income for means-tested benefits such as Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) and Housing Benefit.

This means if you're getting maintenance you won’t get less money in these benefits. Other benefits which aren’t means-tested won’t be affected either.

So I really don’t know why they are classing it as income? I did tell them I get money and like I said didn’t think it was a big deal to ring them again every time he changed his mind and decided to pay me the money as it’s not taken in toaccount!

Apologies Michelle you are right in that child support is ignored! I have worded that badly. I wondered whether they had seen money going into your bank that you hadn't told them about and they wouldn't automatically assume it was child support?
Either way don't panic, you clearly haven't done anything wrong intentionally and probably not at all.

Claim child maintenance via CSS then it is guaranteed