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Original poster

Benefits help please compliance telephone interview

10 replies

Mum7b · 18/03/2022 14:12

wondering if you can please help ?

My husband who is in receipt of ESA, DLA and war pension due to being injured in the army has received a letter today for notice of compliance?

My husband hasn't worked for 12 years but then last year he started working for a company from home for 10 hours a week and we notified the HMRC and we also sent a letter notifying Department of work and pensions and Housing benefit a letter to notify them of this change. Then when my husband left this job in February this year I notified the HMRC of the change.

2 weeks ago we received a payment of 10,000 from family so we could buy a car ?
We have spent £6000 of that on the car and have the remainder in the bank well apart from what we have spent about £3000 but it is under £5000 threshold and he is no longer working . We didn't yet notify them of this.

He was made a director of a new company on 13 th March but with now monetary investment or benefit?

Really panicking now as he has tried to do the work but he is still on so much pain he is looking for other work.

I am in receipt of child tax credit and child benefits and 1 of our children received DLA. Will they be looking at that too ? Or is it just my husband.
He rang them this morning and said it was a generic letter they just want to check he in on the correct Benefit and if he was being investigated he would receive a letter of stating that ?

OP posts:
TheSunisShiningToday · 18/03/2022 14:56

Is he on income ESA or contribution ESA?

Babyroobs · 18/03/2022 15:36

If he is in receipt of ESA, then he should have applied for permission to do permitted work before he started work ? Did he do this ? They need to agree that the work does not contradict the reasons he is receiving ESA. It could be to do with that. If you wrote to DWP it sounds like you might have made them aware so it may be ok. The savings will have no bearing on things as savings do not affect tax credits unless annual interest on savings is over £300 a year. It could just be routine.

Original poster
Mum7b · 18/03/2022 15:46

He is on ESA income based and in the support group,

OP posts:
Original poster
Mum7b · 18/03/2022 15:50

We notified HMRC and we wrote the DWP but didn't have a response, it was during lock down so just presumed they received it and it was okay. I am now worrying maybe they didn't receive it ? It's so hard he was injured in the army and can never do a manual sort of facing job at all he was very fortunate to find one where he could work from home, but I fortunately even that proved too much.

OP posts:
Babyroobs · 18/03/2022 16:18

@Mum7b

We notified HMRC and we wrote the DWP but didn't have a response, it was during lock down so just presumed they received it and it was okay. I am now worrying maybe they didn't receive it ? It's so hard he was injured in the army and can never do a manual sort of facing job at all he was very fortunate to find one where he could work from home, but I fortunately even that proved too much.
I think for ESA any type of work needs to be approved first, but the compliance check may have nothing to do with this.
Original poster
Mum7b · 18/03/2022 16:46

Thank you, the lady did say to my husband it was a generic letter and it's just to find out if he is still in the same situation he was in or he needs more support or maybe less. Is that possible so they do just do random checks ?
I think I am worrying more then he is 😱

OP posts:
TheSunisShiningToday · 18/03/2022 21:06

You can only do permitted work on contribution ESA. You can not do any work on income esa, not even if you tell them. If your husband was working while claiming income esa, it sounds like this is the problem.

Be honest with them. I don’t know what they’ll do, maybe ask you to pay back the esa while he was working.

Original poster
Mum7b · 19/03/2022 08:50

Thank you your right, he is speaking to them Monday and will tell them it was an honest mistake. We didn't realise it is such a minefield of information.

OP posts:
LakieLady · 20/03/2022 15:53

@TheSunisShiningToday

You can only do permitted work on contribution ESA. You can not do any work on income esa, not even if you tell them. If your husband was working while claiming income esa, it sounds like this is the problem.

Be honest with them. I don’t know what they’ll do, maybe ask you to pay back the esa while he was working.

You CAN do permitted work on both types of ESA, but you need to complete a form PW1.
mumb7 · 20/03/2022 16:05

Thank you, I think that's where we have made the mistake we just wrote to them I was unsure of what the protocol was and had not long been diagnosed with a brain tumor, so not been firing on all cylinders.

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