DWP- Asking For Overpaid Money

[chinchi]

I received a letter from DWP this morning saying that they have paid a total of 219.00 Disability Allowance to my late Mums account once she had passed away, and they want the money back.

There is no money left in the state as it was used for funeral costs, credit card bills etc.

The letter states that I am entitled to reply and say why I dont think/cant refund the money. The fact is there is no money left and considering its not my fault the money was overpaid, and it didnt go into an account with my name on, I do not want to refund 219.00 which I have not got myself.

Has anybody been in a similar situation?

Just write back stating that the value of your mum's estate was zero and that there are no funds available to repay the overpayment. It is not your debt and they should not be able to pursue you for it, unless they can prove that you took the money for your own benefit.

This happened to my gran after my grandfather died. She contacted her MP and he took from there - she never heard from them again.

Thanks very much.
Will get writing back to them straight away!

It is important to establish why the overpayment happened. If the executor of the estate delayed notifying the benefits agency of the death and then used the resulting funds to pay off debts, the benefits agency could pursue the executor. However, if the BA were notified immediately and it was not clear that monies continued to be credited to the account, resulting in them being used to clear debts, then it could be argued that it is the fault of the BA.

It very much depends on the circumstances. However, they have offered you the opportunity to write and indicate why you can't repay the money, so do that and then see what they say.