HELP!! They say I owe £1142!!!!!

[tammybear]

I got a letter this morning from DWP and they say that they have paid me too much IS from Aug 03 to March 04, as I was paid CTC and IS for the same period which as they were provided for same purpose I was only entitled to one!!! They apologise as they say I may not be to blame but the law says they need to recover the money!!

I was told I was entitled to CTC whilst on IS, and no one has pointed out I shouldnt have it when Ive been to CAB or Job Centre to see Lone Parent Deal Advisor. Please help me, cos I cant afford to pay that back!!!

thanks again mergle. me and ex were living together til aug 03, he was getting CTC as he was working etc, and i was SAHM. he moved out, and that is the beginning of the period they say i was overpaid. i then started getting CTC myself and went onto IS. all so confusing. i still keep getting award notices from Inland Revenue with ex's details on it, and I keep ringing up asking why that is, but they say its just a notice and that the joint account had ended back in August when we split up.

In that case I take it you put in a new claim in August 2003? If he was working +24 hours you would not have been entitled to IS. I take it you were on CTC at this point?

I'm asking because I'm wondering whether you might accidentally have failed to declare the fact that you were recieving CTC, when you claimed IS?

I'm not certain if they specifically ask you on the form whether you are getting CTC. What they DO ask is whether you have income from any other benefits.

Bascially the only problem here could be if you failed to declare to the DWP on the IS form that you were getting CTC. Now I think that in August 2003 they were not yet moving new IS claimaints onto CTC, but I am really not sure because at that point I was on maternity leave myself. It would be your responsibilty to declare that you were getting CTC. Your IS form will be among your appeal papers.

I'm assuming then that you called CTC to tell them that your partner had moved out? It is worrying that they have not altered your details, I don't see why it makes a differnce who the account name is in, if he is no longer on the claim then he should not be on your award notice. Is his income being taken into account? Also-it sounds like you have a new partner-is his income on the claim? Because you might here risk a CTC overpayment and unless they have massively screwed up (and often not even then) there is NOTHING you can do about this-you would have to pay it back. But this isn't what has happened because your letters are from the DWP, not the Inland Revenue. Also, and a minor point, while his details are on the claim he can access information about the claim. They should take him off for this reason alone, even if it doesn't bother you.

IF you have filled out the claim form and not declared the CTC (and you probably did declare tbh), did your LPA help you? If so, you should be ok as you were acting on advice given by a DWP official. Ditto if the CAB advised you wrongly, and they keep case records-you can ask for a copy of yours-so you can prove that they wrongly advised you if need be.

I really don't want to scare you, I think you should be fine, but do go and see someone with all your bits of paper and get proper advice for your situation.

Good luck!

thanks mergle. as exp was getting CTC, when he moved out, i rang them up straight away to say that he had left so i could make a single claim whilst i also made a claim for income supprt. Just been over my papers, and i have a letter dated in sept 03 saying that my IS has changed because of a change in my CTC so that should confirm that I told them right? I didnt have a LPA when I split up with exp, but I did go to CAB to find out what I was entitled to, and they gave me the forms I needed,

Ex's income isnt taken into account, and also my dp doesnt live with me, he lives in Kent (Im in Watford) so he's not affecting my benefits at the moment.

The letter about the change in your income definately suggests that you put it on the form.

If your partner is "maintaining a separate household" ie living in Kent and seeing you maybe a couple of times a week-no, it really shouldn't be an issue, so don't worry about it.

It really sounds like it'll all be ok, hope I didn't scare you!

lol, no you didnt mergle, but id rather look at everything first rather than start screaming and shouting and realise im in the wrong! thanks again

Just an update. went to CAB today. they wrote a letter for me to appeal against it, and say that I shouldnt have to pay it back as it is their mistake, plus if I did have to it would cause me "great financial hardship" as Ive only just returned to work, and Im a technically single mum with rent and bills to pay. Wish me luck that they will say I wont have to pay it back