- Posts: 50
× Members
ESA DEDUCTION
- zoewawa
- Topic Author
- Offline
Less More
3 years 7 months ago #263830 by zoewawa
ESA DEDUCTION was created by zoewawa
Hi,
I am currently on old ESA in the support group. About 7 years ago I moved from a different borough to the current address. Before leaving, I informed the council in writing by letters and email ( still have the email) about my move to a different borough. However they still managed to mess up my HB and ended up over paying me. At the time I was also under intensive mental health treatment and didn’t know I was over paid. The council only realised their mistake months after my move and started chasing for the money. I was in depts, very unwell so was unable to repay. The benefit office of the Psychiatric hospital I was receiving treatment from then contacted the council on my behalf and cancel the debt.
However, the council still wrote to me and asked for repayment every now and then. About 3 years ago I wrote them a email and asked them to stop sending me the letter asking for money as the debt was written off ( I have kept the email). I didn’t get a reply but I have not received a letter from them asking for the money again.
A few days ago I got a nasty surprise. I received a letter from DWP informing me that they were asked by the council to take money from my ESA each week for the HB overpayment and the deduction will start from this week. I am wondering if this is lawful. First of all, I was told the debt was written off when the hospital’s benefit adviser got involved. Secondly, I am still very unwell and still in support group due to mental health conditions. I am still struggling financially during this difficult time. I have not got the extra £20 weekly increase as I am on the old style ESA.
The letter also states that “ you cannot appeal against a decision to take deductions to pay back an overpayment”. Do I have any chance at all to challenge this deduction? I do not have a written confirmation from the council to say that the debt was written off. However, they did stop asking for the money after I email them and basically said :the debt was written off years ago so please stop sending these letters to me. Is it lawful that they start taking money from me out of blue for a overpayment 7 years ago?
They are taking £11.25 per week and it has huge impact on my current situation. I would be tremendously grateful if you could offer some advice and help.
Thank you very much!
Zoe
I am currently on old ESA in the support group. About 7 years ago I moved from a different borough to the current address. Before leaving, I informed the council in writing by letters and email ( still have the email) about my move to a different borough. However they still managed to mess up my HB and ended up over paying me. At the time I was also under intensive mental health treatment and didn’t know I was over paid. The council only realised their mistake months after my move and started chasing for the money. I was in depts, very unwell so was unable to repay. The benefit office of the Psychiatric hospital I was receiving treatment from then contacted the council on my behalf and cancel the debt.
However, the council still wrote to me and asked for repayment every now and then. About 3 years ago I wrote them a email and asked them to stop sending me the letter asking for money as the debt was written off ( I have kept the email). I didn’t get a reply but I have not received a letter from them asking for the money again.
A few days ago I got a nasty surprise. I received a letter from DWP informing me that they were asked by the council to take money from my ESA each week for the HB overpayment and the deduction will start from this week. I am wondering if this is lawful. First of all, I was told the debt was written off when the hospital’s benefit adviser got involved. Secondly, I am still very unwell and still in support group due to mental health conditions. I am still struggling financially during this difficult time. I have not got the extra £20 weekly increase as I am on the old style ESA.
The letter also states that “ you cannot appeal against a decision to take deductions to pay back an overpayment”. Do I have any chance at all to challenge this deduction? I do not have a written confirmation from the council to say that the debt was written off. However, they did stop asking for the money after I email them and basically said :the debt was written off years ago so please stop sending these letters to me. Is it lawful that they start taking money from me out of blue for a overpayment 7 years ago?
They are taking £11.25 per week and it has huge impact on my current situation. I would be tremendously grateful if you could offer some advice and help.
Thank you very much!
Zoe
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- LL26
- Offline
Less More
- Posts: 1481
3 years 7 months ago #263846 by LL26
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Replied by LL26 on topic ESA DEDUCTION
Hi Zoe,
If I understand correctly, you had an overpayment if Housing Brnefit caused by an error if the Local Authority. The overpayment was then cancelled/written off. More recently you have been having deductions from ESA to repay the overpayment. Hopefully I have this correct!
DWP can make deductions from benefit to cover overpayments even if these ambrose from other benefits. However that doesn't seem to bd the issue here. If my summary above us indeed correct then the overpayment was written off and you have written confirmation of that. Moot point, given the council caused the error, there should have never been a demand that you repay anyway Overpayments on Housing Benefit caused by 'official error' are not repayable, providing you can show thpat you didn't know you were being overpaid, and you had done nothing to contribute to the error.
I think what you need to do is either write a letter yourself, or seek the help of a welfare
benefits advice centre to help you write the letter. Mark the letter as Complaint and send it to the local authority and copy it to DWPI suspect DWP may ignore it as this needs to be sorted by the local authority .
You could write
Re Overpayment HB ref no....
Dear Sirs,
I am writing to complain that I am facing deductions on my ESA in respect of an Overpayment. The Overpayment derived through your official error and was not my fault, I did not contribute to the fault.
I was informed in writing on [ say the dates, enclose the emails etc] that this matter had been closed and I was not required to pay back any money and the overpayment had been cancelled.
I would be grateful if you could look into this matter urgently, and confirm there is nothing to pay. I woukd also be grateful that you will contact DWP and get them to cease taking these repayments.I would also be grateful to receive back the incorrect payments that have been taken.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours faithfully
Include any relevant details and the amount if refund you expect etc
I hope this helps
LL26
If I understand correctly, you had an overpayment if Housing Brnefit caused by an error if the Local Authority. The overpayment was then cancelled/written off. More recently you have been having deductions from ESA to repay the overpayment. Hopefully I have this correct!
DWP can make deductions from benefit to cover overpayments even if these ambrose from other benefits. However that doesn't seem to bd the issue here. If my summary above us indeed correct then the overpayment was written off and you have written confirmation of that. Moot point, given the council caused the error, there should have never been a demand that you repay anyway Overpayments on Housing Benefit caused by 'official error' are not repayable, providing you can show thpat you didn't know you were being overpaid, and you had done nothing to contribute to the error.
I think what you need to do is either write a letter yourself, or seek the help of a welfare
benefits advice centre to help you write the letter. Mark the letter as Complaint and send it to the local authority and copy it to DWPI suspect DWP may ignore it as this needs to be sorted by the local authority .
You could write
Re Overpayment HB ref no....
Dear Sirs,
I am writing to complain that I am facing deductions on my ESA in respect of an Overpayment. The Overpayment derived through your official error and was not my fault, I did not contribute to the fault.
I was informed in writing on [ say the dates, enclose the emails etc] that this matter had been closed and I was not required to pay back any money and the overpayment had been cancelled.
I would be grateful if you could look into this matter urgently, and confirm there is nothing to pay. I woukd also be grateful that you will contact DWP and get them to cease taking these repayments.I would also be grateful to receive back the incorrect payments that have been taken.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours faithfully
Include any relevant details and the amount if refund you expect etc
I hope this helps
LL26
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
The following user(s) said Thank You: denby, zoewawa
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- zoewawa
- Topic Author
- Offline
Less More
- Posts: 50
3 years 7 months ago #264155 by zoewawa
Replied by zoewawa on topic ESA DEDUCTION
Hi LL26
Thank you so much for your thorough reply and even writing the letter for me. I cannot express enough how grateful I am for your kindness and help. I am very sorry for the late reply. I have been unwell since my last message asking for advice.
You were correct on all the information about my situation, except that I did NOT have a written confirmation from the council to say that they had written off the overpayment. It was the hospital’s welfare
benefits adviser contacted the council by phone and resolved the overpayment for me, who told me in person that the debt was written off. Do I need to go back to find the benefit adviser as a proof that it was written off?
I just read another thread here asking about ESA overpayment. The advisers’ answers suggest that if it’s over payment under legacy ESA and it is not the claimant’s fault, then the overpayment cannot be enforced to be repaid. Does this also definitely apply to my HB overpayment? On my letter to the council, can I say that their deduction from my ESA is unlawful? I still have the email I sent to inform the council before I moved away. And I still have the email that I wrote to them asking them stop sending me letters asking for repayment ( as I mentioned, the council then stopped sending letters for 2 years)
Thank you again, and I am looking forward to your reply.
Kind regards,
Zoe
Thank you so much for your thorough reply and even writing the letter for me. I cannot express enough how grateful I am for your kindness and help. I am very sorry for the late reply. I have been unwell since my last message asking for advice.
You were correct on all the information about my situation, except that I did NOT have a written confirmation from the council to say that they had written off the overpayment. It was the hospital’s welfare
benefits adviser contacted the council by phone and resolved the overpayment for me, who told me in person that the debt was written off. Do I need to go back to find the benefit adviser as a proof that it was written off?
I just read another thread here asking about ESA overpayment. The advisers’ answers suggest that if it’s over payment under legacy ESA and it is not the claimant’s fault, then the overpayment cannot be enforced to be repaid. Does this also definitely apply to my HB overpayment? On my letter to the council, can I say that their deduction from my ESA is unlawful? I still have the email I sent to inform the council before I moved away. And I still have the email that I wrote to them asking them stop sending me letters asking for repayment ( as I mentioned, the council then stopped sending letters for 2 years)
Thank you again, and I am looking forward to your reply.
Kind regards,
Zoe
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- Gary
- Offline
Less More
- Posts: 8436
3 years 7 months ago #264163 by Gary
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Replied by Gary on topic ESA DEDUCTION
Hi zoewawa
The simple answer is yes you should go back to find the benefit adviser.
You need to contact the hospital welfare benefits adviser to get the issue resolved, they should have written up a record as to what happened who they contacted and the outcome. You should have been sent a letter at the time of the outcome.
Gary
The simple answer is yes you should go back to find the benefit adviser.
You need to contact the hospital welfare benefits adviser to get the issue resolved, they should have written up a record as to what happened who they contacted and the outcome. You should have been sent a letter at the time of the outcome.
Gary
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
The following user(s) said Thank You: zoewawa
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- zoewawa
- Topic Author
- Offline
Less More
- Posts: 50
3 years 7 months ago #264175 by zoewawa
Replied by zoewawa on topic ESA DEDUCTION
Thank you very much for your help, Gary!
The following user(s) said Thank You: Gary
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
Moderators: Gordon, Gary, BIS, Catherine, Wendy, Kelly, greekqueen, peter, Katherine, Super User, Chris, David