Adjournment Notice

I would be grateful for any advice. I have finally heard from the Appeal Court who say they cannot make a decision on the evidence they have with regard to the overpayment of the £14,000 and have decided to adjourn the hearing for further evidence from me and the DWP.

I Know that we sent a letter to the DWP advising them of my husband's NHS pension in 2012 which was sent tracked by Royal Mail. (On Benefits and Work's advice all letters are sent tracked). My husband despite having Parkinson's remembers me clearly typing the letter on our PC at the time. If I still had the PC I could have searched this. The DWP are saying they did not receive this. There have been many letters tracked sent to the DWP to which I have never received a response from. I received a call from a compliance officer in 2021 saying that we did not notify them of my husband's pension and so it is our word against theirs.

The courts have asked for the following: DWP for 16 letters of various dates notifying me of my responsibility to report all changes of circumstances straightaway.

Any contemporaneous note or record made by the compliance officer and her statement on 7 October 2021. Unfortunately on the day the compliance officer telephoned me to tell me that we had not notified them of my husband's pension I fell apart on the phone and went to pieces. My anxiety always makes me feel guilty and especially when speaking with the DWP and I believe this may have come across in the telephone conversation with the compliance officer. I was in a very panicked state not fully understanding what she was saying as it was such a shock at the time to learn that the DWP did not have any record of my husband’s pension. After the telephone call with her I struggled to sleep and eat and had panic attacks.

The courts want from me:

Whether I kept a copy of the letter from 2012 which I have not and have already told them this.
copy of the Royal mail receipt - again due to passage of time do not have.

An explanation of why i did not contact dwp to chase up a reply to the letter I say I sent in 2012 when there was no change in the amount of my ESA (IR)

We can only assume at the time that the DWP were satisfied that the NHS pension information given to them. I cannot recall any change in the ESA (IR). We received no further correspondence from them with regard to my husband's pension which did not alert us to contact them.
In 2012 we were new to DWP benefit system and did not know about any rulings which would affect the amount of benefit being received with the ESA (IR). When my husband received his state pension, the monthly amount was more than the NHS pension and the ESA (IR) amount was reduced and we received notification from the DWP of this. My husband's NHS pension was approx £235 per month.

The court wants to know whether I am willing to attend an oral hearing either in person or remotely. I will ask for remotely due to my condition.

I am so sorry for the length of this message, but I am so worried and feel that the courts are favouring the DWP. If we have to repay this amount it will be so unfair as we informed the DWP of the change. Why would this pension have not being discovered until now is beyond me. Thank you so much. Please reply when you can as I have 30 days to respond to the court.
Kind regards Spitfire

thanks for this. The PC is long gone and so cannot check on that. It was 2012 and I cant even get Royal Mail to help. It is going to be my word against the DWP. I have historically had my letters ignored by the DWP and they only responded when I contacted my local MP. We have had administrative errors by the DWP. Are you able to assist any further.

Thanks

Is Gordon able to assist