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"you are the only person prolonging this review with your persistent hospital admissions" - this is a SHOCKING and disgusting statement. How dare they imply your hospital admissions are a choice deliberately engineered to delay their processes? Absolutely revolting behaviour from them, I'm so, so sorry they're treating you like this. Solidarity.

Please get onto your MP JaneyJane, imho this was disgusting bullying.

Hello again,

Recieved the flooring message this morning after calling the compliance officer to tell her I will not sign an A42 form if it is sent blank. Happy to allow her to check what she has queries about but I’m not handing over permission for who knows what or for how long

"Good morning ******. The department can and are able to infer from your lack of engagement with the
A42 form that this account is indeed yours. If it is not simply signing this will enable me to prove to a level I am happy with that it is not yours. Perhaps we should just start to be truthful, if you admit the account is yours we can work out your overpayment and this situation can end. At this stage you are the only person prolonging this review with your persistent hospital admissions and refusal to allow the department to do the necessary checks. I have sent out further A42 forms today and will be in contact with your branch. I will be in touch shortly

Firstly I have told them I will sign the forms if they are filled out correctly , secondly it would seem the DWP can know presume guilt with no evidence of you don’t do what one person says?

Hello (again) and I apologise if these questions seem silly.
I cannot locate a bank account the DWP are suggesting is mine. I suspect it’s a ppi refund that they are thinking is something else but despite giving her that paperwork she still wants statements form an account I do not own. Obviously the bank will not divulge anything about this account to me.

The compliance officer has said she will send out an A42 form but she wouldn’t/couldn’t tell me if this gives them access to all my accounts (nothing to hide but I have supplied statements for these accounts already so it’s unnecessary) she also wouldn’t/couldn’t tell me if this form allows a one off enquiry or if I have signed my bank accounts over to them for good.
I have tried googling but I’m not coming up with anything so far.
The bank are willing to write a letter to say this account does not match any I have had or currently have but this is not acceptable proof apparently.

Any advice appreciated

Hi JaneyJane,

Wow - sounds like you've got a "I know it all" type of compliance officer on your case. I think when they say anything like that, it's best to ask them if they can send it to you in writing or via email, then you've actually got concrete evidence of making a complaint, especially if they're telling you things that are incorrect, which would leave you panicking that you could end up stuck in Ireland.

There is a complaints procedure online via the Gov.uk website - it may help give you guidance with what you were wanting to know about the length of time, or if not, who you could turn to for an answer.

www.gov.uk/government/organisations/depa...complaints-procedure

Regards, Chris

Thank you for your reply. I have managed to get through to my case manager at UC who cannot find any rules that say I cannot go abroad. He has agreed to suspend my claim to prevent any future overpayments occurring.
Do you know how long the dwp take to answer official complaints? Myself
And my MP both submitted complaints and have heard nothing.
Aside from the comment from the compliance officer stating “you have no reason to complain”

Thanks. Unfortunately the appt I have with CAB is the quickest one I can get.
I’m not in the UK at present and obviously caring for my dad is taking up a lot of my time.
I was just concerned as the compliance officer stated she can have my passport cancelled which would leave me stuck in Ireland.

JJ

As far as I can find the DWP does not have the authority to seize your passport or prevent you from leaving the country.

So, I would start by asking the Compliance Officer for specific references to the legislation they would be invoking to do these things.

Given how this issue appears to be escalating you should certainly get advice from a trained advisor. See

advicelocal.uk/

I know you already have an appointment booked with the CAB, try and escalate the issue with them to see if you can get a quicker one

you should also consider getting legal advice, you may be able to get free advice if you can keep the consultation to less than an hour.

I'm afraid we cannot offer any advice about your returning to the DWP or not.

Gordon

Hello! I posted before giving all the horrible details of my experience with a compliance officer.
I sent them all the bank statements they requested. They lost these and I had to resend. Thought that would be it but I’m now being asked for more details about the same account (an ISA) I do not have.
I supplied a letter from the bank showing all the account numbers o have or have had with them.
Nope still not good enough, she wants statements which I am unable to provide as it’s not my account.

Things now get complicated, I have had to go to Ireland as my dad had a stroke and needs care. I’ll be here at least 8 weeks (I’m also waiting on being rehoused in the uk so could be longer)
I updated my journal to tell them I went to Ireland on March 13th and will be here for 8 weeks (minimum) I asked for my claim to be closed/suspended as I know my entitlement will end. I claim PIP too so I know I have to be back within 12 weeks. I recieved the following journal entry yesterday
“Hi Jane, the review has taken so long due to your mental health issues and your desire to involve your MP. Whilst the Department is sorry to here about your alleged Menatl health issues and your fathers ill health at this time I am not in a position to authorise ANY absence from the UK until such time as I have completed my review. For the same reasons your claim will not be stopped/suspended.
Once I am satisfied with the documentation you have submitted we will be in touch and you can at that point end your claim and leave the country.
Whilst this may be difficult for you to hear, it is a condition of receiving means tested benefits that you engage with the process and rules.”

The issue is I’m already in Ireland with my dad (his stroke was very bad and he had no one to help him once he was out of hospital)
Do I need to return to the UK? The compliance officer has threatens to have my passport cancelled (via a telephone call) if I try to, in her words “skip the country”

I have put in a formal complaint as has my MP but so far we have been ignored.

Should I return to the UK? I have some everything in they requested but she still wants statements from an account I don’t have.
I have severe mental health issues and this all started whilst I was in a psych ward and she was calling and messaging daily (my psychiatrist wrote to them detailing the effect this is having but this too was ignored)

Can anyone help? I’m struggling to care for my dad, look after my own mental health and now I’m terrified I won’t have a passport to come home?

Any advice would be much appreciated

Regards

Hi CRPSWarrior

The only thing you can do is contact DWP and ask, to put your mind at ease.

Gary

No nothing. Just said thank you for clarifying

Hi CRPSWarrior

We can't speculate on the reason for your call because we simply don't know. Did the person not tell you what would happen next?

BIS

Hi everyone. I had a dreaded brown envelope a couple of weeks ago when I had just come out of hospital after spinal and neck surgery.

I rang the number and asked what it was for and the gentleman just said it was a review with a couple of questions. The call was today, 2 weeks later.

I spent 2 days getting all my paperwork together from original claim to bank statements etc and waiting for the call.

He did an ID check on me then asked me a very peculiar question. Going back to 2019 when you claimed, were the DWP aware that you were still employed? I said yes because it’s on my paperwork and I claimed as my sick pay had run out. He asked if it was face to face or by phone - I said face to face at local job centre offices.


He then said I know you don’t work and that you are on higher rate PIP etc. I offered information to him of 2 payments that I had received which I had written to Wolverhampton about.

That was all. Can anyone shed light on this question please just to put my mind at rest? Does it seem like just a random check on detail?

I can't be bothered to google further than this right now, and I realise the folly of linking to another forum post instead of official sources but some interesting posts here (mostly about the compliance officer collecting overpayments then it not being possible for the DWP to start further fraud action on the same case after that point), once again I don't think any overpayments in this case would be of a high enough level for anything much to happen apart from a letter asking for the money back, it was the case that people claiming DLA would be dealt with by a compliance officer rather than a fraud investigation being launched, there is probably a DWP manual or some guidance notes online with all this in.

yes if it was someone claiming DLA fraudulently, claiming they had a disability, that would be criminal, but overpayments like this sort of thing by a bona fide disabled claimant would not be

www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/topic/2926...ment-on-jsa-worried/

unless something has changed in recent years disabled people don't go down the "fraud" pipeline they go down the compliance one, they would be dealt with by a compliance officer not a fraud officer, initally at least, what I'm trying to say is that I think it'd be fine to record any fluctuations over £6k and send a letter monthly after the fact if any adjustments are needed, the OP seems to be getting very stressed over something I doubt the DWP are that bothered about, or is an unusual situation that they don't know how to deal with, the "we're onto you!" scary advertising is a bit misleading and causes people unnecessary stress I think

HMRC at present only shares limited savings and investment information with the DWP. This consists of a list of the names of banks, Building Societies etc that a claimant has an account with. That is why when you make a new claim the DWP may ask you to attend the Jobcentre with bank statements showing the level of your savings. This is for each account that appears on their list. A problem arises if an account is not revealed and your name appears on the list as a customer of that financial institution. Then you can expect your Benefit to be suspended until a statement is forthcoming or maybe a Compliance interview if a large amount of money is involved. The DWP also have other fraud prevention powers involving Court applications. I don't know how things are going to change with the new proposals.

"if you are on PIP you aren't at risk of being prosecuted for fraud I don't think"

"given that this would be dealt with on a compliance basis not fraud because of your disability"

Hi adam33

From DC's posts it seems clear that he is seeking to do everything he can to comply with the rules re notifying the DWP re his changing levels of savings. I don't think there's any mention in his posts that the DWP is suspecting fraud or that there is any need for "compliance interviews." I waned to comment on the 2 quotes from your last post which although I am sure they were written in good faith they are, in my opinion, a bit misleading although not intentionally so I'm sure!

"if you are on PIP you aren't at risk of being prosecuted for fraud I don't think"

In a general sense this is untrue as it seems to imply that being on a disability benefit confers "immunity" from prosecution for fraud - it does not! Whilst, as i''ve said before, there's no suggestion of fraud here, on occasion a tiny proportion of disability benefit claimants ARE successfully prosecuted for fraud!

"given that this would be dealt with on a compliance basis not fraud because of your disability"

This too is potentially misleading although again not intentionally so.

You don't - and can't - know how "this" would be dealt with AT ALL let alone in a particular way because of his disability! As in your first comment you are also making the incorrect assumption that "disability" necessarily precludes prosecution for fraud - again it does not!

I am making these comments because I think it's important those of us - including me - on disability benefits realise we have to do everything we can - including getting additional support if we need it - to ensure that we comply with the rules. I wouldn't want anyone to get a false sense of security re this issue simply because they are on disability benefits! I too am on means-tested disability benefits and whilst I am not committing benefit fraud - and of course have no plans to do so - IF the DWP ever suspected that I was they would investigate this and they would likely prosecute me if they thought I was committing fraud regardless of my disability!

Kind regards

Mr B

if you are on PIP you aren't at risk of being prosecuted for fraud I don't think, but you would need to repay any overpayment, I imagine there are amounts of overpayment where the DWP aren't interested in collecting, it costs money to investigate and otherwise deal with these things.

other people have suggested you could also just declare savings of £6249 and have your benefits reduced by £2 a week or whatever it is, if there aren't any essential items you need to buy that would reduce your savings far enough below £6000 that fluctuations in value would take you over £6000.

given that this would be dealt with on a compliance basis not fraud because of your disability, you could also keep a record month by month and send it into them, so "from 1-3 it was above £6k, then it dropped below for a week, then above between 3pm and 6pm on the 17th" etc, it's going to be much easier to tell them about changes in the past than keep them up to date as it happens (which is basically impossible to do).

if you're able to take letters into your local jobcentre and get a receipt you wouldn't need to send them recorded, but if you were sending one letter a month you might not be too worried about that.

I think at the moment the DWP would first need to suspect you are commiting fraud before they can access a bank account (I think they can pretty much always just write to you and ask for statements and suspend your benefit if you don't send them).

From memory I don't think people who are claiming PIP would have things dealt with on the fraud track at present, there is another department called compliance who deal with disabled people, and I don't think there are any criminal proceedings involved, I don't know if they can apply to view your accounts etc

the new law has to get through the house of lords yet, and there will be a change of government by the end of the year, and possibly in late spring, so the new government would also have to like the idea enough to carry on with it

incidentally anyone can write to their MP and tell them you don't like this idea and think it should be binned

I was just refused the right to submit in writing even though I explained that it was a reasonable adaptation due to concentration difficulties. Started as a letter for a Compliance Interview - no subject given so no idea which benefit - and when I phoned to ask for the adaptation was told it was now a Benefit Review of ESA that could only be done on the phone or in my home. Still no idea why. Can I appeal the refusal? Should I?