Benefit overpaypents?

[jack29]

Now got Dad moved into NH close by and he has settled in very well and we are very happy so far with the level of care.

My next challenge is to sort out his pension and benefits. I notified the DWP when he went into NH on 31/03 and told them I thought he was in receipt of other benefits but that I was not sure what they were as I could not find any current paperwork when we cleared out his flat. I also requested that I become his appointeee, finally had a letter to say a representative from the DWP will meet me at the NH in a couple of weeks to sort that out. What I am concerned about is if he has been overpaid....I dont want them to tell him that as I dont want him to worry about money...he has a real thing about money at the moment AND if he has been overpaid will he have to pay it back all in one go or will they make deductions from what he is entitled to?
If anyone has experience of any of the above and advice would be welcome.

Thanks

 

[Margarita]

I notified the DWP when he went into NH on 31/03

As long as you notified them , they can not make your father pay back any money . So it be they mistake if they was any over payments not your fathers . did you phone them or put it in writing when you notified them ? so if it did come to it over payments was made you have proof that you Notified them of the change .



I don’t see why any of his benefit should stop if he go in to a care home full time unless his not self funded, because if his not self funded all that stops is the attendance allowance


May be they just visiting , made the arrangement to meet you in your father care home , as proof that his still alive living where your saying his living .

 

[jude1950]

Hi There.

why do you think he might have been overpaid? If he had attendance allowance this is still payable for 4 weeks after he has gone into care lf he is completely self funding he is still elegible for attendance allowance. Once you become his appointee you are the one that is responsible for making the correct claims for pensions and other state benefits if you make an error in those claims it is you that will be held responsible as his appointee. The representative from the benefits agency that you have an appointment with will explain things fully. Hope this helps.

regards Judith

 

[susiewoo]

I think as long as you have notified them then from that date they can work stuff out.
I didn't realise that we had to notify when Mum went into hospital..mainly cause I had too much to deal with at the time and had no idea that she would be in so long and just didn't think of it.
some time later Mum started receiving letters telling her she had been over paid attendance allowence and these letters actually became quite threatening in tone.
everyone I spoke to put me onto someone else and it was very difficult to sort out.
eventually some bright spark decided to deduct it from her pension credit at some miniscule amount each month so will take a long time to pay off.
My only thought is to document everything however monor and most importantly get the name of anyone you speak to about this.
Don't stress about it as there are more important things to worry about and wear yourself out with.

 

[jack29]

Margarita
I told them over the phone twice and last week sent a special delivery letter, saying that I had called twice to notify them and I was now confirming those conversations in writing.

Dad is not self-funded so I need to get the benefits sorted so that the local authority can know how much they will be getting from Dad for his care.

jude1950
I think he may be getting overpaid as the DWP told me to collect his pension for him until I am made appointee and he is getting approx £230 per week which seems quite a high amount.

susiewoo
I was hoping someone would say he could pay back any overpayment from future benefit payments as I have put his pension in his bank account and it would not be easy to sort out getting the money out again.

Thanks for all the advice.

 

[Carolynlott]

I'm having real problems with the DWP. They assessed my Mum in December, and we were told she probably didn't qualify for Pension Credit. Then they wrote and asked for evidence of the ground rent she pays. Then we got a statement saying she was entitled to £23 per week, plus a cheque for backpayments. I realised they hadn't included all her savings, even though I had disclosed them (and the ground rent) at the assessment. Then we got two more statements saying she was entitled to £4 per week now (assessment looked correct) and then from December she'd be entitled to nothing (they had added in another £25,000 savings!). When I phoned them about this mythical £25,000 savings they said "maybe she will get a windfall that you aren't aware of". They really don't seem very competent. I am still waiting - if Mum can get Pension Credit she won't have to pay her Council Tax.

 

[Margaret W]

Just don't mention the DWP to me. They have been a nightmare to deal with over the last 11 months. Decision 1 has been reversed and replaced with Decision 2. Decision 2 has been reversed and replaced with Decision 3. Decision 3 has been reversed and replaced with Decision 1 again, and so on and so on. I am still in dispute with them, and they don't reply to letters within about 6 weeks, though you have only 4 weeks to appeal against any decision. I had such a decision made on 27th February, but I didn't receive it till 18th March. By the time I had consulted the CBA and other sources, I had exceeded the month's limit. I wrote to them asking if this limit could be extended as I had not received the letter - well, it is now 6th May and no reply!!

Only comfort I can give is that I have not been asked to repay anything, and I am told that if I am asked then I can refuse. Don't understand what bit of legislation that comes under, but that is what I have been advised.

They are the crappiest organisation in the country, dealing with vulnerable people, in worrying situations, and seem to have not a care for the stress it all causes. Wonder if Gordon Brown has an ageing parent - he did things for children when he acquired them, perhaps lets hope he has an old mum to deal with too!

Margerita is right (she always is!), Attendance allowance ceases if you are local authority funded, but not if you are self-funded.

I think there is a need for a Minister for claiming state funding. For anything. Does anybody really understand the funding/benefits system? I've just had an issue at work this week where a disabled student has told me she can attend a particular University course and get it paid for. She can't. I have tried to advise her on this, but the criteria are so difficult to understand that I can't explain it to her properly with the result that she is making a formal complaint against me for wrongly advising her!

I haven't wrongly advised her, I just couldn't put it into understandable words.

Good luck to anyone on the state funding issue.

Margaret

 

[Margaret W]

Carolyn

I went off at a tangent cos the situation is so raw with me, mum has gone from an income of zero to £265 a week and six different figures in between that I despair.

Where has your mum's mythical £25,000 come from, that is what you want to query, and you want to put it in writing and send it recorded delivery, and make sure you send it to the right place, cos I made the MEGA mistake of notifying the Attendance Allowance people when my mum entered a Care Home and not the DWP people, which has caused me to lose every claim I have made for my mother, and she now gets no pension credit despite having been granted an Assessed Income Period to 2012 previously. That is now cancelled, and she gets no entitlement to anything, despite paying all her own fees in the Care Home. ****. Excuse me.

Right, I have researched this a great deal. If there is a reasonable chance of your mother receiving £25,000 in the next year or so (say she has an investment bond that is due to mature), they are entitled to take it into account now. But if there is no such investment bond and lets say she has premium bonds that MAY or MAY NOT win, they cannot consider those in their calculations. They can, however, regard her investment in premium bonds as savings, and add on the stupidly high sum of £1 per week income for every £500 of bonds that she has.

There are other quirks too.

If you'd like to PM me, I will try to help. But I thought I was an expert and I am clearly not, so perhaps we should keep the conversation open to everyone.

Hope you get it sorted. Best of luck, and keep us informed.

Margaret

 

[Nebiroth]

I dont want them to tell him that as I dont want him to worry about money...he has a real thing about money at the moment ...

Thanks

The best thing to do is to tell the DWP in advance that your Dad is incapable of understanding his finances, and that his being in attendence at the meeting is not only likely to be an exercise in futility, but is also quite likely to cause him and you a lot of unecessary distress. And probably the person from the DWP as well!

I am sure that there will be procedures in place to deal with that situation - there are undoubtedly others in your awkward position! I assume that you don't have power of attorney - if you did then there would be no need at all for Dad to be present, as you would be fully empowered to deal with his affairs.

However, given that many claim forms have provision for people to claim benefits on someone's behalf, without their knowledge, even when there is no power of attorney - I am sure that something could be arranged.

You just need to make it clear that Dad is incapable of understanding his finances.

In any case, if the meeting is in reference to your becoming an appointee, the meeting will be more about the DWP satisfying themselves that you are a suitable person who will act in the best interests of their "client" as it were. In which case, you could tactfuly suggest that any financial details be dealt with after you are given appointee status - stating the reasons you mention. Once you are an appointee I don't see any reason why your Dad would need to be present.

 

[Margarita]

This is a new area for me.
But I always presumed that one’s my mother in funded care home, that I no longer shall be her appointee for her pension.
All her benefits’ / pension are pay directly to care home from DWP?

Dad is not self-funded so I need to get the benefits sorted so that the local authority can know how much they will be getting from Dad for his care.

Why not just ring them
requesting a print out of all your father benefits’, or can’t you do that because you’re not authored to do so , because you had not sent up appointee over your father DWP benefits’ before he went into care home .

local authority our social worker it must be them that want the information ( father social worker ) so you should be telling them a SW.

So they help you to sort it all out , getting the information from DWP , they have more authority then you with the DWP , because you are not the apponty .

So leave it in they hands , while your getting the benefits putting it in your father bank for him in the mean time.

I was hoping someone would say he could pay back any overpayment from future benefit payments as I have put his pension in his bank account and it would not be easy to sort out getting the money out again.

I am sure that between social services DWP & the bank they can recover any over payment out of your father account .
but I am sure they won't do that recover any over payment.

I would not worry or stress over it , just make sure that your father gets all the clothes Ect he needs while in care home .

While you still getting his benefit, give Care home or him £20 a week out of it as that what his legally entitled to. beside buying all clothes Ext he may need while in care home keeping all receipt .

Till they sorted the whole mess out that they have created while dumping it all onto you . when really a social worker should be doing it all for you , helping you both out in sorting this information they want .

 

[Tender Face]

Dear Jack ... I bit the bullet today and made the phone calls I needed to to advise people mum was in a NH as of last week (not exactly forward planned!) .. I have to say , my experience of DWP has been great over the last couple of years - from 'third party mandate' through registered EPA - I guess everyone has a tale to tell .... ...... yes, they will take away her Attendance Allowance ..... yes it will be reinstated as soon as she is not NHS funded or returns home ..... and at that point probably increased to Higher Rate ..... but then a call to the council gave her exemption from Council Tax payments for the period she is in care ...... on balance, if she has the full six week's funded care she has been offered she will be worse off than before .... Ignoring issues of yes, I am worried how best I can manage her limited assets to fund long term care if that is what is required .... the importance is notifying people ASAP of changes will help YOU stay in control as appointee (or as in my case EPA) ...

Might be worth noting here - also worth checking with any insurance providers about additional premiums and /or exclusions if a person has vacated a property to go into care ....... It galls me that we have to worry about these things as POAs etc ... when it is not our primary concern, but sadly, it's part of the caring role .....

With love, Karen, x

 

[CraigC]

Hi All,

I think the DWP seems to be down to the luck of the draw. Whoever opens that letter of yours has you destiny in their hands - communication does seem to be an issue and I find it very hard to extract information, names etc from anyone that I speak to at the DWP.

My guess is they have a really terrible database and IT system as there always seem to be complaints from staff about the state of the IT systems when I call. It often seems to be 'down'.

Complain if you have a bad experience:

Complaining about service or how your claim has been handled
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/contact/complaintsappeals.asp

As long as you notified them , they can not make your father pay back any money .

I'm not sure that is always the case, not in my experience anyway. Maybe they found a loophole in our case.

Kind Regards
Craig