Overpaid benefit NOT

A question about : Overpaid benefit NOT

OH dear I need your help anyone who can................I'll explain as briefly as I can .

2003 after a major op I went onto sick pay/incapacity I can't remember how many weeks ,think it was 26 :-/ and when that finished as I no longer had a job I went onto job seekers allowance ..............while on it I was interviewed as it appears someone is working and using my details ,I made a declaration that it was not me ,was promised it would be investigated and heard no more...................shortly afterwards decided I would not be returning to any work and duly signed off ...............thought nothing of it until this morning when I get a letter from a debt management company demanding Ј421.54p overpaid benefit returned asap or court proceedings will begin :-/.no letters in between ,nothing

The letter states that benefit was paid but I had been doing 16 hrs per week work and was not entitled to the payments..................I haven't done 5 minutes work :-/

presumably this person that was /is using my details has

So any advise on what to do ,where I can get evidence it wasn't me ,how I can stop proceedings etc much appreciated

Best answers:

• Traf,
  it sounds like someone might have been using your National Insurance Number which might/might not have been an accident.
  Somewhere I once worked wrote down one of my NI nos wrong and as a result was taxed on code BR (as tho i had 2 jobs) as the NI no work had given me belonged to someone else - took me months of phone calls and letters to sort it.
  I have rang the tax office before and have quoted my NI no and they have been able to confirm when i was working - dates and places - so maybe you could start there :-/
  Good Luck
• good idea , i'll give them a ring to start .................unbelievable that this can happen ..........I really don't have that sort of money lying around and don't want to end up on any black lists for something i haven't done ..........scary :-/
• The letter could be a scam? Ie. it seems odd that you had no letters at all. It could be from the person that was using your details before. At the moment it is not too serious even if it is genuine (ie. genuine mistake) because they are only threatening court.
  I would check with your local Jobcentre re whether they are attempting to reclaim benefit and explain the situation and get them to put it in writing whatever they have to say. Take a letter into them or send recorded delivery re the whole situation including a copy of the letter you have received.
  Let us know how you get on.
• It is genuine the letter Fran and they say if not paid in 14 days court action will follow, I rang the debt recovery people and the jobcentre and have an appointment with JC on monday to get all the info etc,but thanks for your help ,I will make sure it is put in writing and let you know what happens
• Wow Wickedwitch,
  I'm impressed with your post and all the info in it , I was going to try and get info from JC but wasn't sure exactly what to ask for and I never even thought of the police ,but your right it is identity theft unless of course it is a genuine cockup....................I did have an interview with them last year when I made a declaration to say it wasn't me and they said .oh don't worry it's just your name is unusal in these parts so they want to check , that's all ..............heard nothing else ,and since I wasn't claiming after that , I thought nothing of it ....until the demand for the money popped on the mat.
  Thank you for your help , I will let you know how I get on at the JC monday. !
  and welcome to the site
• Aaaaaaawwwww traf !:'( !just seen this. I hope your ok, please don't worry too much (i know it's easier said than done) but you've been given some great advice here and i'm sure it'll all get sorted out. My thoughts are with you, and please let us know how you go on. !:-* :-*
• Aww thanks rushnowt,I will let you all know ,fingers crossed
• What a complete waste of time ,a right royal run around ,
  Jobcentre.........................
  "I'm sorry but we don't keep the records after a few months they go to the area head office let me just see what I can do "
  "I'm sorry head office doesn't appear to have them either "
  ME...................
  Well someone must have them :-/
  jobcentre................
  "just a minute I'll ring debt management "
  "Sorry madam it seems they don't have any information either,but they did send the demand ,didn't they give you the information of where you had worked on the forms , you should of been given that information?"
  Me ,not impressed by this point......................
  now hang on a minute , debt management sent the demand and should of given the information to me but they haven't and they haven't got the information so why are they saying I worked then and demanding repayment ???......
  jobcentre......
  "I don't know would you like to speak to them"
  Me
  Yes
  debt management.........
  "Yes we sent the demand ,no we don't have the information you require , did we not send it with the demand notice"
  Me ....................goes to nearest wall and bangs head against it > > >
  nobody has the info (or are at least not admitting it )so what do I do now .................................... any help / advice appreciated .
  I went with every intention of dealing with this and confident in clearing my name .....well miffed right now >
• > ??? > Traf i'm so sorry, you must be well pee'd off, that sounds like a complete load of !!!!!!!! crap to me. There must be something you can do, we'll all put our heads together and think of something.
  Has Ted or Fran given you any advice they seem to be pretty clued up on benefits etc :-/
  Any road, i'll put my thinking cap on and have a chat with a few people i know, if thats ok with you, let me know if it's not. :-*
• Traf,
  Did you ring the tax office quoting your NI no to see if they could give you dates etc
• Hi
  was hoping you'd pop in so to speak ;D
  They say they will do some checking and see what they can find but one hand doesn't know what the other is doing , someone kindly suggested that I send a letter in to debt management and get mad >
  This is it so far .........I've gone through everything I can think of ,checked with tax office etc ,had the run around from 2 jobcentres and the debt management ,they can't find the file ,they don't have a record anywhere of it ever being referred to investigation ,I've never been sent any letters asking me in for interview ...................I just don't know where to go now ,except to write to debt management and state I want the information sent on and I am not happy .
  Does that make sense ..................basically all they've said is ...............we'll try and find the file :-/
• Your name has changed to badfairy but it's signed WW so I guess it's wickedwitch I'm replying to ;D ;D
  thank you for that I will do just that, first thing tomorrow , thanks for your help ,just one more thing if you don't mind ,I chatted about this today and it was suggested that some eager beaver picked the file up and ran with it , without checking it properly and that is why there is no info on it being processed for claim anywhere.............is that a possibility or am I clutching ???
• Ok, thanks badfairy
• I've had three phone calls today from three differant departments ............... : the first two telling me the thirs is going to ring ;D
  The third said....................
  DWP
  "oh we've found your file ,well we know where it is but we haven't actually got it in front of us ,but we can get it "
  ME
  Can you give me any info ???
  "DWP
  "eh no sorry but if you write in we can send it to you"
  ME
  "That's good because that's what I've done "
  DWP
  "oh, so your appealling then"
  ME
  "Yes"
  DWP
  "oh ,ok, we'll try and find the file then"
  Give me strenght.....no wonder people get frustrated dealing with them .................no more phoning ,it's depressing , everything on paper from now on
  Sent the letter of appeal asking for all info and stating I intend to seek legal advice if needed
• Hello Traf
  Sorry to hear that you are going through all of this.
  Any letters that you do send to any government agency I suggest you send recorded delivery so you can get a name for who signed for them. Always get the full name of the person you speak too.
  How long ago did you send your appeal? If I was you I would chase it up to make sure it is being dealt with.
  I would also put in a complaint - you are more than likely entitled to compensation though not a huge amount owing to their errors etc.
  Log all of your phone calls etc and also write asking them to re-emburse the costs of these calls as it is their errors causing you to have to make all of these calls. Do not let them make you out of pocket.
  If all else fails let them take you to court and look completely stupid!
  GOOD LUCK.
• Hi Deronda,
  Thanks for your reply
  It prompted me to get in touch with them again,I sent a very strong letter to them which they recieved 11th nov and have spoken to them this morning.
  They are now saying they have my letter confirming I wish to appeal but they don't think they have to send me evidence :-/ cause they've never done that before.
  I quoted the relevant acts that say I am entitled to it and also said ,"how am I supposed to defend myself against these allegations if I don't know where I'm supposed to of worked" to which the reply came,it doesn't appear to be on your file.
  So I asked what was on my file and they said."oh,we will have to request it from storage" :-/
  So back to square one ,I was told to give it a couple of weeks as they will be investigating again since I have denied working
• this is just so stupid ... how on earth can they justify asking you for money if they don't have a file saying when you're suspected of working ?!!
  i don't know how their computer system works but when i worked for them, ohhhh, 13 years ago they kept current files in cabinets and 'dormant' files in the basement. after a few years the dormant files were shredded. if they've lost your file then tell them you've already paid it lol!!