Not a trick question…
Readers of this site will know I’ve been working with a young woman in Colchester who receives Universal Credit. She is very concerned about the random amounts of money that the DWP suddenly started to deduct from her Universal Credit payments for an alleged tax credit debt.
The woman disputes the debt. She wants a chance to challenge it and to stop the deductions.
The DWP is taking over collection of tax credit debt from the HMRC for Universal Credit claimants. People are complaining that the DWP has started to deduct tax credit debt repayments without notice from their Universal Credit payments each month.
Problem is – people who want to challenge these deductions run into bureaucratic problems at every turn. It’s very hard not to feel this is intentional. It really, really is. Here’s an interview I posted yesterday with an Oldham woman who has the same tax credit debt problem.
Three weeks ago, the Colchester woman asked the DWP to send her a full statement and breakdown of her alleged tax credit debt. She wanted a statement which showed the debt and listed all repayments deducted from her benefits and tax credit claims for to date.
She’s found getting that information impossible.
On the phone, she was passed from the HMRC to the DWP to the DWP Debt Management department.
The DWP finally agreed to send her a statement history in a fortnight.
That was three weeks ago. The statement has not arrived.
This means the woman is no closer to being able to challenge the tax credit debt, or the DWP’s deductions from her Universal Credit payments.
The DWP’s bureaucratic failures and institutional indifference deny her that right. The department continues to deduct tax credit debt repayment money she can ill afford to lose from her Universal Credit payments.
She will go further into debt because of that – a point that should concern everyone. This woman just took out another Universal Credit advance payment to cover the tax credit debt deductions – having just finished paying back the Advance Payment she took out to cover payment delays when she started her Universal Credit claim (you can see that deduction in the image above).
The whole thing is absolutely hopeless. I’ll post more on it as we make further requests for statements and repayment histories.
I’ll also keep noting these DWP administration shockers. Plenty of people already do, of course, and I hope more come forward. Something needs to be done about this impossible DWP bureaucracy. People are denied benefits, or their right to appeal, or their right to ask for debt repayment totals to be reduced to manageable amounts because the DWP bureaucracy is just so dysfunctional and hard to negotiate. It does seem especially dysfunctional when people need to address debt and payment problems.
Heads should roll at the very top of the DWP because of this. I really mean that. This is the service people on the lowest incomes and with the highest support needs are expected to rely on and navigate for income.
But they can’t.
Here is another example.
I’m dealing with a Northampton woman who just had an Employment and Support Allowance Work Capability Assessment. She has very serious mental health issues and a schizophrenia diagnosis. She has spent time in hospital and support units. Her condition has worsened as local support services have been removed.
Nonetheless, the DWP recently sent her a letter saying she would be moved from the highest-needs ESA Support Group to the ESA Work Related Activity Group. People in the ESA WRAG group must report to their jobcentres for work-related interviews and courses.
She wanted to challenge that decision.
She asked the DWP to send her a detailed list of reasons explaining why the department had made the decision to move her out of the Support Group. She needed that list of reasons to understand the DWP’s decision to move her to WRAG and to challenge the department on points that she and her doctors disagreed with.
The DWP agreed to send her that information – but hasn’t. Nothing has happened. Without that information, neither she nor her doctors can challenge the DWP’s decision in a meaningful way. The deadline for asking the DWP to reconsider its decision has been and gone. She was only able to send a basic letter by way of challenge.
However…
The DWP has managed to send this woman two other letters in the past month.
The first told her that her benefit would be cut now that she was in the ESA WRAG group (I’ve posted an extract from that letter above). It also threatens her with prosecution if she doesn’t declare changes to her situation etc – the usual sort of threat and tone that the DWP takes with people who have serious mental health conditions.
The second letter told her to report to her jobcentre for work-related meetings, or face sanctions.
In other words – although the parts of the system that people must use to try and fix problems are broken, the parts that the DWP uses to threaten people appear to be firing on all cylinders.
Go figure.
Given the downgrading in Colchester woman’s bargaining power by way of disability benefit downgrading, I would say that my latest Kwug Blog placard is even more relevant to this blog posting than for our comments conversation regarding your previous posting about debt and bill paying.
‘Universal Credit’? More like: “Shock & awe if you are poor!”
Maybe, while Concentrix are reportedly no longer working with HM Revenue & Customs, they are now working with DWP to screw Universal Credit claimants good and proper via false accounting? Tax fraud, anyone?
concentrix hmrc tax credits
Why don’t someone come up with a form to fill in to request
full details of alleged debt, the payment schedule so far , timetable, etc etc and the address to send it.
Anyway what happened to ”Please check your change before leaving, as mistakes cannot be rectified later”
And I thought getting PIP was difficult! This is against all natural justice. Is it possible to go to a Tribunal over DWPs inability to comply with rules? I’m guessing not, but surely there’s some way to complain and get personal information out of them? Data Protection Act? These stories make me despair of this country. Thank you for telling them though – people need to know.
At the very least a recent tribunal ruled the imposition of strict time limits to appeal to be unlawful in cases where the appellant has reasonable grounds (such as requesting further information to support the appeal claim which the DWP then failed to send)
Sorry “reasonable grounds to have missed the arbitrary deadline” that was supposed to say
Bearing in mind that benefits like Universal Credit are already cut to the bone, taking out these extra deductions is absolutely outrageous. As for heads rolling at the DWP, it’s been more like one of those evil clown films. Except these evil clowns have all had a substantial bonus for their efforts introducing Universal Credit. Over to you – Pennywise.
Iain Duncan Smith is an evil clown. He mayhave gone now but it’s all his bloody fault. Him & that twat Freud have created one hell of a mess.
Simple. It is all about control and restraint of the welfare-claimants in society. Reluctantly giving out the absolute minimum of benefits, and then only with very strict conditions attached. Forcing people into cheap low-paid work, by removing the alternative of benefits.
All the while claiming that zero-hours slave-labour makes you somehow ‘better-off.’
It just isn’t true, these jobs are dead-end drudgery of the worst sort. Exhausting, stressful, and underpaid.
This is no advantage to anyone but a right-wing government that has pushed even the dying and the disabled into poverty and despair.
It seems to be a tactic of the DWP to ignore and letters/requests now hoping they will go away , i am a welfare adviser and have had letters to pension credit and carers allowance simply ignored recently , I also have clients on ESA who have had their requests ignored until their MP was involved then they argue that the MR or new claim is procedurally wrong so cannot get a reply, the system seems to be in a meltdown , with the only delivery being cuts
Should all be scrapped may and the tories evil feel sori for everyone
This person needs to tell the department of W*nkers and Parasites, DWP in other words, they know how much is taken/ received each month and as proof list the last 6 dates and amounts saying they can list every date from day one. If that fails to get a response take the Jeremy Hunts to court! Claim all costs and compensation. The only time they ignore is when they think you’re bluffing! But as soon as the papers hit their inbox they might give the info out then you just have to go after your out of pocket expenses and compensation.
Jeremy Hunts is my way of typing a word beginning with C, Hunts rhythms with?
I don’t understand how/why tax credit debts can exist in the first place. The tax system must be fucked up for this situation to even happen. When I worked years ago there was no such thing as Tax Credit, you had a personal income tax code ending in letter L if you were single or H if you were married, and you sometimes got an unexpected tax rebate out of the blue in your wage packet, which was paid weekly in cash in those days, usually Thursday was pay day, none of this tax Credit bullshit & monthly salaries paid into the bank. The old system was better, the world’s gone mad now & it’s all gone to pot.
And if you were on the dole you signed on weekly at the Unemployment Office & got paid weekly, no such thing as Jobcentres, no jobsearch bullshit or CVs, I used to sign Thursday & get a Giro in the post Saturday morning. Easy & simple. Why has all this modern technology made everything more complicated?
By a keyword search
http://www.communitycare.co.uk/search-results/?q=vaux%20dwp%20error
based on my knowledge of Community Care magazine’s ‘back catalogue’, I’ve just come across stuff that is years old but indicates how little the DWP has improved.
😉
I especially emphasise:
Social worker or benefits adviser? Examining the impact of welfare reforms
Should social workers take responsibility for helping service users negotiate the complex and ever-changing benefits system? Mathew Little reports
By Mat Little on May 7, 2013 in Unison Workplace Zone, Workforce
and
Revenue and Customs takes harsh line on tax credit overpayments
By Gary Vaux on October 30, 2009 in Community Care
I would advise that those severely let down by DWP tell their MP, and seek answers through that source.
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I have just been put on benefit for sickness, I still have phone calls every month asking me about work related issues, I’m a epileptic and awaiting further tests, universal credit had been underpaying me until my health assessment was done.
It has been done and they owe me backdated money, however they have decided that debt management have to have my backdated money for a tax credit overpayment that I never knew about, so basically they have taken all my backdated money.. Any thoughts on this, as I’ve read online they can only take a percentage not all of it. A merry Xmas to them to!
Hi Tracey what happened with your backdated money?? I’ve just seen your post..exactly same position as me! I’m devastated please tell me you got it resolved??
Hi, DWP( universal credit) sent the file over to debt management as there was a few outstanding old payments owed from 2007, they are keeping all of my back dated money £1348 if I want to appeal it I have to send them all my medical issues and debt and prove why I need the money refunded, not helpful, very nasty when rang them, I’m very poorly at the moment so can’t do anything, I’m devastated.
Hi, DWP (universal credit) gave it over to debt management, they are keeping all of it £1348, I can appeal it but they want proof of my illness and situation, I’m to ill at the moment, I rang them they were nasty and three different people told me different things, I needed that money despartely, I understand if monies were owed to them I would pay it back, they will not send me anything in writing, they basically took it without my consent, I’m getting legal advice and seriously thinking about going to the media, DWP also told me to lie about my eplipsey on my CV.
Can someone please give me some advice????
I suffer from manic depression,anxiety and paranoia. I’ve been on universal credit for nearly 3 years not getting any extra money for my illness. I just found out I had passed my medical assessment a few days ago and was to be paid £2.300 backdated money which is massive to me! Too good to be true, I could not believe finally I was believed to be ill and since only living on £190 per month, I had plans for this money to make myself a nice home also pay debts. Well it certainty turned out too good to be true!! I was told to ring the dwp debt recovery to see what amount t they would be taking..thinking I just owed for an advance..to be told I was overpaid nearly £3000 child tax credits in 2014…so they have taken the full lot of my backdated money..I knew nothing about this..I was noir overpaid and why did it take them four year to tell me this! I’m so so angry and upset..dreamed shattered now..feel suicidal again..how can they do this???