Hi I would like some help please from all of the experienced WR people out there. I have an elderly client whose husband died recently. She registered his death in the usual manner informing the DWP and other benefits agencies. She was her husbands appointee as he was blind and drew his money from his post office account each week. There is now no money left in the account, or his bank account and she has now recieved two letters informing her of overpayments of RP and AA. The letter states that "Overpayments that arise after death are often caused by the fact that the department may not become aware of a death in time to stop subsequent payment being issued. The department accepts that this overpayment may not have been as a result of any individuals fault, it does have a duty to seek a refund from the deceased estate where appropriate."

Both my client and her husband had been in receipt of HB/CTB benefit, PC, carers allowance and AA for a number of years and he left no will. After he died, my client found a bag full of money that amounted to £20,000. She has informed HB/CTB who are not recovering any overpayments and we are still waiting to here from PC as to whether they are going to recover overpayments aswell.

Could anyone let me know in their experience, what course of action I should take regarding the overpayments of RP and AA?

Hi.

Dont think your client has to pay back the overpayment as in recovering the overpayment the client has to have failed to disclose a material fact IE that har husband has died. Therfor not recoverable.

£20000 would take your client over the capital limits £16000 for meanstested benefit ie HB/CTB but no capital limit for RP AA.

There is likley to be an overpayment for HB if she tells them about the £20000. good look with your morral dilema.

Regards Phil

You might want to look at R(SB) 21/82 for the facts of the case, which have some similarities. (the recovery principles have been famously overturned) If your client/late husband had been receiving guarantee credit/IS for many years, the risk is that an o/p will be calculated from earliest possible date on basis of misrepresentation and she will be asked to repay.

it's a shock to find a bag of money you know nothing about, but the best way to help her initially, imo, is to help her deduce as many facts as possible towards cracking the mystery of the bag of money, and finding out what her case is. she will say she has no idea, but will be able to tell you more than she thinks she can. the more blanks she can fill in, the less it leaves for the DWP to fill in.

with regard to the overpayments of RP and AA, it reads like the overpayments are due to direct payments after the date of death, which can be recovered under regulation 11 of the Payments on account etc regs '88.

It's possible that they have only issued common law recovery letters. From personal experience with 2 relatives I had this happen. One received RP for 6 months after death and the other for two months. In those cases they wrote asking for payment back - no appeal rights.

I contacted PS and notified that we would not be paying money back and heard no more.

It does sound as though it may be the same in your case - the department are dutifully asking for payment back but the claimant is under no obligation to pay back.

There is a big push on at present sending these letters out and in some cases the wording implies they could take civil court action, which would clearly fail. But several clients felt the tone implied they had too pay and contacted us.Where clients haven't responded the DWP have also sent out chaser letters .We have raised it in our social policy system as should any other CAB with same enquiries.