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A few years ago. I was out of work and signed on as well claimed council tax concession. At the time, at that time my accountant had moved some of my pension, 50k from a SIP company to set up a Limited Company which I was intending to use as a travel tour company in Burma, once the political situation improved there. When I was in danger of losing my house, in desperation I took several Director's loans of around 5k from my company. I had fully intended to repay the money, as I worked as an IT contractor needed to be able use a limited company whenever, I went back to work.
In the end, all this failed, I lost my house and I was having to go into bankruptcy but then I got called to be interviewed by the DWP and the local council, stating that I had been claiming even though I had other money available to me. All my attempts to explain that I perceived the money in the Limited Company as part of my pension being invested but it just so happened that I was the MD of the company. They stated that since I was the only director, then it was my money. I pointed out that years of being a contractor had taught me that I could not treat the money as mine.
All the explanations fell on deaf ears and they ruled that I should pay back the money. In their explanation they stated that it was because I had used the lump sum of my pension even though, I had told them repeatedly that it was not my lump sum. In the end, I decided not to argue as I knew that I was going into bankruptcy.
When I went into bankruptcy, the official receiver included this so called debts in the bankruptcy and I thought that this would be the end to it. Six months later I was contacted by the local council who told me that they were also acting on the behalf of the DWP, saying while they accepted that the overpayments were covered in the bankruptcy that there would be an adminstrative charge which would not be included in the bankruptcy. I went along with it, just to draw a line under all my problems.
The council then contacted me and I have been paying a small amount per month.
In February this year, I got a letter from the DWP demanding that I repaid the overpayments plus the adminstrative penalty. I phoned and explained about the bankruptcy, to which the person I spoke to knew nothing about. I spoke to my official receiver rep, who said they had been sent all the documentation in May last year. But she would send it again. Then everything went quiet, so I presumed that they had settled the matter. But yesterday (11-7-12), I received another letter asking for the money again. When I debated the issue as to why this affair had stop and started, I was eventually put through to a manager who said that contradictory statements. first he said that the reason they did not contact me initiially was because they felt that I would be burdened enough dealing with the bankruptcy, so they were waiting for it to end, as it did in May '12. Then he apologised for the contact in February. But later in the debate he changed his argument and said that the reason it not was pursued at the begining was because at that stage it was not considered to be fraud and that it only became fraud when I had agreed to pay the adminstration penalty, it was an admission of fraud. And that bankruptcy could not include money owed because of fraud. The forms I signed told me that signing them would stop me being taken to face criminal charges. As usual I was being told that unless I agree to a payment plan to pay the full amount, this will be passed on to a private company and there will be additional costs.
I believe that the main points are that in May last year when I was declared bankrupt, the OR sent letters to all my debtors pointing out all the debts being included in the bankruptcy. At this stage, the DWP did not dispute this but 6 months later, they decided charge me an administration fee. My OR questioned this but said that they might have a point. So just to draw a line underneath it all, I agreed to pay the administration fee of £409.38 believing that the overpayment of £1,364.62 was covered by the bankruptcy.
In the end, all this failed, I lost my house and I was having to go into bankruptcy but then I got called to be interviewed by the DWP and the local council, stating that I had been claiming even though I had other money available to me. All my attempts to explain that I perceived the money in the Limited Company as part of my pension being invested but it just so happened that I was the MD of the company. They stated that since I was the only director, then it was my money. I pointed out that years of being a contractor had taught me that I could not treat the money as mine.
All the explanations fell on deaf ears and they ruled that I should pay back the money. In their explanation they stated that it was because I had used the lump sum of my pension even though, I had told them repeatedly that it was not my lump sum. In the end, I decided not to argue as I knew that I was going into bankruptcy.
When I went into bankruptcy, the official receiver included this so called debts in the bankruptcy and I thought that this would be the end to it. Six months later I was contacted by the local council who told me that they were also acting on the behalf of the DWP, saying while they accepted that the overpayments were covered in the bankruptcy that there would be an adminstrative charge which would not be included in the bankruptcy. I went along with it, just to draw a line under all my problems.
The council then contacted me and I have been paying a small amount per month.
In February this year, I got a letter from the DWP demanding that I repaid the overpayments plus the adminstrative penalty. I phoned and explained about the bankruptcy, to which the person I spoke to knew nothing about. I spoke to my official receiver rep, who said they had been sent all the documentation in May last year. But she would send it again. Then everything went quiet, so I presumed that they had settled the matter. But yesterday (11-7-12), I received another letter asking for the money again. When I debated the issue as to why this affair had stop and started, I was eventually put through to a manager who said that contradictory statements. first he said that the reason they did not contact me initiially was because they felt that I would be burdened enough dealing with the bankruptcy, so they were waiting for it to end, as it did in May '12. Then he apologised for the contact in February. But later in the debate he changed his argument and said that the reason it not was pursued at the begining was because at that stage it was not considered to be fraud and that it only became fraud when I had agreed to pay the adminstration penalty, it was an admission of fraud. And that bankruptcy could not include money owed because of fraud. The forms I signed told me that signing them would stop me being taken to face criminal charges. As usual I was being told that unless I agree to a payment plan to pay the full amount, this will be passed on to a private company and there will be additional costs.
I believe that the main points are that in May last year when I was declared bankrupt, the OR sent letters to all my debtors pointing out all the debts being included in the bankruptcy. At this stage, the DWP did not dispute this but 6 months later, they decided charge me an administration fee. My OR questioned this but said that they might have a point. So just to draw a line underneath it all, I agreed to pay the administration fee of £409.38 believing that the overpayment of £1,364.62 was covered by the bankruptcy.
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