DWP hassle

[thatnamestaken]

Re: DWP hassle

This is the crazy part of it....if I had known anything about a pension,I would have told them when I started my claim but it was them that informed me over a year after I started claiming ! I am non the wiser info wise now as they have told me nothing !
My understanding is that income based JSA is just that...based on your income.As I had no income and this elusive pension has not been paid to me in any way as yet....how can the DWP say they have overpaid me ? !

[SXGuy]

Re: DWP hassle

easy way to check if your company did stop pension from you is to check your old payslips.

Usually, you will see it as a deduction, of your tax code will be different from the standard majority.

To be honest, you should have at least been sent a report of any pension each year telling you how much you paid in and what its worth, if you never had these, chances are, you may have been coded wrong, then the assumtion is you had a company pension even when you didnt.

Check your old tax codes, if they dont appear correct, contact HMRC to get a refund in overpaid tax, and use their reply letter as proof you had no company pension.

[thatnamestaken]

Re: DWP hassle

Evening all....Just got home and a letter waiting for me....from HM Revenue & Customs.It is a tax code that will be applied to my elusive pension.BBOO was correct,it seems,regarding DWP incompetence....the pension does not start being paid to me until APRIL !!!!! When they send me the next demand for the "overpayment",I will take great pleasure in sending a copy of this letter and demand a return of all the money they have pilfered from my benefits over the last three months....I would ask for an apology as well but that would be unlikely.....

[BBoo]

Re: DWP hassle

I will take great pleasure in sending a copy of this letter and demand a return of all the money they have pilfered from my benefits over the last three months....I would ask for an apology as well but that would be unlikely.....

You should also ask for a Special Payment for the distress caused. The DWP do not like people to know of the existence of SP's, but they can make 'compensatory' payments (they stress it is not compensation!lol) to you. Put forward the strongest case you can about the distress caused. We sent back four cheques to them stating we'd rather take them to court. They are now beginning to get nearer a realistic sum. You do, however, risk losing the lot if you hold out for too much, so you need to be prepared to carry out any threats if need be.

The initial offer will be around £15-20 which is insulting. They also use the trick of telling you your complaint has now been passed to the final stage of the complaints process. This hints that it is 'final.' It isn't! We have been passed to the top person five times now, each time getting to a higher person with more authority.

I'm rather hoping I may end up suing my brother who is an Executive Director of the DWP.

[thatnamestaken]

Re: DWP hassle

Thanks BBOO,think I will give that a try !

[thatnamestaken]

Re: DWP hassle

Greetings all,a quick update!
Have still heard nothing from the DWP despite their last letter saying they are looking into it.It is now coming up to a year since payments started to be taken from my benefits so,I called the pension company myself.The pension company checked every which way they could,ni number,name,addresses etc...nothing.I have no pension!! I was informed that this is not a particularly rare occurenc,wrong ni numbers given,etc. I guess another letter and a SAR is now in order?
I did receive a letter from the DWP today...regarding social loans I had when I was unemployed.It is true,I did have them,six in total if i remember correctly,each one for around £100.I cleared two of them as they stopped the money from my benefits and was starting on the third when I got a job...strange thing is,they seem to think I owe £700 and would like me to repay it within a week of receiving this letter..
Hohum,that will be another SAR then ! I have read though that their is not the usual £10 fee payable to the DWP?
Thoughts and comments welcomed !!!

[thatnamestaken]

Re: DWP hassle

Greetings all,time for an update methinks !!
The pension fiasco has rumbled on,the DWP have/are stubbornly refusing to believe that they could possibly be in the wrong and so....I contacted the pension company involved and they checked both their systems at length using all manner of information that I gave them and confirmed what I knew all along....they are 100% positive that I have never had a pension with them and confirmed that the DWP often key in the wrong national insurance number,duh. The pension company kindly confirmed this in writing and I sent a copy to the DWP proving to them that they were wrong and that I expected a minimum of £250 compensation.They replied that they did not believe I had suffered any hardship from them thieving money from my benefits and anyways,they were acting in good faith from information given....and when was I going to pay them the outstanding balance,aaaarrrrgggghhhh .
I gave up at this point and went to the local job centre,they copied the letter from the pension company,sent it to the local department who deals with pensions etc (who were the ones to misinform the DWP),they refunded all the money stolen from my benefits in less than a week ! Yaay,it's all over,I thought !
No,not for the dicks at the DWP it wasn't/isn't....a few weeks later,I get another letter saying that if I didn't pay up,they would send it to a DCA.....but I ignored this thinking that they would be informed soon enough by the department that refunded me.
Today,I have received a text about a "personal business matter"with a reference number and telephone number...can I call them....yeah,right ! Googled the number and surprise surprise,it's IQOR scumbags incorporated. As it's pretty unlikely that they are chasing any seven year old debts that have been statute barred for over a year,I suspect that the DWP have set them onto me....
I will wait now for a letter from them and ignore any calls but....I am getting pretty pissed off with this now and if it is relating to this....I think compensation is required here....lots of !!! I will also be very annoyed if this has appeared on my credit report....which has probably seen it's first happy status for a long time....
Any comments or suggestions welcomed !!!!!

[thatnamestaken]

Re: DWP hassle

Just as a follow on,after getting the text from Iqor on Wednesday,yesterday they called me....didn't answer,obviously! Will wait for the inevitable letter and find out exactly what it refers to...suspect it will be the pension that never was or possibly the crisis loans I had.DWP wrote to me about these a long time ago and I replied by pointing out that I had repaid two of them and was well into paying off the third....so why was the amount owed more than what I borrowed in the first place? Never received a reply or a copy of their facts and figures as requested.Doubt they would just hand that straight over to a dca though?
Anyways,I would like to see copies of my credit report and see exactly what is on them....given that all of my past debts have been sb for a year now,is it now safe to request my credit reports and if I do,can I expect an avalanche of letters from dca's trying to squeeze those lemons?
What would you do???
Thanks !!

[thatnamestaken]

Re: DWP hassle

Hi everyone....again !!
Returned home today and I have the letter....they were quick off the mark ! It is from akina debt recovery,formerly iqor. At least I now know what it is referring to.....it is the pension that never was,what a surprise ! The amount they are chasing is little over a £100,hardly worth the effort but heyho,there you go.
Despite sending a copy of the letter from the pension company stating that I have never ever had a pension with them,despite getting a refund for the stoppages from my benefits from the benefits office,the department of worthless plonkers have now passed it onto this dca. I have to say that I am at my wits end with this bunch and really do not know where to take it from here.It seems pointless contacting DWP again as they obviously take no notice of anything given them and do not really want to start letter ping pong with a dca over a debt that I do not owe !
Advice really needed now.....to be honest,I really feel like going to a solicitor and prosecuting the dwp for this fiasco....I can't really see how I can lose as I have all of the paperwork to back me up !!!
Advice please !!!!!!!
Edit....could anyone please advise as to whether this will already appear on my credit report or is likely to very soon as I have just set up a business with a friend ? !!

[Riz]

Re: DWP hassle

This should never go on your credit report.

[thatnamestaken]

Re: DWP hassle

Thank you for the swift reply rizzle....that will be one less thing to worry about ! I think my credit report maybe ok as....the friend who I have set up the business with and myself went to a high street bank today to register a business account....lots of form filling,lots of signing etc. The guy disappeared for about five minutes after we had signed all of the forms.....including company credit card applications...and all seemed well.....I suspect that he disappeared to run credit checks?!! Anyways,I don't need credit,I don't need bad marks on my credit report and I certainly don't need to be chased by a dca for something I have never owed !!!

[Riz]

Re: DWP hassle

All the DCA can do is be annoying. They can't trash your credit file. They can't take legal action without DWP backing it, and would get the floor wiped with them if they could/did anyway.

If you should choose to engage with them, then you just tell them the debt is not owed and that they must send the debt back to DWP. If they refuse, then it's the usual report to the OFT etc ( for the little good it does).

[thatnamestaken]

Re: DWP hassle

Thanks again rizzle,will send them a nice "go away" letter and explain what a fiasco this has been....and book myself in with a solicitor and see what is to be done with the dwp.....will update as and when !!

[thatnamestaken]

Re: DWP hassle

Well,sent a full letter of explanation to Aki knickers in a twist and showed sympathy as they are following instructions from the Department of Worthless Pillocks....which,surprise surprise,they didn't bother to read or it was way above their levels of comprehension.
Had a reply today saying that unless I had sorted this out already (huh?) they would recommence chasing,duh !
Have replied with a letter which will be sent signed for tomorrow,including a copy of the letter from the pension company proving that it is not my debt,along with a demand for a cheque to cover the costs of my two letters @ £25 per letter...my sympathy with them ended when they demonstrated their stupidity in the letter received today.I have given them 12 working days to supply the cheque before solicitor time.Nice to see that the DWP have found a dca as stupid as themselves,a perfect match.
Received a 'phone call tonight from them,advised in writing only and to expect a letter from me shortly....don't you just love turning the tables on these scumbags in the knowledge that you are 100 % in the right !!!!

[Pixie]

Re: DWP hassle

Just caught up with this...can't believe the hassle you've had (actually I can knowing DWP)

I hope they pay you your compensation