Oh, great.
After months of graft with the Help to Claim team, and Help to Claim Lady (HTCL) teaching HMRC how their own systems work and why I’m eligible for Universal Credit, (I’m now in receipt of this) HMRC have now written to me demanding £195.99 in overpaid Working Tax Credits, a benefit that was stopped months before I was awarded UC.
‘The DWP will recover what you owe from your Universal Credit payments unless they tell you otherwise.’
Who’s mistake is this? Mine? Theirs? Do I definitely have to pay this?
I’ve been in this position before, where the government makes a mistake with my benefit situation, then has blamed me for not knowing what to do about it. After my DLA was stopped several years ago and I had to apply for PIP, I eventually was awarded a much smaller amount on PIP, but then my WTC was stopped as it was DLA that was making me eligible. I was at first told the letter was sent in error. Then it was forwarded to a debt recovery agency. When said agency found out I was on PIP, they wanted nothing to do with me and handed it back to DWP. WTC was eventually reinstated, but it took a lot of hard work and a particularly good Welfare Rights officer.
It’s time to clarify all this with HTCL. I’ve left a message on my UC account online. I’m hoping someone will read it, although they may not as now that I’m in receipt of UC I think my time with Help to Claim has come to an end. I’d probably have to go around the circle of visiting numerous buildings in Oldham to get advice, to get forwarded back to Help to Claim again.
Typical. Government want a £200 overpayment off a brain-damaged admin bloke on PIP and UC, and they’ll chase him (and no doubt threaten me with bailiffs, as mentioned above), but are happy to write off £4.3 billion in COVID fraud.
Hypocrites.
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