Donate SIGN UP

dwp

Avatar Image
thatman | 00:27 Thu 23rd Nov 2006 | Law
2 Answers
I received a demand this morning from the DWP for an alleged overpayment for the period, April 2000 til October 2000.
How far can they legelly go back in their records?
Gravatar

Answers

1 to 2 of 2rss feed

Best Answer

No best answer has yet been selected by thatman. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.

For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.
For many types of debt (particularly in relation to Government departments), there is a 6 year cut-off period. (For example, the tax man won't normally seek payment after 6 years).

However, there are some exceptions. If the overpayment was due to an error by DWP, I doubt that they could claim any money back. But if the overpayment was due to an error on your part (such as forgetting to tell them about a change in your circumstances), they could argue that they were pursuing a debt incurred through fraud. In which case there is no time limit.

Chris
Hate to disagree Chris but the minimum is 7 years for VAT and Tax and even then they have dispensation to go further back if needs be.

Some years ago it was ruled that even if it was an administration error on the part of the DWP they are still entitled to claim the money back saying that you as the claimant should have realised. I know this is unfair but at the end of the day its not their money its every tax payers.

1 to 2 of 2rss feed

Do you know the answer?

dwp

Answer Question >>