Mistakes with overpayment

June 22, 2010

Due to a mistake (which the DWP termed ‘wholly innocent’) I was paid CSA money and Income support for over a year. The DWP then took me to a tribunal to recover the money. Even though the tribunal found in their favour, they have written the debt off due to my ill health.

Now the CSA wants to recover what is effectively the same money – either I was entitled to CSA payments or income support, but this means I will effectively be told to pay back BOTH. It is making me really ill. How can they do this?

The DWP case file already says that the overpayment was down to a CSA error. The woman I spoke to at the CSA (Audrey Gordon) spoke like it was her personal vendetta -‘You will have to pay!’ and ‘I will contact your ex about making payments if I feel like it!’ If this was a criminal case, wouldn’t some kind of ‘double jeopardy’ rule apply?

The CSA is the one thing that makes me wish I’d never had kids 🙁

Comments

  • Chris says:

    Hi Donna

    I am not a law specialist, but if they did tell your ex, I am sure that this would breech your data protection rights, which they keep quoting me when i have asked for access.

    With regards to the overpayment, I agree that if a court has written off a debt then thats that. The CSA has an unbelievalbe arrogance that even when their are wrong its still other peoples fault.

    I have had the same threats as you, they seem to think that being aggressive and bullyng will pressure and harass people into complying with them even if they are wrong. Even with all their mistakes, they still managed to get a £25 million bonus last year………. nearly as bad as bankers…

    Try and get some free legal advice and see if the court that orignally dealt with you can clarify the written off debt bit.

    Not wanting to put a downer on things, but i have known people who have proven the CSA wrong in court, have a court order to prove it, but the CSA just ride rough shod over the law, and the government has been too weak and spineless to do anything about it.

  • >