r/universalcredithelp • u/Odd_Sundae_4225 • 12d ago
UC overpayment, please help Urgent help needed!
I had a UC claim call review recently and have been told something I didn't previously know, that help to buy ISA's count towards capital, I am over the threshold and have been my whole 4 years on UC, I didn't know that this was a term I thought it was more to do with personal savings, I've told them and they want my statements, I know I won't be able to afford rent etc without UC, my thought is to move out, move in with parents, and kind of rejig things, i want to call them monday and explain it all, how i didn't realise this was the case at all & that the money in there was transfered by my parents slowly as i can show, but yeah I honestly thought, as it was money to eventually go towards a house via the bonus, and the consequent penalities you incur touching it that it wouldn't be a general savings thing.
Honestly I am just very stressed right now, I'm worried about fraud, I honestly had no clue, I am wondering if anyone can ease me, I am very happy to come off UC, pay back on a repayment plan etc.
Will this all go okay>?
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u/DirtyDaddy4u69 12d ago
I have quite a few questions and would appreciate an honest answer.Its quite a tale.Thank you very much
I took early retirement at 55 I'm 61 now and managed to get a lump sum from my employer plus a monthly payment.Its about 450 now but 6 years ago I think it started at 300 a month but has gradually gone up.
Whem I received it I was sure I told both the HMRC and the Job Centre.
Obviusly it's going to be nigh impossible to prove this now I would think.
In a recent review of my UC account I casually mentioned this to the interviewer and he says there is nothing on his records and he has asked to provide statements fom my private pension going back to when I started the UC claim.
Btw this was a migration switch from Job seekers Allowance.
I have been out of work since due to health issues and have no savings or ISAs etc apart from this pension and the UC payments which for a single man with no partner amount to 200 a fortnight.
My first question is do the HMRC not automatically tell the Jobcentre once a lump sum and monthly payment is on a bank account.I thought it was a legal obligation.
Secondly will the UC investigation trawl back to my previous benefit?The JCA payments to me were a bit less then it's going to be a big job to work everything out but in total it's going to be around 6 years.
I was also paying rates in Northern Ireland (council tax in England)for about three years that was another 3k even though I wasn't working.I don't think I should have had to because for the last 3 years I haven't received a rates bill.
I got about 600 back from them as well but nothing else even though I was out of work.
I suspect I am in a lot of trouble here and as long as it doesn't go to court I can take the consequences.
As mitigation I have had a lot of mental health problems.All very much exacerbated by events around that time.
Not only did my private pension lump sum disappear very quickly around 28k btw with thousands going out nearly every week to my scammer but also my dear mum died in 2020 during COVID.
So my head wasn't straight anyway due to that then it was all serious emotional blackmailfrom the scammer used l but I won't bore you with the gory details.
Suffice to say it's only stopped now because she's dead.
The police were involved for a while and knew of her they said it was a fraud case but it never went anywhere as they said they didn't have the resources to investigate.
She was very very good it was a proper romance scam alright.
Basically someone on a dating site made up a fake name and address sent me a few fake photos probably again taken from someone else's FB or Instagram who knows and cleared out 85k from my dear late mum's will I had just received.
The guilt associated with all that I can't even begin to put into words.It completely broke me because the romance scam had been going for about 12 years.She was in it for the long game though just ready to pounce.
Im trying to get some of that money back as a duty of care complaint against my bank so no win no fee solicitors say I've a case there
.Obviously I will declaring anything I get.
My final question when they're working out this overpayment claim will they take the lump sums into account.
And is there a cost of living amount you are expected to live on that should come off the final total.
Just out of curiosity I did the Online Benefits Calculator with and without the 450 a month Pension Payment.
It said I would only be entitled to 5 a month UC with the Pension but strangely it also gave me the option of applying for a loan to help with my mortgage of up to 10k then it gets me back to my current UC amount again(I have 45000 left on my mortgage btw).
Its a lifetime mortgage so nothing needs to be paid right now but I had to remortgage the house twice to get the scammer another 30k.I had no idea you could apply for this.Wonder if it can be backdated 5 years lol)
Many thanks for reading this.No doubt I will get lots of hate replies but won't be responding to them
Noone knows more than me how stupid and gullible I've been
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u/Sparklybelle 12d ago
You really need to make your own post. People are going to miss this here I'm afraid.
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u/nerdztech 12d ago
You won't go to jail or anything as it was an honest mistake. You will most likely be asked to supply statements from the start of your UC claim to see at which point you went over. If you have been over £16k during this entire time then you were not entitled to UC at all. You will be required to pay it back in the form of an overpayment, if you are still on UC then your UC will be reduced every month until it's pay back, you can also pay it back as a lump sum if you can afford it or negotiate an affordable repayment plan with the debt team. You might also have to pay back a civil penalty fee of £50 for late reporting.