WHEN DOES ' FOR LIFE ' MEAN FOR LIFE !

[kfbphoto]

A friend of mine who now lives in Spain ( EU ) had received just a small sum of invalidity benefit from UK gov. They stopped it then asked her for te money back almost £4k
She is devastated and a pensioner.
I read her documents and these stated she would receive the money monthly ' FOR LIFE '
How does a government break its own rules like this without any apparent recourse ?

thanks on behalf of a retired woman in distress

[bednobs]

there is no such thing as invalidity benefit, so it's impossible to answer your question

[bednobs]

by the way, if it's another benefit, the government are perfectly entitled to change the rules for recieving benefits. For example, inccapacity benefit was taken away and replaced with a different benefit; the govt are just consulting on proposals to change eligibilty for Disability living allowance,

[bednobs]

sorry, invalidity benefit used to exist 16 years ago.

[bednobs]

ps if she is retired, shouldn't she be claiming her pension instead of invalidity benefit?

[wolf63]

Some of the benefits are only payable whilst a person is living in the UK. Invalidity Benefit became Incapacity Benefit several years ago and it may be that it is not payable whilst a person is living out-with the UK.

Has your friend applied for a pension?

[pink-kittens]

http://www.direct.gov...AndBenefits/index.htm

[maclarencat]

I am guessing she received attendance allowance and that is not payable outside of the UK. You are informed of this when you receive your notification of how much benefit you are entitled to.

[sandyRoe]

Could it be that people are not eligible for some benefits if they live outside the UK?

[themas]

The only benefits which used to be given to some people for life were DLA or AA - not invalidity benefit. They are no longer given for life.

It is very likely that the benefit she has is either DLA or AA, that it was given when she resided in UK & that she was under an obligation to notify the DWP of her address change. If she can prove she let them know about her move to Spain & they went on paying her then that is official error & they should not be able to get the overpayment back from her.

However, as has been said already, some benefits are only paid to UK residents. I'm not certain whether that includes DLA & AA but think it probably does - if so, her benefit will obviously stop.

[jfp1]

Your friend should contact them and say that she appeals against this decision. Contact them as they have stated in their letter but at some stage put something in writing and say something like "Please review your decision that I have been overpaid benefit and also the amount of benefit you state I have been overpaid. If you do not review it in my favour I wish to appeal". The whole appeal can be done by writing and can go to a tribunal where it will be looked at. This can be done on paper so she will not have to come across for a hearing. Her appeal rights against overpayments of benefit are limited compared to other parts of the benefit system but just getting the DWP to look at it again sometimes means that they find out they have made a mistake or they decide not to pursue it. She should complete any forms they send as a result of the appeal. I would think that they will say that she has been paid benefit whilst she is abroad and that benefit (whatever it is) is not payable abroad. But that is a guess - appealing makes them justify it. Her argument may be that she told them she was going abroad and that they continued to pay it. If she is getting a pension abroad then she has told the department. So she did everything she could have - unfortunately they tend to say that you have to tell each section of each department, So if you get 6 benefits you have to tell all 6 benefit sections - just telling them one is not enough. But even if they say that carry on with the appeal because sometimes they say - "actually she did everything we could expect in this case". So the first argument is that there is no overpayment (she told them). Then argue that even if there is an overpayment they should use their discretion and not ask for it back. This is given her age; the confusion caused by the statement "for life"; the fact she told them she was abroad; her income etc. etc. Also ask them to identify any unclaimed benefit she may be entitled

[jfp1]

Also ask them to identify any unclaimed benefit she may be entitled to and off-set that against the overpaid amount - it is not uncommon for part of the department to calculate one benefit and totally ignore another someone may get. If she just accepts it she will have to pay it back; if she just says that she appeals then there is a good chance that they will not ask for it back. If they say she is out of appeal time then she can argue that by saying that she is abroad and it takes longer to appeal. Whatever happens she is going to need support from you because a massive bill like this out of the blue is going to be a worry. She could try Age UK websites to see if they know of people who will help her but I doubt it as she is abroad but you never know - but honestly just writing in and appealing gets supervisors/appeal officers (the more senior staff) involved and does not cost her anything. She has nothing to lose. Good luck.