I
itazura
Guest
not sure if this is the correct place to post this, but as it's tied to my claim to jobseekers, figured this would be the best place to post it.
basically, i've been claming jobseekers allowance since last october. everything was alright until around the end of january, when i got a letter through the mail saying my claim was stopped because i had been getting too much money coming in to qualify for jobseekers allowance. after calling back and forth between the job center branch in hull and hmrc it turned out that my address had at some point been changed to one in london (which i have never lived near, let alone in) and that i had been apparently been claming and been paid working tax credits since october until that point in january, which i wasn't because i don't qualify for working tax credits in any single way and have never applied for them. i eventually proved this and was supposed to have had all of this sorted. my address was changed back to the one i actually live at and the working tax credits claim was written off.
fast forward to about a week ago. i got a letter from dwp saying that i owe them £589 and that i need to stump it up immediately. i can't afford this and can't afford to have it "garnished" from what i get from the job center. i called them up and spoke to a woman who, frankly, didn't want to know my situation and seemed to have already decided for herself that i was trying to swindle them out of money. i explained the situation that occurred a couple of months earlier and that i could prove that i had never claimed for working tax credits because i don't qualify (i am only 23, i don't have any kids and i've not worked since last september) and that i could prove that i have never claimed for them and that i've never recieved a single penny of what i supposedly owe them. but everything i said was shot down immediately and i was told to write them a letter explaining what had happened, what i could prove in terms of the claim and me never, uh, claming it and such. which i did, and mailed out the same day. a mistake i made at the time is that i didn't send it recorded delivery, which i feel i REALLY should have.
anyway. when i spoke to the person at dwp on the phone, i was told that i had two weeks to make an appeal case before they would start taking the money "back" from my jsa payments. obviously that's not that far away, and i haven't heard anything from them. i intend to call dwp tomorrow to find out if they've even acknowledged the letter, but i'm just wondering where i stand with all of this and if anyone has any thoughts or advice on this situation? i only have a couple of hundred pounds saved up and really can't afford to have to start paying for something i have never even claimed or seen any of the money for, so... anyone have any advice or even any experience/hearings of something like this happening before? it's really stressing me out, especially as it feels like anyone i speak to from dwp just doesn't want to listen D:
basically, i've been claming jobseekers allowance since last october. everything was alright until around the end of january, when i got a letter through the mail saying my claim was stopped because i had been getting too much money coming in to qualify for jobseekers allowance. after calling back and forth between the job center branch in hull and hmrc it turned out that my address had at some point been changed to one in london (which i have never lived near, let alone in) and that i had been apparently been claming and been paid working tax credits since october until that point in january, which i wasn't because i don't qualify for working tax credits in any single way and have never applied for them. i eventually proved this and was supposed to have had all of this sorted. my address was changed back to the one i actually live at and the working tax credits claim was written off.
fast forward to about a week ago. i got a letter from dwp saying that i owe them £589 and that i need to stump it up immediately. i can't afford this and can't afford to have it "garnished" from what i get from the job center. i called them up and spoke to a woman who, frankly, didn't want to know my situation and seemed to have already decided for herself that i was trying to swindle them out of money. i explained the situation that occurred a couple of months earlier and that i could prove that i had never claimed for working tax credits because i don't qualify (i am only 23, i don't have any kids and i've not worked since last september) and that i could prove that i have never claimed for them and that i've never recieved a single penny of what i supposedly owe them. but everything i said was shot down immediately and i was told to write them a letter explaining what had happened, what i could prove in terms of the claim and me never, uh, claming it and such. which i did, and mailed out the same day. a mistake i made at the time is that i didn't send it recorded delivery, which i feel i REALLY should have.
anyway. when i spoke to the person at dwp on the phone, i was told that i had two weeks to make an appeal case before they would start taking the money "back" from my jsa payments. obviously that's not that far away, and i haven't heard anything from them. i intend to call dwp tomorrow to find out if they've even acknowledged the letter, but i'm just wondering where i stand with all of this and if anyone has any thoughts or advice on this situation? i only have a couple of hundred pounds saved up and really can't afford to have to start paying for something i have never even claimed or seen any of the money for, so... anyone have any advice or even any experience/hearings of something like this happening before? it's really stressing me out, especially as it feels like anyone i speak to from dwp just doesn't want to listen D: