No what do I do

Last may my wife got a part time Job ..like good children we told the job centre ..filled in new forms ..with the Job Centre advisor cos i hate forms...i gotta letter saying that my benefits would be reduced as expected ...HOWEVER the Job centre cocked up...firstly they messed up the calculations and secondly they mis -informed the council tax benefits...that meant although i was getting JSA i should have been paying some council tax ...But instead of notifying me in May they told me in December as i did not reply to a letter I NEVER GOT supposibly sent in November.... The job Centre has recognised their mistake and corrected it with no further penalties ...However the council are insisting i should have been paying council tax and have now given me 3 weeks to pay in full ...£900... I aint got and i quote what they said "we have got to CLAW back the arrears" how rude ...well i aint got it ..so they cant have it ...Now they want everything bank statements mortgage statements savings what i pay in bills ....grrrr getting to the end of my tether

Re: No what do I do

Oh dear Steve, nothing is going smooth for you, is it I hope you can now come to some arrangement with the Council to suit you.

Have you heard yet when your interview for the Trainee Fire Maintenance Support Engineer job is taking place?

Re: No what do I do

I not going to the council...fed up with it ...we took all the paperwork in before Xmas ..posted some as well ...Now they want it all again ...they have said they have lost it ....again .....wife and daughter gonna sort it .....if i go in i might say something i will regret ...

Re: No what do I do

Not heard about the job ...i do know they have been re advertising it ...i am going to phone them tomorrow ...hopefully that wont upset them ....

Re: No what do I do

I totally understand how you feel. Bureaucracy seems to have gone mad all over the world. Amazing to hear how similar your Job Centre in the UK is to our Centrelink in Australia.

Last year they accused us of owing them $13,000 (£4,800) because they said I had not reported that I had a life pension when I retired from teaching five years ago and therefore they had been overpaying us. This was pure nonsense and after months of stress and appeals we eventually proved we had and won BUT in the meantime they automatically deducted a set amount from both our pensions to "recover" the debt even though we won and they had to pay it all back.

When we went overseas earlier this year we told them and they noted it but we then found they had stopped both our pensions because I had not reported NIL earnings even though I had told them we were away and I was not working, and we couldn't do a thing about it until we got back to Australia.

Most of this has happened since they went "online", reduced their staff, and won't let you talk to anyone personally. it's total madness and VERY frustrating.

Re: No what do I do

Hi Steve, I can imagine how frustrated you are but, if you have been overpaid, they are entitled to get it back from you. I strongly advise against getting uppity with them, you might make things worse for yourself. Someone does need to talk to them to explain that you cannot pay it in a lump sum so they will have to arrange for you to pay it back gradually.Please, please do not get awkward with them. When I wqorked for the CAB I saw time and time again where people had understandably got angry about such things and only succeeded in making things ten times worse.

Re: No what do I do

So sorry Steve but you will definitely be able to pay it in instalments. I have done the same in the past when they have messed up. I made a proposal of how I would pay it and they accepted it so it may be a good idea to come up with a payment plan yourself and put it to them. Keep calm and carry on.

Re: No what do I do

I spoke to some snotty ### yesterday who said i had been working for a security company and not told them ....when i said that wasn't true she said it was on my Bank statement with a monthly wage ...I said you got the wrong person ...she said no i haven't...It turned out that they had seen a monthly entry from my pension provider which which was listed as 'Acme' SECURITY' on my Bank statement ....when i told her that it was my pension I was told that i needed to declare it ...I said i have you have their name ..address and amounts paid.and last years P60 and pay slip plus it was still in the folder with all the documents they had copied before Xmas..But what annoyed me more than anything was the way the spoke ....ok i understand if i have been overpaid i would have to have it back ...but it is no fault of mine ..it is their miscalculation....the terminology 'we need to CLAW it back' and the fact that they have demanded full payment by Feb 1st is unjust and cruel....

Re: No what do I do

I had to go sort my CC out before Xmas. I spoke to a lady there and she took photo copies of my paper work which included bank statements, pension payment etc. They have to give you a receipt for the copies they have taken and you sit and watch them input it on the PC. You can ask them what they have said etc and they will explain it to you. You must get the receipt from them once you have handed the original copies over and they cannot keep the originals thats why they copy them.
You have to remember its not the person working behind the counter who is the baddy its the system.
Because we have had Christmas I am still awaiting their verdict of whether I should be paying less. Also, they said they had sent me a letter which we didnt receive so its not just your Council I was very calm with them and they bent over backwards to help. I do agree if you lose your rag with them then it might not go in a very understanding way. In your story you did say it wasnt them that started the wrong ball rolling, I do hope it goes well for you.

Re: No what do I do

When i first lost my Job My Job centre gave our council tax dept ALL the relevant details hence my council tax benefit .....In May last year they gave them the WRONG details ...which meant the benefit was wrong ..the calculations where complicated as my wife started working part time irregular Hours sometimes above the thresh hold and sometimes below ...we informed them of EVERYTHING...Apparently i should have been given a form to fill in with my wife's hours of work every week I never was and as far as i can tell i was overpaid by the Job centre by for a few months ...I have the letters stating what i would get and when ...I am not a benefits expert so i knew no better ...however the JOB CENTRE told the council that i was no longer getting benefit so they FROZE my claim ...and did not tell me until a letter i did not receive was sent in NOVEMBER...the Job centre has held its hands up and will not be asking for the over payment back as it was their mistake ...but the council will not listen or even speak to the Job Centre as they are intent in just CLAWING back the over payment ....PS my wife is going in to see them today to prevent myself losing my rag as i am now at the end of my tether....she is the main earner now