DWP "Customer Compliance" interview
- Thread starter andysays
- Start date
Tony Dartford
New Member
no, if it was an IUC, it would have stated that in your appointment letter.
Tony Dartford
New Member
Yes, we've just received one (an appointment) ourselves for next week. Im carer and LPA for my brother who is receiving ESA and PIP. It's best to consider every possible worst case scenario as, for sure, they will spring it on you without warning, if they have anything to go on. There seems to be consensus amongst various posts on here that these compliance appointments are 'random benign checks' and don't always indicate foul play, so to speak. If so, then fine. I go with the fore-warned is fore-armed approach myself and shall be fine-tooth combing EVERY possible avenue and cause for this, however ridiculous and BEFORE the appointment.
If its the last thing i ever do, i shall attempt to have a ready answer for anything they produce from the can of worms! I shall be damned if i am caught with my pants down!
You mention you have a child that you did not declare to the DWP? Well, you are on the right track! anything like that could have generated the compliance meeting, yes. Co-habiting with an undeclared partner seems to be a 'biggy' at the moment too, working and claiming is popular with the 'whistle-blowers' of course, but has been around for a while.
Again, try and think of everything, and i mean EVERYTHING! have you told anyone you are on benefits for example and who might they have gone off and spoken to? does anyone you know have a grudge against you or an axe-to-grind? etc etc. Someone may well have phoned in with a malicious allegation against you. Just trying to get you a'thinking! hope this helps.
Tony Dartford
New Member
Tony Dartford
New Member
Well i'm very sceptical about giving them any help when it comes to rummaging around in people's private financial affairs to be honest. Your post is relatively old and your case by now may well be resolved, but it did look like they had already done enough 'sifting' by themselves without any extra help from either you or your Mother.
No, don't make it any easier for them, simply refuse to give them consent and make them apply for a court order if they want any further information. Why should you have to do, or be a party to, their dirty work? You are not their agent and neither is your Mother.
No, don't make it any easier for them, simply refuse to give them consent and make them apply for a court order if they want any further information. Why should you have to do, or be a party to, their dirty work? You are not their agent and neither is your Mother.
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i have been to an interview last week were i was asked is this bank account yours that i had not told the dwp about before i replied yes since interview i have realized its over the amount i should have in it as i am on benefits as i suffer with depression and panic attacks for some time the monies in account is a friends which he has been giving me cash to look after as i dont have much of a social life and many friends i done it so as to have some contact as i get lonely quite a bit i dont own a car or go drinking or bye loads of clothes mainly food is spent on the card i have for that account he has said he will attend next interview and say its his monies i believe he can show its his monies im allready in a state would like to know should i be more worried than i all ready am many thanks
received compliance phone interview, straight away lady said i have an isa, info from tax office, i didnt declare bank details while making a claim more than £20,000.
in ISA and other accounts. i didnt hide the accounts. was saving the money for daughters univ fees for next year.
now have to send bank details , what will happen to me worried sick.
i can`t tell lies as all accounts in same bank.
in ISA and other accounts. i didnt hide the accounts. was saving the money for daughters univ fees for next year.
now have to send bank details , what will happen to me worried sick.
i can`t tell lies as all accounts in same bank.
westcoast1
Active Member
Hey mate for income related benefits anything over 16 grand means u wont be eligible for them anymore. Meaning that this will possibly result in them considering this an overpayment. Best to go to CAB to double check/appeal.
Andrew Brown
New Member
I've just received a compliance letter interview. I didn't declare a small pension when I got housing benefit because my pension people told me I didn't have to declare it as I was earning nothing. I'm baffled. Is there any way the DW&P could have found out about this pension. I want to go to the interview forearmed.
SilverLady
New Member
Hi, I have a friend who is in a bit of a mess. He is on ESA. He has been contacted by Customer Compliance and they asked him about his bank accounts. He named the accounts he uses for himself and he was asked to send in bank statements for a period. He is getting these together, and did not at first think he had anything to worry about. He assumed this was a routine check. However, he did not even think to mention that he is on an interest-earning joint account which he believed he had turned into a Power of Attorney account a couple of years ago, and believed was no concern of Customer Compliance. He has POA for this person. It now transpires that the bank set the account up wrongly, simply leaving his name on the interest-earning joint account. This never contained any his money, and has never been used for his personal spending, and he was always only there in a supervisory role. Instead, after he took in his POA docs it now turns out the bank recorded him only as POA on a separate small account with a few pounds in it. Unfortunately the joint account shows information which to an outsider looks bad in all sorts of ways. Without going into huge amount of personl detail I know he is NOT pocketing money, but he is worried about whether he will be believed. Some things will be hard to prove. On paper, if this account is counted, he is well over any limits. He is only a few months from receiving pension credits. He is not well in himself, and the whole thing is clearly getting him down a lot. He is wondering whether to simply refuse to cooperate at all, to take his name off the joint account, to register it properly as a POA now, to withdraw his ESA claim and to live off savings - from the accounts he has named as his own - until he receives his pension, which are based on NI contributions. Based on various friends' experiences he believes the pension will arrive automatically. Could he do this, or are the authorities likely to continue to hound him? Could they still apply for a Court order and find the interest-earning POA account, if he is no longer claiming, and his name is off it and he is properly registered as a POA on it instead? Would he automatically get his pension?
Hello everyone
I am in the process of waiting for a job offer but have just received a home visit compliance letter from the DWP today, they want to visit in a couple of weeks. Nothing to hide from them but not really into some Magnus Magnusson visiting my home and being put under the 3rd degree!! If I receive the firm job offer and sign off benefits, is the home visit meeting cancelled anyway?
I am in the process of waiting for a job offer but have just received a home visit compliance letter from the DWP today, they want to visit in a couple of weeks. Nothing to hide from them but not really into some Magnus Magnusson visiting my home and being put under the 3rd degree!! If I receive the firm job offer and sign off benefits, is the home visit meeting cancelled anyway?
Yvonne hut
New Member
Can anyone help got a compliance officer interview on 13th of this month worried isn't the word mentioned fraud I've never de Frances the system in my life I had savings from my divorce of 9,500 stated u can have up to £16,000 before it affects your benefit + I get £166 per month pension I'm on universal credits an on the sick at the moment due to stress anxiety depression the worry is making me worse any advice would be appreicated thank you
Enoughisenough
New Member
Hi, it doesn't have to say fraud on the letter, if it's signed by a compliance officer, then 100% it's a compliance interview.
Enoughisenough
New Member
Anything over £6000 has to be declared Hun, unless your benefit is contribution based, please try not to stress about it, just try to equip yourself in advance that way they won't trip you up in the interview, because generally at the beginning of the interview their your friend and then they try to trip you up once they think your relaxed, find out if your on contribution based benefits and if you are there's nothing they can do. Chin up Hun, the worst that can happen is they will set up a payment plan for you to pay back what you owe.
Enoughisenough
New Member
And please don't rush and spill anything to them before the interview or during, find out why they have called you in and go from there because you might end up digging yourself a hole for no reason
Daisydeedee
New Member
Hi, I am new here so please be kind. We have been battling with DWP for the couple of weeks and a Compliance meeting. we are both on ESA support and a couple of weeks ago my boyfriend had a call from DWP asking where he was, he was at my home helping me do a job. His hand were full and I answered the phone and she said put him on the phone. He said he never got any letter and she said that's interesting. He never got it because it never arrived. The woman demanded to know where he was and with whom so he put me back on I told her my details including my address and told her the truth I am his girlfriend. She acted as though she had no knowledge of me. It turns out a few days later he had a compliance telephone interview but didn't get any letter and it turns out she has tried earlier while he was on the bus and didn't hear the phone. The woman was rude and demanded he went straight home making out she was at his home he refused and said he would go to the job centre and she said no its going to be at your home. She never went through security or nothing we had no idea who she was at any point. She demanded she visit his home the following week which he agreed to. I then get a letter as well as him saying its now a joint interview and I am to be there. our claims are separate and we don't live together. we both have mental illness and this has caused us both to relapse. this woman was bullying and the thought of her interrogating me scared me and we made a formal complaint via our MP. she didnt turn up to the meeting as I had sat there for hours with my paperwork, and when I phoned she made out I cancelled the appointment and said why would I come when you have cancelled which I didn't she said your MP is involved and she wasnt coming. The reply to MP from DWP says they cancelled it after deciding it was best. They say I am involved as they have some information and I am an alleged partner and also on benefit but in the email to the MP they state that I said I was his girlfriend in the call. But boyfriends original interview was a telephone app. DWP will not say why its gone from telephone interview to joint. All because he was helping me. Mp sent over separate utility bills and our driving licences showing our own addresses when he sent the formal complaint and said he was satisfied we were just friends Now we hear its being rescheduled to another job centre. We feel shattered through all this, and all I want to to do is curl up and die. Can anyone help please.
friendofdorothy
Solidarity against neoliberalism!
Hi Daisydeedee I'm really sorry to hear what youve been going though - sounds stressful.
Reminds me of the old practices of the DSS decades ago, coming around to peoples houses and inspecting the bed, there was a sketch (tv? film? cant recall) where the woman said "I know sperm is full of protein, but you can't live on it".
Has your interview been rescheduled yet? are they still bothering you? Hope you are ok.
I don't normally read much in this forum as I know sweet FA about benefits, but I'm sorry that no other urbz have replied. This thread does seem to have lots of new members who haven't revisited. Once a thread disappears from the recent post list threads can easily get forgotten. If ever you don't get a reply just post again even if you only say 'bump' to get thread up to the top of the list again.
Calling all urbz! toggle MrSki andysays DotCommunist Puddy_Tat equationgirl anyone? have any help to offer?
Reminds me of the old practices of the DSS decades ago, coming around to peoples houses and inspecting the bed, there was a sketch (tv? film? cant recall) where the woman said "I know sperm is full of protein, but you can't live on it".
Has your interview been rescheduled yet? are they still bothering you? Hope you are ok.
I don't normally read much in this forum as I know sweet FA about benefits, but I'm sorry that no other urbz have replied. This thread does seem to have lots of new members who haven't revisited. Once a thread disappears from the recent post list threads can easily get forgotten. If ever you don't get a reply just post again even if you only say 'bump' to get thread up to the top of the list again.
Calling all urbz! toggle MrSki andysays DotCommunist Puddy_Tat equationgirl anyone? have any help to offer?
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
Daisydeedee
Wish I could offer better advice than this but I can't. It sounds like the woman is a vindictive arsehole who realised once an MP was involved she had better have her shit correct because the MP will have the social and political power to screw her right over and she was not willing to pursue that. The rescheduling to another job centre sounds like the case has been referred to some other bod- unless you know differently? In any case if it comes to an accusation of 'why did you claim to be friends when you later said xxx' I'd reply that you were friends and then it became more than friends. I would especially be talking about the lack of security checks and demands for a home visit- in my area you have to request a home visit and they don't like doing it. Keep MP informed and keep all letters and send all your letters by recorded delivery because they love to lose documents (another expense you can ill afford at tyhe post office).
I'm no expert in these matters although I do know a bit so this bit
I hope the case being transferred from vindictive (and it sounds like out of her remit) arsehole to a different person means the MP involvement has made them decide to play it by the book and with someone who isn't so obviously a liability and a bully.
All the best and try not to let the bastards grind the both of you down
Wish I could offer better advice than this but I can't. It sounds like the woman is a vindictive arsehole who realised once an MP was involved she had better have her shit correct because the MP will have the social and political power to screw her right over and she was not willing to pursue that. The rescheduling to another job centre sounds like the case has been referred to some other bod- unless you know differently? In any case if it comes to an accusation of 'why did you claim to be friends when you later said xxx' I'd reply that you were friends and then it became more than friends. I would especially be talking about the lack of security checks and demands for a home visit- in my area you have to request a home visit and they don't like doing it. Keep MP informed and keep all letters and send all your letters by recorded delivery because they love to lose documents (another expense you can ill afford at tyhe post office).
I'm no expert in these matters although I do know a bit so this bit
be careful, because I suspect that would count as a change in circumstances which they would say you have not told them of, sanctions. Isn't it funny how our media likes to harp on about china's authoritarianism and the one child policy when these wankers at the DWP are practically sniffing the sheets (thanks for that image dorothy) in your bedrooms.
I hope the case being transferred from vindictive (and it sounds like out of her remit) arsehole to a different person means the MP involvement has made them decide to play it by the book and with someone who isn't so obviously a liability and a bully.
All the best and try not to let the bastards grind the both of you down
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friendofdorothy
Solidarity against neoliberalism!
Thanks for replying DotCommunist !
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
friendofdorothy
Solidarity against neoliberalism!
fair enough - I wish everyone on urb would just speak from their own knowledge /experience. I wouldn't look here for an expert.
Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
Daisydeedee
hmm
i'm getting steadily more out of date on this (i worked in housing benefits a while back.)
since a couple gets less than two single people, this is something that DWP are fairly alert to - they are even more alert to a couple where one is working and the other isn't and is trying to claim income related benefits as if they are a single person.
I'm assuming that, if they are interested in whether you are a couple or not, that one or both of you is claiming income related ESA (if it's contributions based, then partner's circumstances aren't relevant.)
I *think* that the guidance on income support is relevant (i can't find anything specific to income related ESA) - the whole thing can be downloaded as a PDF from this page.
This seems to say that to be considered as a couple, you need to live together - where two people live in the same property, it can get more complicated arguing whether you're living as 'a single household' / 'as if you are married'.
So from my reading, I'm not quite sure what their problem is, although they might want to make sure you're not actually living together. Providing (for example) separate tenancy agreements / utility bills for your place and his might do this.
You say they have cancelled the meeting - have they just shut up about it now, or are they still making a fuss, or what?
hmm
i'm getting steadily more out of date on this (i worked in housing benefits a while back.)
since a couple gets less than two single people, this is something that DWP are fairly alert to - they are even more alert to a couple where one is working and the other isn't and is trying to claim income related benefits as if they are a single person.
I'm assuming that, if they are interested in whether you are a couple or not, that one or both of you is claiming income related ESA (if it's contributions based, then partner's circumstances aren't relevant.)
I *think* that the guidance on income support is relevant (i can't find anything specific to income related ESA) - the whole thing can be downloaded as a PDF from this page.
This seems to say that to be considered as a couple, you need to live together - where two people live in the same property, it can get more complicated arguing whether you're living as 'a single household' / 'as if you are married'.
So from my reading, I'm not quite sure what their problem is, although they might want to make sure you're not actually living together. Providing (for example) separate tenancy agreements / utility bills for your place and his might do this.
You say they have cancelled the meeting - have they just shut up about it now, or are they still making a fuss, or what?
andysays
Love and solidarity
Hi Daisydeedee and welcome to Urban. Sorry it's a situation like this which has brought you here.
As others have said, that sounds like a terrible ordeal for you and your boyfriend to be put through, and you have my sympathy.
It's worth remembering/emphasising that even those of us subject to mental illness and dependant on benefits as a result (and that was me too when I started this thread) have a right to a private life, including spending the night with a partner of our choice now and again without being interrogated about it, so please don't feel like you've done anything wrong (I know it can be difficult when you're being attacked like this)
Going through this is hard for everyone, but even worse if you're subject to mental health issues, so I'd try to get whatever practical help you can. Are either you or your boyfriend in contact with mental health support services? Where I live there is a Citizens Advice worker who runs special sessions for people with mental health issues who need help with the DWP etc. MIND and whatever other organisations there are where you live may also be able to give practical advice and support.
It's also worth mentioning that when it comes to these Compliance Interviews, you can have someone with you, either a friend or a support worker, and if nothing else it's good to feel that you're not alone, that you've got someone on your side.
One of the things which the replies on this thread have shown is that these interviews are often triggered by someone (bitter ex-partner, nosey neighbour etc) reporting something to the DWP which they then investigate, but eventually find to be untrue or not actually a problem. I suppose they have to follow these reports up, but it can put people through a lot of worry while it's going on, particularly because of the insensitive way they go about it, and if you have mental health issues, that just makes it even worse.
But most people who've posted on this thread seem to have got through it in the end, so although it can be an ordeal it's one which you and your boyfriend can and will get through too.
Good luck getting the support and advice you need, and although we can't provide much or in full detail, you're welcome to all the support we can provide - that's one of the things this little online community is really good at.
As others have said, that sounds like a terrible ordeal for you and your boyfriend to be put through, and you have my sympathy.
It's worth remembering/emphasising that even those of us subject to mental illness and dependant on benefits as a result (and that was me too when I started this thread) have a right to a private life, including spending the night with a partner of our choice now and again without being interrogated about it, so please don't feel like you've done anything wrong (I know it can be difficult when you're being attacked like this)
Going through this is hard for everyone, but even worse if you're subject to mental health issues, so I'd try to get whatever practical help you can. Are either you or your boyfriend in contact with mental health support services? Where I live there is a Citizens Advice worker who runs special sessions for people with mental health issues who need help with the DWP etc. MIND and whatever other organisations there are where you live may also be able to give practical advice and support.
It's also worth mentioning that when it comes to these Compliance Interviews, you can have someone with you, either a friend or a support worker, and if nothing else it's good to feel that you're not alone, that you've got someone on your side.
One of the things which the replies on this thread have shown is that these interviews are often triggered by someone (bitter ex-partner, nosey neighbour etc) reporting something to the DWP which they then investigate, but eventually find to be untrue or not actually a problem. I suppose they have to follow these reports up, but it can put people through a lot of worry while it's going on, particularly because of the insensitive way they go about it, and if you have mental health issues, that just makes it even worse.
But most people who've posted on this thread seem to have got through it in the end, so although it can be an ordeal it's one which you and your boyfriend can and will get through too.
Good luck getting the support and advice you need, and although we can't provide much or in full detail, you're welcome to all the support we can provide - that's one of the things this little online community is really good at.
First post, myself a carer and wife is disabled, today received a letter from a compliance officer at the JCP which is two weeks away. the letter a usual papers to bring for'' circumstances change might result in affecting benefits'' . however there is no change in circumstances to the best of our knowledge. My problem is will I be allowed to speak on behalf of my wife in her presence because of her condition. and what could this interview be for. i have been asked to take with me 6 months bank statements all benefit letters, id, and tenancy agreement - being rented house.
kellymca2001
New Member
hey guys , I've had a letter similar to those above .. states , we need to check your personal information , in order to make sure you receive the correct amount of benefits, we need to check that the details of your claim are correct and up to date , my current situation is , i am on esa (support group) also just recently within the last month transferred from dla to pip , just about to go to appeal over the decision , i asked for a mandatory reconsideration but they didn't change it , anyway ,as you probably gathered i am disabled , i have a 20 year old daughter who is a ft student , so i get full housing benefit and ct benefit , i got engaged in august , but we don't live together , he has his own place i have mine , he is a chef and works constantly so i only see him twice a week at most until the wedding thats the way its going to stay , as I'm disabled i defo haven't been working on the side , my daughter who is a student photographer has however done a few shoots for experience but only ever been paid 20 quid or so every now and again , so no law breaking there , i am about up the pole with anxiety , smoked about 20 fags today , does anyone have any ideas?
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
don't volounteer any information that isn't asked for. Could well be some twitchy curtain sort or someone who doesn't like you who has called the hotline to badmouth you. From what you've said it doesn't look like you have done anything wrong or mistakenly so try to chill. I know its not so easy when they are on your back but it sounds like you'll be fine. Be honest but don't share what isn't asked for directly. When I had mine it was because I'd done a weeks work and they wouldn't give me full time so I said 'keep the money' and forgot about it till 4 months later when they made me come down, didn't get a sanction cos they'd spoke to the company and knew I had not been paid but I still got the third degree.
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