Dear Master,
Since 2009 the Pension Service has
charged me with the debt of £11,856.70. All my appeals to the Pension Service to
revise their decision have been made in vain. It would be great if a Balliol
lawyer could look into the matter.
Let me give you some basic facts. On March 20, 2015 I wrote to the
Pension Service: “Today I have received your letter of 14/03/2015 in which you
inform me of my pension. In the paragraph entitled ‘How your benefit is made
up’ you write: ‘Basic State Pension £37.10. Pre 97 additional State Pension
2.85. Minus Adjustment of £13.00. The amount each week is £26.95.’ Would you
explain to me on what basis you are making the Minus Adjustment of £13.00?”
In a letter
of 31 March 2015 Glyn Caron replied: ‘I have been requested to reply to your
letter of 20th March 2015. As you are aware you have an overpayment
of Pension Credit to pay.’
In my letter of 4th April I
wrote to her:
'What you wrote in your letter is wrong. I am not aware that I have ‘an overpayment of Pension Credit to pay’. I have been aware, of course, that in 2009 I have been charged with the debt of £11,856.70, and that ever since the pay I have been receiving was weekly lessened by a certain amount. In 2009 it was 9.50 a week, now it is £13.00 a week. All my attempts to learn on what basis I have been found in debt have thus far remained unanswered. Those who asked you to reply to my letter ought to have given you access to the basic facts underlying the whole matter. Instead, you have been left in the dark. If you are not allowed an access to the facts, would you inform me to whom I should appeal, who would have the power to ask for and obtain an access to those facts?'
'What you wrote in your letter is wrong. I am not aware that I have ‘an overpayment of Pension Credit to pay’. I have been aware, of course, that in 2009 I have been charged with the debt of £11,856.70, and that ever since the pay I have been receiving was weekly lessened by a certain amount. In 2009 it was 9.50 a week, now it is £13.00 a week. All my attempts to learn on what basis I have been found in debt have thus far remained unanswered. Those who asked you to reply to my letter ought to have given you access to the basic facts underlying the whole matter. Instead, you have been left in the dark. If you are not allowed an access to the facts, would you inform me to whom I should appeal, who would have the power to ask for and obtain an access to those facts?'
In a letter
of 09 April she replied:
'I have been requested to reply to your email of 4th April 2015. Your initial enquiry was regarding the £13.00 minus adjustment to your State Pension which I feel I answered.'
'I have been requested to reply to your email of 4th April 2015. Your initial enquiry was regarding the £13.00 minus adjustment to your State Pension which I feel I answered.'
So let me
quote from my letter to the Pension Service of 7/10/2009, in which I responded to the only attempt
the Pension Service has ever made to substantiate their claim that I have an
overpayment of Pension Credit:
‘In a letter
of 08/09/2009 you informed me that my Pension Credit was overpaid £158.34 for
the period 06/07/2009-26/07/2009. I received the letter on Monday September 14.
In the letter you stated: “The overpayment occurred because on 09/07/2009 your
circumstances changed and the office that paid your benefit was not told at the
correct time about a change to the level of earnings in your household.” This
allegation is false. On 23 July 2009 I sent The Pension Service a letter, in
which I informed you of my wife’s earnings for three days of supply teaching
for the period 2 to 14 July, and I enclosed the three pay slips. I did so as
soon as my wife received the pay. I did not contact you on the day I received
your letter of 8/9, for I expected a visit from the Pension Service Customer
Liaison Officer, announced for the next day, with whom I wanted to discuss the
issue.
On September
15 I was visited by the Pension Service Customer Liaison Officer to whom I
showed the relevant documents concerning the supposed overpayment. At that
point she gave me your letter of 11 August 2009 in which you inform me that in
the period from 01/08/2005 to 12/10/2008 I was overpaid £11,688.36, and from
13/10/2008 to 19/10/2008 I was overpaid £75.28, that is in total £11,763.64. I
phoned your department in the officer’s presence, appealing against your
decision.’
Today I received from the Pension
Service a similar letter to the one I had received on March 14, 2015. I have
reasons to believe that any further appeal on my part to the Pension Service
would be futile. I made an attempt to obtain help from the Citizens Advice
Bureau (see the entry of November 22, 2014), to no avail. May I hope that you
will look into the matter?
I have
discussed the matter on my blog in three entries: ‘An urgent request addressed
to the Pension Service’ of June 10, ‘It is all wrong’ of June 15, and ‘It has
nothing to do with Oxford University’ of June 19, 2015.
Many thanks
in advance.
Regards,
Julius Tomin
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