Today it is 53 weeks and four days since we lost Ma.
On the day she died, we were given a form so that we could notify all the government departments that Ma had left us....that form is called 'Tell Us Once'.....and bloody fantastic it is too.
You just get on the internet, fill all the details in and everyone who needs to know about the death is informed.
I came straight home from the hospital and completed the form....knowing that this might prevent problems in the days after her death.
It seemed to work perfectly....or so I thought.
MA's estate was fully finalised at the end of last week and the statement of accounts and the beneficiaries cheques went out at the start of this week.
I had been asked by the solicitor just a couple of weeks ago, if there was any possibility that Ma's pension had been overpaid.
I told her that I did not think it could have been as I had notified them via this form on the day of her death....and as almost a year had elapsed, surely everything must be OK.
This morning I had a phone call from the solicitor to tell me she had had a letter from the DWP to say that we needed to pay back £263.11 in over payment.
I said that this was ludicrous.
That it had taken them so long to come to this conclusion....and what a bleeding imbuggerance it was as all the estate had been distributed.
I asked the solicitor to e-mail me copies of the letter so that I could contact them and ask what on earth they were playing at.
So lunchtime today saw me with the phone welded to my ear, listening to interminable 'going shopping' music.....for a full 20 minutes before being able to speak to someone(good job it was an 0800 number)
I really let rip at the young man who was unfortunate enough to draw the short straw.
He looked on the records and confirmed that they had indeed been notified of Ma's death in the afternoon of the 5th of Feb last year.
He said that usually this would stop any payments going into her account....it was payments for the 12th of Feb that were overpaid.
I explained that more than a year had elapsed and thatnthe estate had been wound up and monies distributed to the beneficiaries.
That this letter meant that I would have to go and give the solicitor a cheque from my own account for this overpayment....and that having to deal with something like this was very distressing.
The chap went into some long winded explanation....which I have to admit, I did not understand at all.
However he said that, as next of kin, they had no,power to retrieve this money from me....that it would have had to come from the estate....but as this has been concluded, the money would be written off.
He apologised profusely for the upset that had been created and told me that they would write to the solicitor and explain things.
I apologised to the young man for me giving him the sharp side of my tongue....he said it came with the territory and it was understandable...they had, in his words, 'cocked up'.
I am hoping that this is the last time I will have to deal with stuff relating to the estate....I am bored of it now.
On the day she died, we were given a form so that we could notify all the government departments that Ma had left us....that form is called 'Tell Us Once'.....and bloody fantastic it is too.
You just get on the internet, fill all the details in and everyone who needs to know about the death is informed.
I came straight home from the hospital and completed the form....knowing that this might prevent problems in the days after her death.
It seemed to work perfectly....or so I thought.
MA's estate was fully finalised at the end of last week and the statement of accounts and the beneficiaries cheques went out at the start of this week.
I had been asked by the solicitor just a couple of weeks ago, if there was any possibility that Ma's pension had been overpaid.
I told her that I did not think it could have been as I had notified them via this form on the day of her death....and as almost a year had elapsed, surely everything must be OK.
This morning I had a phone call from the solicitor to tell me she had had a letter from the DWP to say that we needed to pay back £263.11 in over payment.
I said that this was ludicrous.
That it had taken them so long to come to this conclusion....and what a bleeding imbuggerance it was as all the estate had been distributed.
I asked the solicitor to e-mail me copies of the letter so that I could contact them and ask what on earth they were playing at.
So lunchtime today saw me with the phone welded to my ear, listening to interminable 'going shopping' music.....for a full 20 minutes before being able to speak to someone(good job it was an 0800 number)
I really let rip at the young man who was unfortunate enough to draw the short straw.
He looked on the records and confirmed that they had indeed been notified of Ma's death in the afternoon of the 5th of Feb last year.
He said that usually this would stop any payments going into her account....it was payments for the 12th of Feb that were overpaid.
I explained that more than a year had elapsed and thatnthe estate had been wound up and monies distributed to the beneficiaries.
That this letter meant that I would have to go and give the solicitor a cheque from my own account for this overpayment....and that having to deal with something like this was very distressing.
The chap went into some long winded explanation....which I have to admit, I did not understand at all.
However he said that, as next of kin, they had no,power to retrieve this money from me....that it would have had to come from the estate....but as this has been concluded, the money would be written off.
He apologised profusely for the upset that had been created and told me that they would write to the solicitor and explain things.
I apologised to the young man for me giving him the sharp side of my tongue....he said it came with the territory and it was understandable...they had, in his words, 'cocked up'.
I am hoping that this is the last time I will have to deal with stuff relating to the estate....I am bored of it now.
