Leeds pensioner DWP undeclared savings case, Digi Mart USA News (Leeds, England): A Leeds pensioner who failed to declare he had £42,000 in savings to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has avoided prison.
Kiamarz B Birgani, 69, was overpaid £30,821 in employment and support allowance and £11,087 in housing benefit before he was caught out. Birgani claimed he did not realise he had to declare any savings he held to the DWP.
Prosecutor Vincent Blake-Barnard told Leeds Crown Court on Tuesday, November 3, that employment and support allowance and housing benefits are available only to people without substantial savings. He said savings above £6,000 affect a claim, with support tapering to zero after £12,000.
Blake-Barnard said Birgani’s initial employment and support allowance claim was made on June 9, 2016, for himself and his wife, and that he did not declare any savings or changes in circumstances from that claim. He also said Birgani claimed housing benefit in September 2003, which was paid directly to his landlord.
The prosecutor said the amount of savings exceeded the £12,000 threshold for the period of the claim, peaking at £42,000, and that his failure to make the required declarations generated the overpayment.
The court heard that, during his interview, Birgani, of Raynel Drive, Leeds, said he did not know the rules and “wasn’t aware he had to disclose the information.”
Birgani has already begun repaying part of the overpayment on a monthly basis. His barrister, Andrea Parnham, was asked by Judge Rayfield whether the defense argument was that Birgani was so unwell that he did not properly consider his savings, with an element of dishonesty.
Parnham responded that the court had her submissions.
The judge told the court that Birgani had been a working man until physical injuries stopped him from continuing to work. She said that, given he had repaid the largest part of the overpayment and continues to repay it, she was willing to sentence him in accordance with the recommendation.
Birgani was made the subject of a 12-month community order.
