End to seven year ordeal
A volunteer for the Blisland Community Association is celebrating after the Department for Work and Pensions ended unfounded demands for nearly £6,000.
The Association ran a successful campaign to build a new Post Office, shop and community facility. Denise Holman helped the Association to keep the village Post Office running by putting her name forward to be responsible as Postmistress. She received no financial or other benefit from the position, since its salary was paid directly to the Association, in order to keep the Post Office open.
Mrs Holman was a carer for her late mother, and received Carer’s Allowance. She had advised the Department of her voluntary role and the Allowance continued to be paid. The Department for Work and Pensions ruled in 2005 that the money paid to the Association by Post Office HQ represented a salary for Mrs Holman, even though bank statements and testament from Post Office officials proved she had never received a penny.
DWP proceeded to demand some £5,967.73 in what they dubbed ‘overpayments’ of Carer’s Allowance. They insisted Mrs Holman had been in paid work, and had not been entitled to her allowance.
Mrs Holman’s accountant, Tim Allen of Bennett Jones and Co, challenged this ruling, enlisting the help of Peter Carey, of the Welfare Rights Support Group, to take her case to Tribunal, which said it was forced – for legal reasons – to find in favour of the DWP. However, the Tribunal emphasised that Mrs Holman had acted properly, and done nothing wrong, since she had informed DWP of her circumstances from the outset.
North Cornwall’s Liberal Democrat MP, Dan Rogerson, first took up the case for Mrs Holman before the Tribunal and continued to pursue successive Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions after it had concluded. He wrote numerous letters and asked questions in the House of Commons. Mr Rogerson met with then Pensions Minister, Helen Goodman, in November 2009, and argued that the ‘overpayment’ should be written off. He persuaded the Minister to look at the case again, and reconsider the position.
The Department recently wrote to Mrs Holman to say they would end their demands for good.
Commenting, Mr Rogerson said:
“It’s such good news that the Department for Work and Pensions has finally seen sense.
“Mrs Holman had never received any of the money paid to Blisland Community Association so should always have been entitled to Carer’s Allowance.
“Everyone could see that, but ministers and officials wouldn’t see past legal technicalities and recognise the facts.
“Mrs Holman didn’t receive a penny in respect of the Blisland Post Office, and if it were not for her and the hard work of all in the Association, the branch would long since have closed. She has always been a respected and tenacious volunteer for our community.
“The Department should be ashamed that it ever put Mrs Holman through such an ordeal in the first place.”
Denise Holman said:
“This has been a long and difficult period which I am relieved is over. My aim from the outset was for the new Blisland Post Office and Shop to succeed. When agreeing to become the named Postmistress, I never believed that such torment and anguish could be on the end of a genuine desire to help my local village. Everything I did was voluntary and I have never expected or received any remuneration, as agreed at the outset when I had been assured that all proper process had been followed. If it wasn’t for the support from Tim Allen, Dan Rogerson, his team, and my husband, I would have been totally alone in what appeared throughout to be an unjust position. My experience must not deter others from giving any form of voluntary help, however, I encourage anyone in doubt to seek professional advice to avoid similar difficulties getting in the way of helping out, as this is what matters the most ”
Tim Allen, Mrs Holman’s accountant added:
“The Department may have applied the strict legal interpretation of the facts, but chose to ignore the commercial substance of Mrs Holman’s voluntary support for the Association. Whilst the Appeal Tribunal chairman took no pleasure in finding for the Department, she recognised that no wrongdoing had occurred. It has taken the best part of five years to get a just result for this case and I am very happy that, with the support of family, friends and the rest of her professional team, Denise has had this unfair burden removed at long last.”
