Hi everyone, this is Linda. I'm the one who e-mail Glenn quite sometime
ago about a so-called 25,000.00 overpayment that ODSP said I owed
because they told me my WSIB was never claimed. Well, after I disputed
the entire situation, a hearing date was
set for September 7th. Thanks to Glenn, I contacted the community legal
services and was very lucky to find the most nicest, sincere and
beautiful lawyer I have ever met. She reminds me so much of Ms Browne.
This woman really cares about her clients too. In my case however, my
lawyer set an appointment with me on Tuesday to discuss their answer to
my dispute. ODSP sent my lawyer every income statement that I ever
filled out since 1992. Since I was the type of person who always let my
ex-husband handle the paperwork, he had filled out a few for me. On
some of them, WCB was not checked off as an income. On some of the ones
I did it would be under WCB temporary, WCB permanent. (I did'nt know
which one I was at the time, some had both or none. When I realized
some of them had NA, same as last month, or nil, I told them that I
will definitely pay back anyone I made a mistake on. I felt that was
fair. I understood that the ones my ex filled out for me was not an
excuse and I feel deep down inside that he did it on purpose. Knowing
him. He always said I could never make in on my own. I even had the
same photocopies that they had.So after checking and comparing my
photocopies with theirs, I realized the impact of being lazy and not
watching what I was doing. Some of them I even forgot the CPP because
I didn't know how much it was, but they calculated and found it
somewhere in their files. They also pulled up old information about
the first time my ex husband applied for social services when we moved
here from Timmins in 1985. It seems that my ex did not claim my WCB as
the case had gone to an ombudsman because there was difficulty from
going from temporary to total. Something like that, anyway. My husband
(the self-appointed lawyer) was also handling that one. WHen I finally
received my first WCB, he never claimed it on our income statement.
This I feel was done on purpose on his part, but that's hard to prove.
My ex was not a nice guy in the first place. Anything to make money. He
did'nt care who he hurt. I would like to know, am I responsible for an
overpayment because he was the breadwinner in 1985? ODSP said that I
could even be held responsible for an overpayment made through the
antics of another spouse. I was so upset that I started to cry. My
lawyer said Linda, I am going to withdraw your appeal as you definitely
do owe ODSP some money, we just don't know the real amount. She gave me
a nice hug and told me to go home and wait for a call. Today I receive
a call telling me that she withdrew the appeal. I will find out shortly
how much I owe. I am concerned that if I owe them such a large amount
or less, can they cut me off until they feel that it's paid off. I have
2 children at home, 1 who should be under the dependant adult, and the
other still goes to school. My 18 year old was collecting the CPP full
time student benefit but will be cut off at the end of the month
because she graduated. They told her that they will cut me off if she
does not participate in a Ontario WOrks program. She is afraid that if
she does get a job they will take all her money away or deduct it from
me. I don't want an overpayment to affect my kids. I am so upset about
all of this because, I am all alone and paperwork really isn't my
thing. I have a bad habit of just signing something unread trusting
them because they are government that they know what they are doing.
I'm worried about my daughter's well being. I'm afraid they are going
to tell me to kick her out. I wish I could just tell them to keep their
352.00 a month and get off ODSP but I need the Drug and Dental card for
my son. I do not want to put my daughter down as a dependant adult
because I really don't need them to aggravate her. Isnt it awful how
our kids get caught up in the system? I was also wondering. My lawyer
sent me a community legal newsletter. On it, it says that an ODSP
recipient is allowed to receive 416.00 per month from friends or family
and it will not be deducted from their income.I would have used this
thing as an excuse should my daughter get a job, to just buy the
groceries and that would be considered as the 416.00 they are talking
about. I'm just not sure I understand what it means and I don't want to
do something that will screw me up again. I used to let my friends
write the letters to ODSP for me and although I am trying to do things
on my own, I still need the approval of the odd friend once in awhile
to make sure I write it properly. I try to follow their policies but
they keep contradicting themselves. My lawyer told me that after all
this is over, I can call her anytime and talk to her instead of them. I
found that really nice of her. Another thing happened recently too.
The intake worker that said I may have an overpayment in the first
place told me to contact the WCB and get a pension review. Thanks to
her my check went from 183.00 to 305. They also sent me a check on
December 7th, 2004 for 12900.00. My kids had a good Christmas that
year. I gave them a copy of the check because I was afraid to screw up
the income statement again and asked a girl at the office to fill it
out for me. My lawyer told me to spend as much as I could on
necessities, bills, etc and at least keep 6000.00 in the bank because I
was allowed that amount . I don't know if they are considering the
other 6900.00 as part of this 25,000. 00 or am I going to end up with a
bigger overpayment. I was very thankful to the intake worker for
helping me out for that, because it really helped minimize a lot of old
debts. Some were as old as 30 years old. When I received my first child
support check in January of 2004, I just gave it to them as I felt they
supported me when my ex didn't, that it should go to them in the first
place. Any child support check I had received after that went straight
to them until they showed me how to fill out papers from the court
house making them the recipient of all my future checks. He owes me
over 27,000.00. SO I don't know what happens next in that case. I'm
really sorry for rambling on about all of this. I have so many
questions and I am so confused about everything. My lawyer did tell me
to call her if they do cut me off. I was worried about them taking my
CPP or WCB. I was wondring if anyone could help me by answering a few
of these many questions and easing my mind a bit. I am such an honest
person. I'm 50 years old, I thought all of this was settled years ago
and all of this paper work and legal stuff if mixing me up more than
before. Thank you again for lending an ear. I hope I'm not mixing you
guys up even further. Bye for now. Linda