Further information

Causes of overpayments

There are several different reasons that cause an overpayment. A typical reason is when your income increases, and this reduces the benefit awarded for a period we have already paid.

What happens when an overpayment is found?

We do the following:

• Identify the period, amount, and cause of the overpayment;
• Decide whether the overpayment is legally recoverable;
• Decide whether to recover the overpayment, and;
• Decide from whom the recovery should be sought.

We then write to you with the details.

What should I do if I disagree with that decision?

You should ask us straightaway if you want the decision explained to you, if you want the decision looked at again or if you want to appeal against it. You must do so within one month of the date of the decision letter. For more on this process, see our page on Benefit appeals.

What if the overpayment was not my fault?

If you reported a change to us at the time it occurred but we did not act on it for a long time, we will not automatically ask you for it to be repaid. We will consider whether you could reasonably have known that you were being overpaid benefit at the relevant time.

Overpayments due to delayed benefit awards

Sometimes, you may be claiming housing and/or council tax benefit whilst you are waiting for another Social Security benefit to be awarded. If you are then awarded the other benefit, this may result in an overpayment of housing and/or council tax benefit. We will usually ask for this to be repaid.

Overpayments to landlords

If we were paying a landlord and then found out there had been an overpayment that was recoverable, we would then decide who to recover the overpayment from. If for example you had started work and had not told us of this change, we could take the view that your landlord could not have been expected to know of this change. Therefore he might not know he was being overpaid so we could well decide to bill you for any overpayment. Each overpayment case is considered on it’s own merits.

See our page on Starting back to work for details of what you need to tell us if you start working.

How we recover an overpayment if you are still entitled to housing benefit

Normally, if you are still entitled to Housing Benefit, we will deduct the overpayment from your on-going benefit either;

• by a series of payments over a number of weeks until the overpayment has been cleared, or;
• by a single payment from arrears of Housing Benefit.

We can discuss the recovery rate with you in order to avoid any hardship.

How we recover an overpayment if you are no longer entitled to Housing Benefit in our area

We will send you an invoice asking you to repay the money, and this should be paid by the due date. You can pay the bill online, or by telephone, post or in person.

What if I cannot afford to pay the invoice in full?

You should contact the Overpayments Recovery Officer to agree a special arrangement to pay the invoice in instalments. You could then set up a Standing Order to make the payments by the due date. Alternatively, you can pay the instalments by telephone, post or in person.

What happens if I don’t pay the invoice?

If you make no contact or acceptable offer of repayment, we can then seek to recover the overpayment from certain Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) benefits. Alternatively we can seek recovery through the County Court that can result in you incurring additional costs, and in a judgement being entered against you. This may prevent you from obtaining a mortgage, credit or hire purchase facilities.

Other methods of recovery include Attachment to Earnings, Bailiffs or a Charging Order.

What happens with council tax benefit?

Council tax benefit overpayments will be recovered by increasing your council tax bill.

Related pages on this website

• Benefit fraud: help us to stop it!
• Unhappy with your benefit assessment?
• Make payments online
• Making telephone, post or cash payments
• Welfare, benefits & debt advice