Do i have any chance? HB overpayment

meeps

hi there, I am about to appeal a hb overpayment- they have decided we owe £2400 as they didn't process my husband's payrise last year despite entering it onto the system- I am going to an appointment with the c.a.b next week to discuss the case, and a lady from the council actually rang yesterday and said she had been about to send me a reminder but from looking at it she thought we should appeal and she has frozen the account and will deal with me personally, so I now have someone 'on the inside' and feel much more optimistic. If you can actually go in to your hb office and talk to someone it might help - I sent my husband in with all our info and they were pretty helpful, much better than by post

violetmva

just came back from my LA office. The lady this time was very nice and explained i have claimed a profit of 30000 :eek: on the P/L account.
I have always done the accounts the same way and it never happened before for someone to read it this way. I put
income 15000
gross profit 15000
expences -3000 (as an example)
net profit -12000

I've always done it this way as the accountant we had before did it the same. Is this wrong?

dmg24

violetmva wrote: »

just came back from my LA office. The lady this time was very nice and explained i have claimed a profit of 30000 :eek: on the P/L account.
I have always done the accounts the same way and it never happened before for someone to read it this way. I put
income 15000
gross profit 15000
expences -3000 (as an example)
net profit -12000

I've always done it this way as the accountant we had before did it the same. Is this wrong?

I think that the problem is that you are stating income and gross profit. I would normally state the following (I do accounts for small businesses):

Income 15000
Expenditure 3000
Profit 3000

Adding the extra line looks like you have an income plus the profits.

dmg24

meeps wrote: »

hi there, I am about to appeal a hb overpayment- they have decided we owe £2400 as they didn't process my husband's payrise last year despite entering it onto the system- I am going to an appointment with the c.a.b next week to discuss the case, and a lady from the council actually rang yesterday and said she had been about to send me a reminder but from looking at it she thought we should appeal and she has frozen the account and will deal with me personally, so I now have someone 'on the inside' and feel much more optimistic. If you can actually go in to your hb office and talk to someone it might help - I sent my husband in with all our info and they were pretty helpful, much better than by post

It is good to see that there are some good HB/ LHA staff out there. If the person dealing with your case would like to move to my LA, she would be welcomed with open arms! x

Scarlett.1974

Hi

I too am in the middle of appealing against recovery of HB and CTB because the LA calculated my weekly pay as monthly (such a simple mistake - such devestating consequences )

I've been helped and advised by of the HB officers at my local council who has been, without doubt, fantastic. She has actually written to the overpayments team too herself to say she advises they write it off.

I sent in a VERY long letter last Monday (by recorded delivery) explaining my appeal....... so just waiting now. Have no idea how long it will take them to get back to me

Good luck violetmva and meeps

violetmva

I was advised to reapply which i'll do tomorrow. I have explained in a letter that a wording on the P&L lead to the mistake in the previous claim and have now corrected it. Printed the Tax Return SA so they can see how much was declared and hope this helps. Still though i have given them the appeal letter, as i asked in it to freeze my account until the decision is made. I wish hubby was earning 30000 so i wouldn't have to deal with benefits and all. I can't even start looking for a job as i'm awaiting an operation on one hand first then the other one and no one will take me without fixed dates.
Good luck to you too, Scarlett, hope all will be resolved soon.

meeps

well I had my appointment with the cab this morning, and a lady there is now acting on my behalf to appeal to the council against the overpayment on the grounds that I provided all information in good faith and it is their error that caused it. she will be writing to them and sending a copy to me, and its up to them what happens next- they can waive it straight away, or go to appeal tribunal.

another really really nice lady on our side, very impressed so far.

the lady that rang from the council sent me some copies of letters and included a letter that said she thought we had a strong case and wished us luck, and wants to be kept informed.

fingers crossed. apparently they should be quite quick responding.

violetmva

Me again,
got my letter today with apology about the mistake made. We're still a bit overpaid but nothing we can't manage to pay back. And we're still getting some HB, so they can take the overpayment from the current award. Don't know how they look at the appeals, but from the letter is clear they have taken my word for the payments.
Good luck to all appealing, if you have all the proof and nothing to hide rest assured your appeal will be successful. :beer:

meeps

well done!! hoping to get my letter from the cab today and then hear from the council in the next couple of weeks.....

meeps

well I rang the council lady today as requested and she has suspended the account and can see my letter has been passed to a senior benefits officer to be dealt with.. she can't say how long that will take though..