Benefit in dispute

Surfer

Due to an official mistake we were overpaid a benefit and we have been notified that they will be claiming back the overpayment out of our current benefit however we have very good grounds for disputing the overpayment and theri decision to claw back.
I am fairly sure we will win due to it being an error on their part but if they take it out of our current benefit afterf our priority debts we are left with less than £50 to live on each week! We are a couple with no children. This error of theirs also left us with £597 rent arrears!
As we are disputing it on legal grounds, are they stll entitled to carry on taking back the overpayment from the current benefit while it is being disputed?

krisskross

Was it an error that you could have reasonably been expected to be aware of? For instance giving you no income or a couple of extra children on tax credit award notices? If it was then despite it being official error you would still be expected to repay it.

Oldernotwiser

Most benefits don't take any account of debt repayment, either in their calculation or of your ability to pay them.

Surfer

krisskross wrote: »

Was it an error that you could have reasonably been expected to be aware of? For instance giving you no income or a couple of extra children on tax credit award notices? If it was then despite it being official error you would still be expected to repay it.

Long story but answer is No and CAB also agree as I approached CAB for advice, however my question was can they stop benefits if it is in dispute?

jimcoxell

Surfer wrote: »

Long story but answer is No and CAB also agree as I approached CAB for advice, however my question was can they stop benefits if it is in dispute?

The C.A.B are stars but it may be worth letting people on hear know the exact reason for the O.P so they can give you advice from another angle.

ALIBOBSY

You can ask the recovery section if they will suspend the recovery as you dispute it but they will probably refuse. They may agree to reduce the level of recovery if you ask but its down to their discretion.

Have you actually appealed against the overpayment? If not you need to ASAP.

ali x

Surfer

jimcoxell wrote: »

The C.A.B are stars but it may be worth letting people on hear know the exact reason for the O.P so they can give you advice from another angle.

That was not the question I was asking. I was asking if they can with hold current benefits if a previous benefit is being disputed. I do not see any need to elaborate on the reason for the OP at this time which was most definitely not our fault! Besides CAB I had a similar response from other members on MSE which matched a "hidden" housing benefit clause regarding OPs.

Surfer

ALIBOBSY wrote: »

You can ask the recovery section if they will suspend the recovery as you dispute it but they will probably refuse. They may agree to reduce the level of recovery if you ask but its down to their discretion.

Have you actually appealed against the overpayment? If not you need to ASAP.

ali x

Thanks. Appeal has already bing launched. Clawing back at this time when our income is even lower will cause us a great deal of hardship and my spouse will not be able to travel to work as there will be no money for petrol after all priority debts are taken in to account.