Housing and council tax benefit overpayment?

afc80

It looks as though you informed the LA 2 weeks after your change in circumstance by which time 2 weeks benefit would have been transferred
to your rent account.

This would account for the overpayment.

If you informed the la on a specific date and they through being inefficient didnt deal with the coc for many weeks after, i feel that this is a LA or Admin error and if you appealed they would/should write it off. LAs should have procedures in place to fast track cocs like yours (document imaging systems with urgent document types).

After all you told them and are in no position to stop the benefit being passed to your rent account.

the thing with hb ops is that hb has been credited to your rent account, that hb is there and has helped pay your rent, you, yes are left with an hp op but this can be paid back at a low amount each week or month so it isnt the end of the world.

terryw

Yes, Lolly is certainly responsible for payment for these two weeks as she dithered slightly in informing the HB people. But to me, the continuing payments to her landlord are entirely the responsibility of the HB people via official error. She had no reason to know or even suspect that payments were still being made until she received the statement.

afc80

if the LA did not action the coc within the same benefit week as lolly notified them, then any benefit paid after that date should be written off and will be written off.

She should appeal, if the LA stand by their original decision she can go to a tribunal. It wont come to that, she will win her appeal.

If she puts in an appeal any recovery action on the o/p should also be suspended pending the outcome of that appeal.

Macro_3

afc80 wrote: »

if the LA did not action the coc within the same benefit week as lolly notified them, then any benefit paid after that date should be written off and will be written off.

She should appeal, if the LA stand by their original decision she can go to a tribunal. It wont come to that, she will win her appeal.

If she puts in an appeal any recovery action on the o/p should also be suspended pending the outcome of that appeal.

I take it you're speaking from professional experience? Many local authorities are operating with backlogs due to the economic climate at the moment - and many overpayment are compounded by the time taken to action coc's. That doesn't mean that the overpayment is irrecoverable because of this.

I would suggest that the OP 'materially contributed' to the overpayment, making it recoverable.

terryw

Macro wrote: »

I would suggest that the OP 'materially contributed' to the overpayment, making it recoverable.

If the Op did not even know that this money was being paid how has she "materially contributed" to the overpayment?

afc80

Macro wrote: »

I take it you're speaking from professional experience? Many local authorities are operating with backlogs due to the economic climate at the moment - and many overpayment are compounded by the time taken to action coc's. That doesn't mean that the overpayment is irrecoverable because of this.

I would suggest that the OP 'materially contributed' to the overpayment, making it recoverable.

i have no problem with the LA making the o/p recoverable. If however they contributed to part of that o/p through not actioning that coc then on appeal they should/would write it off.

if they standby their original decision, that decision would be over turned by a tribunal imo.

It is all to do with subsidy im afraid as far as the LA is concerned.

yes , ive worked for a LHA/Rent Allowance team in Scotland and any LA worth its salt should action Lollys change in circumstance the very next day imo. We certainly did.

markyb33

Any overpayment by housing benefit is recoverable from who it was paid to.

Since it was paid to your landlord directly (Local Authority) it is recoverable from your landlord.

terryw

markyb33 wrote: »

Any overpayment by housing benefit is recoverable from who it was paid to.

Since it was paid to your landlord directly (Local Authority) it is recoverable from your landlord.

I think it is only recoverable from the landlord if they should have been aware of the change in circumstances and realized that they were not entitled to it.

afc80

markyb33 wrote: »

Any overpayment by housing benefit is recoverable from who it was paid to.

Since it was paid to your landlord directly (Local Authority) it is recoverable from your landlord.

that is not right, hb is not recoverable from who it is paid to, who is responsible for the creation of the o/p is the most important fact as far as hb is concerned.

landlord receives hb, tenants income changes, this results in an op. Landlord cannot be expected to inform the LA of the coc because he does not now anything about the tenants coc.

tenant would be invoiced for the op, not the landlord, even though the landlord received all the hb payments

i am speaking from a private housing benefit perspective here.

markyb33

And i am speaking from a social housing perspective. The landlord would be invoiced. (i volunteer for one in housing benefit collection) Perhaps the 2 weeks could be collected from the tenant at a push, but it would be difficult to persuade HB office of that.