housing benfit overpayment

kelly_2009

Hi

I have just recvied a letter of the housing benfit saying that I haVe been overpaid.
I applied for housing benfit and concil tax benfit in may and got accpeted. They wrote to me and told me what i was entiled. Last month I lost my job so wrote to them enforming off my changes.
Now they have wrote to me telling me my new payments and on the first letter it states that i will revice £(X) which includes a underpayment that they underpaid me last month . THen today a received a letter informing me of the overpayments and that all paymnts would stay the same until the end off november when they would start to take my overpayment out of my benfits each month.
When I rang them today they said that they amounts I have been given are not the same as what they have on the system to pay me and that they were taking the overpayments out straight away.

What i would like to know is the following if anyone can help?

1) If they workout my payments with the infomation I gave them when I applied how can I be responsible for a overpayment when nothing had changed in my circumanstance ??

2) dont they have to inform you in writing of any changes to payments ??

3) have I got a good chance at disputing their decision if so what is the best way to do so ???

Any help welcome
Thank you

dodger1

Did you receive a different amount to what the benefit notification said you would get when you were first accepted? If they made an error I would expect the only dispute you would have is maybe the length of time to repay the overpayment. Just my thoughts though.

paulofessex

You can also request for the overpayment amount stopped each month week/month to be reviewed on the grounds of hardship.