housing benefit overpayment

donnabooth

I have just been contacted by the benefits agancy in regards to my housing and council tax benefit, they told me that they have reviewed my claim and found that they have made an overpayment to myself of around £211 housing and £56 council tax dating back from 2009, they told me that they are going to deduct the overpayment directly from my benefits in weekly installments, i was wondering if they can do this as I have always sent all relevant forms when asked to and on time. Sorry but I'm new to forums so bare with me if i have done or do something wrong....thanks

Vader123

If its a overpayment then yes "they can do this".

There is nothing stopping you asking for a break down and checking yourself or suggesting a payment plan etc, but yes "they can do this".

Vader

property.advert

I second asking them for a breakdown, using specific dates. I've found they just rely on some computer and don't actually know how to do the maths themselves.

One one occasion I was claiming housing benefit and income support. When I stopped claiming, I they underpaid me on my income support and then said they overpaid me on my housing benefit. What they had done was stop the claim at the date of last payment of income support whereas I actually "signed off" in the middle of a payment cycle. Thus, they owed me some income support and the overpayment for housing benefit was minimal, not hundreds of pounds as they claimed.

To sort this out took a long time as there is a "monkey see, monkey do" attitude and they are not always the sharpest knives in the drawer. They blindly follow what is on their screen and in my case, they didn't have the gumption to do the maths or even to agree my correct maths, even when presented to them. The fact that some twerp had put wrong dates in their system was way over their head and only after intense grilling was I able to do the maths to actually not only prove the correct figure but also to prove out their incorrect assumptions. Had I not been able to do so, then they would have put on their "jobsworth" cap and simply regurgitated the incorrect information as being above contestation as their computer could never be wrong, despite their being unable to prove it was right !

[Deleted User]

I also 3rd that! I was asked to repay over £400 last Year, I was expecting to be overpaid, cause as anyone on benefits knows they always want written proof and it's not always possible to provide this immediately say if like me you get a backdated wage increase, you find out at the end of June you are getting it but don't get a wage slip until your next pay at the end of July... anyway I thought it was steep and when I challenged it they had averaged out the backpay incorrectly I actually owed £180.

fluffymovie

property.advert wrote: »

To sort this out took a long time as there is a "monkey see, monkey do" attitude and they are not always the sharpest knives in the drawer.

To be honest, this type of attitude really winds me up! For a start, Income Support is a passport benefit and so HB are legally required to follow their decision. This is enshrined in law so not a monkey see attitude at all.

Secondly, HB is very complex and it takes on average 6 months to train a new assessor to be able to do basic assessments - but hey, we aren't the sharpest knives in the box so no doubt, you could do it so much better!

I think I am being a bit sensitive as I do all I can to help my claimants and end up being called stupid and even the other day, a claimant said it was people like me that caused the holocaust. Do you know what, people are people and make mistakes but lets do them down some shall we>

To the OP, a Housing benefit overpayment can be caused for a number of reasons such as LA error, claimant error, DWP error. The letters that they send you should tell you the amount of the overpayment, the dates that you have been overpaid and the reason ( for example, used your 4 weekly payslip as monthly). The LA will argue that you have been sent letters and you need to check them and if there are any errors, point it out to them.

elmer

Well said Fluffy movie.

It can be a thankless task at times.

Elmer

DB18

If you provided all the info requested and can remember how and when you provided i.e. by post or by hand (if by hand helps if you can remember who you gave it to) then you can appeal decision to a tribunal, you need to have as many facts as possible as to how you provided it and the outcome may depend on your credibility. If as you say you provided it then the overpayment is due to official error and non-recoverable. Once you have requested an appeal then recovery action should be halted until decision made. Alternatively you can write requesting a reconsideration and explaining the facts and why you feel not recoverable and they may change decision without need for appeal.

uganda

OP, the crucial question that needs to be asked before an authority decides to recover an overpayment is 'Could the claimant have reasonably been expected to have known she was being overpaid?'

If the answer to this is 'no', then they should write it off.

You need to do as others have suggested and request a breakdown of your entitlement and how they worked it out, but also you should check the letters you originally received. Did you read them properly? If it is clear from looking at them that they were not correct at the time and therefore you should have alerted them, then I'm afraid you don't have a leg to stand on. But if you had every reason to believe they were correct at the time, and nothing subsequently changed that you failed to inform them of, then they should probably write it off, though I would have to know all the facts to be absolutely sure.

Please tell us exactly how the overpayment arose and what income they were assessing you on.

fluffymovie

Hi Uganda

I would disagree with your point about reasonably expected as that only applies to LA error overpayments. All overpayments are recoverable but each LA has discretion about whether to recover or not.

In the case of claimant error, the reasonably aware test does not apply

uganda

fluffymovie,

Thank you, I know the rules.

My whole point is predicated on the assumption that it was an LA error. If it was not, then obviously it's the OP's fault and she hasn't got a leg to stand on, as none of what I advised her would apply.

You are quite wrong about the 'discretion' of a local authority to recover an overpayment where the claimant could not reasonably have been expected to have known he or she was being overpaid. Once it has been decided that he or she could not, then the local authority must not recover the overpayment.

The only discretion a local authority has is whether or not to recover a recoverable overpayment, in other words it can decide not to recover it even though it is entitled to.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2006/213/regulation/100/made

By the way, I mean no animosity in my disagreement. Benefits legislation is complex and we all have blind spots and can make errors, that goes for me too. The important thing is that we help the OP.

donnabooth

Its gud to hear that u do all u can with regards to helping your claiments its a shame the person who i spoke to wasnt as helpful with me, the only response i got when i phoned for help was that unfortunatley overpayments happen and to contact the C-A-B if im not happy...maybe it was clocking off time when we spoke