Do i have a case to fight with the council?

samdd

Hi.

Hope someone with experience of housing benefit overpayment will be able to advise or point me in the right direction.

I received a letter from the council to say that an overpayment of £377 in housing benefit had to be repaid. Unfortunately due to other pressures I've missed the appeal deadline but have been talking to someone from the councils recovery department to find a way forward in repaying the outstanding amount and also why/how the overpayment came about.

They agree with me that when i started back to work, back in November 09, i informed the council as well as income support. They agree that i paid £30 more a week than my actual rent was. i.e. £65 rent... Paid £100 pw. (i like to be in advance encase work comes to a sudden stop)

From November 09 thru May 2010 well over £1000 was showing on my On-Line rent account without the council deducting any of my weekly rent for the whole period.

In may 2010 i had an accident at work so was back on benefits. I wrote to the council pointing out that my rent account was showing no reductions for rent and that a significant build up of money was just sitting there.

From May 2010 thru Sept 2010 the council made many changes to the build up of rent on my On-line account. Each week the amount would go up or down more times than Joan Collins Knickers, until finally in October the council rents dept sent me a cheque for £186.00 for overpayment of rent.

In December 2010 they sent me a letter advising that i owed them £377 for overpayment of benefit dating back from Nov 09 to May 2010.

On Monday 31st January I received a notice to say that the council would be applying to the court for a Notice Seeking Possession if the outstanding £377 wasn't paid within 14days.

I called rents the following day to try and put a payment plan in operation but they said they would have to discuss the matter with Recovery before committing to any payment plan. They promised to call me back this Monday just gone but haven't. I sent rents an email, and CC'd recovery, so to cover my butt and also to show the judge I'm trying to communicate with the council without the need for the courts time.

To be honest i've a good mind to let them apply for the Notice and have my say in Court. IMO the council are dragging their feet with deciding the payment offer of £40 a month so they can have me in court and a Notice hanging over my head along with a liability order and court costs.. That's how i suspect they work i'm afraid.

Would my argument be a valid one on account that i did all was expected of me when starting back to work, i.e., i paid more than my rent via there website payments, I informed the council as well as income support of my return to work, and that i believe this has arose because of a council clerical error. I also pointed out that i had recently received a rent refund for overpayment from the same department that is chasing me for overpayment in benefits. which clearly indicates a clerical error.

Any suggestions whether i have a case to fight in court?

Many thanks for reading

Sam.

Jowo_2

Best to try and resolve it and head off any legal action.

Best also to follow up all phone calls/emails with a letter, keeping a copy of it and getting proof of postage certificate from the post office. Keep good records.

When were you notified of the £377 overpayment?

samdd

Jowo wrote: »

Best to try and resolve it and head off any legal action.

Best also to follow up all phone calls/emails with a letter, keeping a copy of it and getting proof of postage certificate from the post office. Keep good records.

When were you notified of the £377 overpayment?

It was October when they rebated me and December Last they wrote to me informing me of the £377 benefit overpayment.

I've just had an email from recovery and they say;[FONT=&quot] "In short there was a change in your circumstance which was reported to us in April - this was for a period 28/12/2009 - 26/04/2010. You were not entitled to benefit for this period nor have you provided your income for this period when Income Support ceased"

It appears that Income support didn't inform the council as quick as they should have done was the cause for overpayment.. However, I wasn't aware that i was duty bound to report my earnings to the council when returning to work. I thought my responsibilities were to inform the council and income support that I'm starting work on such and such a date.. and then paying my rent every week. [/FONT]

Confused...

HappyMJ

This is what scares a lot of people of from stopping claiming income support. Did you know that you had to report the change within 30 days to the council as well as the DWP? A £377 overpayment for what looks like 4 months doesn't look like a large amount so to me it looks like they have calculated something somewhere. It may be worth taking it to court just to see what they have. They may settle out of court with you so consider taking their offer of £40 per month.

samdd

HappyMJ wrote: »

This is what scares a lot of people of from stopping claiming income support. Did you know that you had to report the change within 30 days to the council as well as the DWP? A £377 overpayment for what looks like 4 months doesn't look like a large amount so to me it looks like they have calculated something somewhere. It may be worth taking it to court just to see what they have. They may settle out of court with you so consider taking their offer of £40 per month.

Sorry i perhaps didn't make it clear in my post.. Its me that has offered them £40 a month to clear the £377 overpayment. Just now i'm thinking maybe i have a case to fight in court on account i did everything that was expected of me.

Jowo_2

You should double check your rights with Shelter and seek advice on your problem. They offer free expert advice to tenants. Their website is excellent.

Personally, I think resolving the issue with the aim of getting them to retract the Notice of Possession (if that's an option at all) is much better than risking failing in your defence in court.

I don't know how it works for social housing tenancies, but for private tenancies, some types of notices can't be defended - they are no fault notices, if the landlord has issued them correctly, the judge must always find in favour of them. Don't be scared by this, as you don't have this type of tenancy, social housing tenancies are more secure and as far as I know, judges are much more reluctant to award possession. But if I were you, I'd check out your rights and the landlord's, too, with Shelter. For example, some social housing landlords will get the judgement suspended and it hangs over the tenant and can get reactivated in the future. Again, I'm not an expert in this area so I am hopefully not posting misleading information, this is why you should speak to Shelter to help with your preparations.


Look at their website, give them a call. Come back to the forum and tell us how you get on.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/eviction/eviction_of_council_tenants

By your earlier reference about missing the deadline for the appeal, do you mean you haven't responded to the court with a defence form?

samdd

Jowo wrote: »

By your earlier reference about missing the deadline for the appeal, do you mean you haven't responded to the court with a defence form?

Apparently i time to appeal the demand but this wasn't made clear to me by the council. I found out on the .gov website today while researching my situation.