Housing benefit overpayment

Rachel2011

I recently went on maternity leave and applied for housing benefit as I am a single mother and on statutory maternity pay. When I went on office I was asked for documents proving income etc and put on my form I was waiting on tax credits as I'd only just had baby n asked if I would need to bring up form when it arrivied, I was told no as they wouldn't put claim through till tax credits had been awarded n they had checked amount on their computer n I was just to wait for my claim to b processed. I also informed her my rent was going up and she took copy of letter. I've now recently received a letter saying I have had an overpayment basically as they hadn't took my tax credits into account!!! Is this my fault? They r taking it back at 10 pounds a week leaving me with £5 per week housing benefit. I'm struggling with money due to being on maternity leave n I have penny's left over once bills r all paid as im tied to car finance etc. They also have on the form got my statutory pay wrong and rent wrong even tho I provided letters stating both. Even tho I didn't hold any info from them am I still liable to pay this back? Thank you for any replies

fluffymovie

Sadly I would say, yes, you do need to pay it back as if they had used the tax credits in your assessment to start with, you would not have received this money in the first place.

You can ask them to look again at your claim if you feel it is incorrect and I would urge you to do so if your SMP is incorrect.

As for your rent, when you claimed, the rent they would use would be that you were charged and the LHA rate would stand for 12 months unless you are in a HA or council property in which case it can be amended.

You can also ask them to look at the amount of the recovery of the overpayment and if you complete a household money planner you can show them your outgoings so they can reduce it.