Housing Benefit overpayment Help!! 30 April 2012 at 2:45PM edited 30 April 2012 at 2:47PM in Benefits & tax credits 3 replies 787 views

markfisk

Hi Basic background,
Claimed Housing benefit and Tax credit due to losing wife in march 2010.
Basically i claimed housing benefit and WORKING tax credits when i wasn't working, for a 3 month period as i was at college and suffered from depression, Failure to notify i know but the contracted ended on my xmas temp job and just forgot to notify DWP due to personal issues.
My scenario is this, In my tax credit renewal i have amended the details and stated i wasnt working, creating an overpayment of £2500 which is fine, my fault.
Housing benefit now want £1600 back off me for the same period even though i wasnt working they are taking the Working tax credits as an income even though they have now reclaimed that via over payment.
So on paper i had no benefits from April to July as they both want there money back!!! Surely this cant be right, although the council are assuring me it is.
I cant believe a failure to notify would cause me to lose on £1600, i notified the DWP on my own accord when the renewal date came up! Please help Thanks

Mumto3cheekymonkeys

I would argue this. Do you have a council info centre where you could take relevant paperwork and someone from the housing team could maybe advise you?

markfisk

The housing team are arguing because it was income i had at the time, there is nothing i can do :0(
Rock and hard place i no longer claim housing benefit due to being a university student, with a 3 year old my student loan counts as an income so no H/B.

nannytone_2

i'm afraid i think the housing are right. you werte receiving wtc ( even though you werent entitled to them)

not only did you neglect to tell wtc that you werent working, you also neglected to tell housing benefit that you werte receiving wtc.
the fact that if you hadnt been getting wtc, you would have been entitled to housing benefit is irrelevant.
you cant claim housing benefit retrospectively, and at the time of your claim, you werent entitled.