advice in housing benefits overpayment please

cattie1

hiya,really sorry for the long post but I would really appreciate it if someone could help me with this query.
lately I have seemed to have nothing but trouble with our local counil-they are continually making mistakes and I am the one having to pay for it!

Some of you may remember the trouble I had with them last year where they made a mistake with my council tax payments and reffered me to bailliffs even though I was actually £200 in credit (overpaid because of them telling me different amounts!) and the only way it stopped was when the local mp got involved! this is only one of MANY dealings I have had with them!

Today they have sent me a letter saying that I was overpaid benefits in 2005 and I need to contact them immediately to pay £321.75 back,
Now just last week I had to pay £300 council tax because I had been paying £30 per week off an old balance (when they decided I had been overpaid council tax and had to pay £800 in the space of 3 months, which was financially impossible so i made an agreement to pay £30 per week along with the monthly payments in april-which I stuck to) but because I rounded my monthly payments up to £100 instead of £93 the machine didn't understand this so paid the entirity of my old balance off so it looked like I hadn't made any payments towards the new council tax and so the council decided that the only choice I had was to pay £300 or go to court and they charge me £55 for the privilage!:mad: :eek:

So as you can imagine I can not afford £321.75 now, I am struggling because of them as it is.
they expect me to provide them with information or situations immediately, so why can they wait 2 years and then inform me? it even says in the letter
"unfortunately there was a delay in issuing an invoice to you for this overpayment period"

So after all that jibber jabba what I am trying to ask is why do I have to pay this amount when they have obviously made the mistakes themselves, and have only just noticed after 2 years!
Surely if I have to provide them with information within 6 months to be entitled to benefits then I should be informed of an overpayment within 6 months?
After all the problems I have had with them I feel as though it is a never ending battle!
(the few I have mentioned are only the beginning! the sunday sun have even ran my stories because what I have been through with them really takes the biscuit!)
I am sorry I am whinging I am holding back the tears just posting this!

Valley's_girl

Hi Cattie
You sound like you are having a nightmare could you go and see CAB and get some advice from them.
Someone will be along shortly who will be able to advise you on what to do. Try not to worry and don't get upset they are really not worth it
Take care
Ally xx

hypno06

Ooh, sorry to read that you are continuing to have hassles, despite your best efforts.

I think it may be best to gather all the things you have had over the years, write down everything you can think of - timescales, amounts, overpayments from you etc and then make an appointment to sit down and go through it with someone at the council so they can "see" everything for themselves and ask them to tell you face to face what you have done that is so wrong, and how they can justify what they are doing in terms of asking for "immediate" payment etc.

Otherwise, get the MP on board again. It worked before.....

Good luck and sorry that I don't have anything more constructive to offer.

ZTD

It's the bog-standard tack they take when confronted with their own incompetance - blame the person. Demanding immediate payment after they screwed up over two years is not reasonable.

First complain to the council. Yes I know it's unlikely to yield results, but it must be done. Put a firm timescale for complete resolution on the letter and send it by recorded delivery. Put in everything that's happened so far. Mention that it is clearly mal-administration, and what are they going to do about it.

If they haven't resolved it within your timescale, take a look at this page. Report your council for mal-administration. Don't forget to put everything in so far.

Remember when you send the first letter, the debt goes into dispute. If they apply pressure for it to be paid, then take their details and make that a basis for a further complaint.

immoral_angeluk

I would write an official complaint as that is ridiculous!! I know councils are rubbish but come on!!! They're seriously taking the mick.

cattie1

thanks very much everyone-I should have mentioned that I was in the middle of writing a letter to the ombudsman about everything else that has happened over the years (have wrote numerous letters to the council which have either been ignored or palmed off!)
I am pleased that I hadn't sent it yet as I am now going to add this and I have also photocopied ever single letter to show their incompetence!

msmicawber

Dear Cattie - I feel for you very much as I had similar problems with my local Council. Unfortunately, they have a regulation (reg. 99 I think) that says even if it's their fault, you have to pay them back. They like to take the moral high ground about the importance of not wasting public money, except when it comes to training their staff or setting their systems up to avoid messing it up in the first place ...

I too got my MP involved and found it was the only way to get them to write off the amount they wanted to claw back. It took several goes from him before it was all sorted out, though. Since your MP assisted before, I'd recommend getting back in touch with him/her, explaining that they've done it to you again and asking for assistance. Another poster took the publicity approach and contacted her local paper. They ran an article about the Council's incompetence and unreasonable behaviour and she had her overpayments written off. If you could bear the publicity, you could try that route as well.

Very best wishes to you.

cattie1

I think I will contact mp and will threaten council with local newspaper but I have had to complain about them that many times I am sure they will all be sick of me by now!:o
my mam has also had problems and has contacted the local mp to help her too, (who I must say has been very good!)

msmicawber

Good - perhaps they'll get sick enough of you to write off the overpayment, and make sure they calculate your benefit properly in future.

beccysmum

Hi Cattie

I just wanted to make a couple of points for you. Firstly, they should write off the court costs they applied to your council tax account. The reason is that you made payments, it's not your fault it went off an old debt. They should have transferred the payments across to the current year. If you had gone to court and told the magistrates what happened they would not have got a liability order against you as they should not automatically assume you are paying an old debt off.

Secondly, tell them you want the details of exactly why you were overpaid. Although Councils will sometimes tell you that they can reclaim overpaid benefit from you they don't make it clear that you can appeal, and you will probably win. For example, if the overpayment was caused because you gave them information about your income but they didn't put it all onto their system. They may come back with the fact that you received letters, but are the letters easy to understand? If not, and they are included in the appeal, you will probably win and get the debt wiped out.

Don't assume they are right - they very rarely are (and I work in Housing Benefits!)

PM me if you need further advice.

cheers
beccysmum

SortingIt_2

Hi,

I too work in housing benefits - and yes sometimes they get in wrong! But would just like to add we get it right too and help a lot of people so its not all bad!

Re your overpayment - I would ask them for a written statement of reasons for why you were overpaid, exactly what period it covered and confirmation of dates/notification letters etc that were sent to you so you can have all the facts. It may be something they had calculated incorrectly on your claim/it may not. I don't know your circumstances i.e when you were claiming etc and on what basis but I would def ask for the above first - put everything in writing to them & get a receipt for your proof - we all know how the post gets lost!!??

I would definately get your MP involved - it seems that you have had no end of trouble. Make sure that you request that a hold on all recovery action is taken until you receive the necessary information.

Any questions of advice please feel free to ask - if I can help in anyway I will do!

I am guessing that they will say they notified you of the overpayment at the time and that you had a calendar month in which to appeal? Do you remember any correspondence? Also can you remember the circumstances? May be able to help more if know the situation.

Again - feel free to post of PM me if you want any further help - hopefully it will be of some use as it doesn't seem you are getting much luck with your local council!