Overpayment of Housing Benefits £14k

comeandgo

Have they been paying you £290 a month and you did not notice. If you have been overspending while getting this extra money, you say you are always in overdraft, now it has stopped you Really need to look at your spending. Watch you have enough for direct debits or stop them at the bank as if they are returned the bank charges can soon add up.

pmlindyloo

starbright789 wrote: »

I know but i did inform them on my last signing on day its one big mess really.

Who did you inform? Job Centre? Had you been receiving JSA? Income based JSA? The council?

Must say I find this really weird.

If your JSA claim ended then usually the 'computer' informs HB and CT. Did you inform the council that your JSA had ended?

I think informing them of new addresses is not relevant. You weren't then claiming benefits so why would you have to inform them?

Were you receiving council tax support when you claimed benefits? HB and CT support are generally done together.

Have you checked that you haven't got a CT overpayment too? Have a look at your bank statements and see if the HB and CT payments did go in.

You may need to see CAB to sort this just in case this was an official error, although I agree that if you were receiving the payments then you are at fault too.

starbright789

Who did you inform? Job Centre? Had you been receiving JSA? Income based JSA? The council? I was signing on as I had been made redundant and the very last time i signed on I informed the job centre that I had been offered a job so would no longer need any form of benefits. This was a verbal information which I told the person to whom I was signing on with.

Were you receiving council tax support when you claimed benefits? HB and CT support are generally done together. No council tax support, I was reciving JSA and also housing benefits too.

I have got hold of my bank statements and amongst the mess can see they had been paying me every 2 weeks, this is housing benefits im assuming as in order to claim JSA you need to sign on?

NICHOLAS_2

I dont think there can be a defense of negligence on the part of the claimant over a period of four years. 6-12 months you could maybe argue.

I wonder what happens in cases where the person overpaid has no disposable income?

The op seems to suggest that after bills they have virtually nothing left.

It's not just bills that get taken into disposable income though when paying back debts from memory, i think you are allowed budgets for clothing and other stuff as well as your main bills when calculating affordability.

And if the op is not a home owner then they wouldn't achieve much making them bankrupt.

I would probably offer them a pound a month until time gets better.

NICHOLAS_2

starbright789 wrote: »

I have got hold of my bank statements and amongst the mess can see they had been paying me every 2 weeks, this is housing benefits im assuming as in order to claim JSA you need to sign on?

Council tax and housing benefit is linked together usually. I find it odd how you were able to get hold of this payment so easily because i think you have to jump though some hoops to get hold of council tax benefits usually. I would have thought they'd have needed some form of contact from you over the 4 year period in which you were getting this money to see that your circumstances had not changed

You wont go to jail anyway, i know someone who owes one council over 10k in unpaid council tax, they used to get him to go to the magistrates and discuss why he hasn't paid etc and then set up monthly payment plans. He always defaulted on the payment plans, went back to the magistrates a further 2 times and now it seems as if they've given up chasing him altogether. If you have assets then it's a different story.

starbright789

Exactly, and I have not received any correspondence, I've even changed houses twice in different council areas too.
Does anyone know if this then becomes the council's fault as I did declare i will not be needing anything?

Caz3121

JSA and housing benefit are dealt with by different organisations, DWP and Council. As has been said when a JSA claim ends, often there is a trigger that stops the housing benefit until they understand why you stopped claiming JSA but it is still your responsibility to inform them.
I have never claimed HB but find is amazing that they never in that time contacted to confirm there were no changes in circumstances.
Might be worth having a look at the debt free board as a SOA may come in useful now you will need to budget with significantly less coming in each month

starbright789

thank you Caz3121, what is a SOA please?

NYM

starbright789 wrote: »

Exactly, and I have not received any correspondence, I've even changed houses twice in different council areas too.
Does anyone know if this then becomes the council's fault as I did declare i will not be needing anything?

Are you paying your own rent and CT now ?

starbright789

Yes, I pay my own everything now, rent, council tax, water, electricity, all my bills, everything is fully up to date on everything.