Housing benefit overpayment- URGENT

enfield_freddy

well the HB is usually assessed every 12 mths , did THIS council have you down as paying council tax on that house of your present address? as they should have picked up on it


secondly , what other benefits was your ex wife claiming for? , normally one government department talks to another , and should have told the town hall of any changes, why did they not pick up on it ? or was she also making a false claim on that?


the amount owed (if any) should be the full amount less the amount your ex received or did not receive in her name.


I think your ex has been cheating the system , so the ^&%^ might hit the fan. (not your worry)

tucia

lighting_up_the_chalice wrote: »

Well, there you go. All you have to do is provide sufficient evidence that you weren't living there during that period. They may then re-assess your wife's entitlement and make the necessary adjustment to the over-payment.

I think they re-assessed already. They gave her extra money but now I need to give it back £13k. This is ridiculous and I don't know how to fight with council. I appealed against they decision but still waiting for the results. I received email where they said that amount won't be fully recoverable from me but even few thousands is too much for me.
Last few months is nightmare for me!!!

NYM

Is the property a private rental ?
Did the landlord know you'd moved out ?
Do you pay council tax on your present home ?
Where is your mail sent ?


£13000 is a huge amount. How many years does it cover ?

[Deleted User]

I recently was informed I had a £500 HB overpayment. It was incurred 3 years ago but HB didn't check up on my address properly and sent the letters to the wrong address (their data checking is only good if they see a reason to use it, it seems).

So I was told I was too late to appeal. Many phone calls later I received different dates for letters being sent out, different reasons as to why they didn't find me originally and why they have now. Not exactly helpful.

I was told over and over by HB there was nothing I could do, whatever I said. I had to pay it back.

But I managed to have a letter written by a health professional explaining my state of health at the time was not good. It was like a magic wand. Suddenly the debt was gone. I now have a credit note in a frame from Housing Benefit.

So if you know any professional, including solicitor, who can write to Housing Benefit saying something along these lines, you might have a chance. I was in a pretty bad way mentally at the time, and in spite of HB saying that didn't alter things to me, a letter from a Health Professional (who wasn't even present at the time) saying I wasn't well enough to do all the things I had to do., made the impossible, possible. I'm afraid otherwise HB will just keep repeating that as the claim was headed by your name, you owe the money because you should have told them yourself you moved out.

Contacting your MP might also help.

I hope this helps.

Marktheshark

Have they sent a bill, a demand for payment or a statement of account.
They do not like sending demands or bills as it creates a debt for them.

tucia

Marktheshark wrote: »

Have they sent a bill, a demand for payment or a statement of account.
They do not like sending demands or bills as it creates a debt for them.

They send a bill last year and I appealed against this.

tucia

NYM wrote: »

Is the property a private rental ?
Did the landlord know you'd moved out ?
Do you pay council tax on your present home ?
Where is your mail sent ?


£13000 is a huge amount. How many years does it cover ?

the bill is exactly £13,433.16 and cover 19 months

Marktheshark

Is it a bill as in a Demand for payment or a statement requesting overpayment.
Like Tax credits.
They dont like sending an actual bill as people put them in the bankruptcy pot to avoid paying it back.

tucia

Marktheshark wrote: »

Is it a bill as in a Demand for payment or a statement requesting overpayment.
Like Tax credits.
They dont like sending an actual bill as people put them in the bankruptcy pot to avoid paying it back.

The last one I received it was revision notice.

benniebert

Marktheshark wrote: »

They dont like sending an actual bill as people put them in the bankruptcy pot to avoid paying it back.

I like that and to be honest there is more truth in that statement than you may believe!!