Housing benefit overpayment

auxpin

Hi,
thank you for taking the time to read this, any advice would be greatly appreciated. If this would get a better response in the Student section please accept my apologies and move, thanks

I am a full-time undergraduate student due to start my second year of a degree course in September. I received a letter today from the Debt Recovery department at local council asking for payment of an invoice from a Housing Benefit overpayment (I'd been initially told I was eligible for HB run-on when starting a new job in 2012 but after the money was paid to me and spent they later informed me I wasn't).

Anyway, the letter says I need to pay the full amount of £455 and if not further action will be taken.

Before I contact them my question to you knowledgeable folk is this... Where do I stand as I don't have any income currently as I'm living off Student Finance ie. a loan and have no savings.

Should I offer to pay in small instalments, if so how much is considered reasonable / acceptable? Or will they suspend repayments while I'm studying / without income etc if I request.

NB.
I've already appealed against their original decision to reverse the overpayment and lost so its not an option to continue down that route

Thanks again.

Housing_Benefit_Officer

To get the 4 week run on you had to meet the following conditions:-

1) in receipt of a qualifying social security benefit for 26 weeks without a break immediately prior to starting work.

2) Job expected to last 5 weeks or more even if the job ends before those 5 weeks.

If you have exhausted all appeal avenues then explain your financial circumstances and make a payment arrangement even if it is a token £5 per month (or whatever the minimum they can except) until your financial circumstances improve.

auxpin

Thanks for your reply.
I did satisfy all the above HB run-on conditions, although the council then challenged them and chose to ignore them, but due to inefficiency of their system at the time of my change of circumstances (ie. by continually writing to me at an old address and not at my new address that I had informed them of previous to starting work) I was unable to appeal within the specified period as I was unaware they had requested the overpayment to be returned.
Despite a lot of letter and email writing with requests to reconsider I was advised by CAB to repay the overpayment which I had accepted, but that was before my circumstances changed to being a full-time student and without an income.
The letter I received today is the first communication from them since agreeing to this back in 2013, although going on previous experience with them there's every possibility they may have been writing to me at the previous address again :undecided

konark

If you heven't got any money then you must tell them you can't pay it back.

They have then 3 options;
1) write the debt off,
2) Take you to court,
3) Wait until you either claim benefits or work,then either make deductions from your benefits or a 'Direct Earnings Attachment' from your wages. n.b no court procedure needed!

Given that you are a student and they can't get their mitts on any of your money at the present, option 3) would be favourite. If they went for option 2) they will have to explain to the court why you were ineligible for the HB run-on which , if you feel you were eligible, you could contest.

Just tell them you've got no money and you'll let them know when you are in a position to repay them.