Housing Benefit Overpayment Question.

brokeinyorkshire

Hi all.

I work part time and claim partial Housing Benefit.

I started a new job in March and my wage fluctuates so I have taken my pay slip into the benefit office every month and my benefit has been recalculated when necessary.

The period between my first few wages was four weeks but my wage from May to June was a five week period. I took my payslip in as usual then about a week later I got a letter to say I had been overpaid by £141.00. I contacted the Housing Benefit unit as I thought they hadn't taken into account the fact that my June wage covered a five week period. I was told I should appeal which I did.

I have received a reply re the appeal and they are sticking by their original decision. This is their reply.

"The problem has arisen in the way that you wages are paid. They’re described on the payslip as monthly, but they are actually either 4 weekly or 5 weekly.

Normally, monthly payslips are converted to weekly by multiplying by 12 (months) and dividing by 52 (weeks) but actually in your case we should divide by either 4 or 5.

This has meant that the pay has been understated from the start of your employment."

Now I DO understand what they mean but I DO get paid monthly. Its the last Friday of every month. Also they are saying what my calculations should be but THEY have been doing it wrongly.

They have said that I can ask for an independent hearing but I don't know if there's any point as their calculations will still be correct.

My issue is that this is not my fault. I have taken my payslips into the office every month so they can calculate my entitlement and I am still ending up owing them £141.00 which of course puts me in arrears on my rent through no fault of my own.

Is there any point in asking for the hearing or shall I just suck it up, annoying as it is.

brokeinyorkshire

Hi Blonde Bubbles.

Sorry. I should have said that pay day in May was brought forward a week due to the bank Holiday so I was actually paid on the 22nd. Just to complicate matters more.

dippy3103

You can only appeal against the overpayment if you feel that the decision was wrong in law or they used the incorrect information.

However, you could appeal on the recovery if you can show that you did not cause the overpayment & you had no way of knowing you were being overpaid.

So are you paid on the last working day of each month for that month & your wages fluctuate slightly because of it?

brokeinyorkshire

Hi Dippy.

Thank you for your reply. I suspected that was the case.

To answer your question, we are usually paid on the last Friday of the month but this is sometimes moved forward a week due to the Bank Holidays. My wage fluctuates because we are paid time and a half at Bank Holidays and we also work in hours and out of hours. I work for an out of hours GP service. Hope this makes sense.

I will definitely appeal on the basis you mentioned because I have taken my pay slips in every month and had my benefit adjusted accordingly. They have recalculated my benefit each month yet I have still been overpaid.

Thanks again.