Overpaid Housing Benefit 6 years ago

Mena1960

My local Council have recently written to me explaining that due to a mistake they made in February 2012, my housing benefit for that month was overpaid. At that time I was not working, on unemployment benefit and my housing benefit was paid direct to my landlord (Housing Association). Their letter said they would add this overpayment to this years Council Tax bill.

I was of the belief that after 6 years this debt cannot be reclaimed so wrote to the council explaining I am unhappy to pay this as they made the mistake and have taken all this time to discover it.

I have not received any reply to my letter however I today received a Final Reminder giving me 14 days to repay back this amount. I am paying my Council Tax by the way and the amount has not been added to this years bill.

Does anybody know if they can legally claim this back after all this time please? Thanks

just_trying

Why are the adding rent arrears to a council tax bill ?

Mena1960

I don't know why the original letter from my Council said they would add this overpayment to this years council tax bill, but they haven't done this, they have just sent me the final reminder for the overpayment amount. It's not an awful lot of money but I just don't see why I should pay it since it's taken more than 6 years for them to realise they overpaid me & it's their mistake.

WhenIam64

Some advice on the "error" and the rate of recovery. Check with the Council to see if they have followed the correct process.

https://england.shelter.org.uk/legal/benefits/housing_benefit/overpayments_of_housing_benefit

The 6 years you refer to is part of the Limitations Act 1980. It refers to the limitation of court action and not whether there is a debt, as the debt will always exist. It just may be difficult to recover.

DWP Guidance

“Courts and civil proceedings

Time limits for recovering overpayments

England and Wales

7.00 In England and Wales, there are no time limits for recovering overpaid HB and excess CTB, except when court action is required.

7.01 Once an overpayment debt is created between an LA and the person it is recoverable from, an LA in England or Wales may choose to pursue the debt in the County Court. However, such action must be brought within six years, as per The Limitation Act 1980 (s9).

7.02 The time limit is applicable from the date the decision was made by the LA. For overpayments caused by a mistake or error, including fraudulent overpayments, the time limit is applicable from the date the mistake or error was discovered by the LA. This applies to both overpaid HB and excess CTB.

7.03 It should also be noted that the time limit starts again when there is later relevant acknowledgement by the debtor of that debt. An example may be in the form of a payment made against the debt, or a letter from the debtor admitting the debt, such as enquiring about the amount outstanding.

7.04 The Limitation Act 1980 does not apply to recovery other than by bringing an action in the courts.

7.05 It is important to remember that in England and Wales, overpayments being recovered using methods other than court action, can be recovered at any time regardless of how old they are. However, in cases when the overpayment covers a long period of time, LAs may find it difficult to obtain the information and evidence to make and support their calculations and therefore they may be unable to ‘prove’ the overpayment existed. The same may apply to ‘old’ overpayments that have been left for some time (unable to be recovered), as the information and evidence that supported their calculation may no longer be available!

CIS

Housing Benefit cannot be recovered via council tax - what I would suspect has happened is that if Housing Benefit has been overpaid due to an error in income then the error probably affected Council Tax Benefit as well, leading to that being overpaid (and that can be recovered by adjusting Council Tax ).

[Deleted User]

First of all the answer you don't want to see: They can claim this overpayment back. What you need to do is show willing and start talking about a monthly payment plan. By refusing to accept this debt, you are stopping this happening.

However, if you have any mental health issues, you might be able to get the CAB involved and ask for the debt to be written off. I had a HB overpayment that wouldnt have happened at all if I had been informed immediately (it was an incorrect decision). You will either need to get your GP or a mental health professional involved I think. But due to the way the systems work, by the time I was informed it was too late to appeal and point out the error. Nothing I could do. But I did manage to get it written off on mental health grounds. In my case a mental health social worker managed to do this for me. If you don't have anyone like this around, you will need to see the CAB.

If this is worth pursuing, this might give you a starting point https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/debt-and-mental-health/mental-health.aspx