Overpayments of Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit
It is important you tell us straightaway if your circumstances change in any way as we don't want to pay you too much. If we pay you too much benefit you may have to pay it back.
When we pay you too much benefit, we call it an 'overpayment'.
If we do pay you too much, we will send you a letter which will tell you:
- the reason we paid you too much benefit
- how much the overpayment is, and when it happened
- if you have to pay back the amount
- how you can appeal if you think the decision is wrong.
Paying back overpayments
If we think you should pay the overpayment back, we will send you a letter to tell you that the overpayment is recoverable.
What is a recoverable overpayment?
We can recover all overpayments, except if they are caused by an 'official error' and which you could not reasonably have known about when you were paid or told about your benefit.
What is an 'official error'?
An official error is a mistake we, or a person acting for us (including the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Jobcentre Plus), make.It is not an official error if you or a person acting for you contributed to the mistake by not giving us information or by giving false or misleading information.
Why do overpayments happen?
They happen for various reasons. Here are some examples:
- You may have forgotten to tell us that your income has increased, for example, you have had a pay rise or your tax credit award or pension amount has changed
- Somebody may have moved into or out of your home
- You may have moved out of your home and not told us
- You may have started work or changed jobs
- If we have paid you in advance but your circumstances have changed
- If you have other adults living with you and their circumstances have changed.
- You must tell us about any changes and not rely on anyone else to do it for you. Even if you have told the Department forWork and Pensions (DWP) about your change in circumstances, you must still let us know and not leave it to the DWP to tell us.
How will I know if I have an overpayment?
We will send you a letter giving you the full details of the overpayment. The letter will tell you how the overpayment happened, the amount you were overpaid and the period of the overpayment. It will also tell you how we will recover the overpayment and what to do if you disagree with the overpayment.
What can I do if I disagree with the overpayment?
If you disagree with the overpayment after reading our explanation you can write to us and ask for a more detailed explanation, or ask us to look at our decision again. You need to do this within one calendar month of the date on the letter.
The things you can challenge are:
- if we can recover the overpayment or not;
- who we can recover it from;
- how we have worked it out;
- your savings and investments have reduced (only if we overpaid you because your savings and
investments had increased); and
- if you had an underlying entitlement (you were actually entitled to receive some of the
overpayment), see section ‘Can you reduce the overpayment?’.
The things that you can't challenge are:
- if we should recover the overpayment or not; and
- how we choose to recover the overpayment.
Can I appeal?
If you’re not satisfied with our decision or how we explain our decision, you can appeal. You must appeal in writing and sign it. You must make it clear which decision you’re appealing against and your reasons for appealing.
Send your appeal to:
Benefits Division
PO box 3300
Wolverhampton
WV1 1ZT
Please mark your letter "Appeal". You must do this within one month of the decision you are appealing against. Your appeal will be heard by a tribunal run by the Tribunals Service, who are independent of us.
You can formally challenge some decisions about overpayments if you think that they are wrong. You can also get more information or ask us to explain our decision.
How do you recover the overpayment?
- If you are still getting Housing Benefit, we may reduce your benefit each week to recover the
overpayment
- If you pay rent to Wolverhampton Homes and your rent account is in credit, we may use this credit to pay back the overpayment
- If we are not paying you Housing Benefit, we may send you an invoice and you should make
arrangements to pay us
- If we paid your landlord your benefit, we may ask the landlord to repay the overpayment in
certain circumstances
- We can ask the Department for Work and Pensions to take money out of your social security benefits to collect the overpayment. In cases where you have moved out of the area, they can take money from any Housing Benefit paid to you by another council
- If we overpaid your Council Tax Benefit, we will add the amount of the overpayment to your Council Tax bill. Our Council Tax office will collect the overpayment by increasing your monthly payments. We will not recover overpayments we have paid you for Housing Benefit from your Council Tax or overpayments for Council Tax from your Housing Benefit.
Can you reduce the overpayment?
In some circumstances we may reduce the amount we overpaid you if you tell us about your correct circumstances throughout the period of the overpayment. If we give you benefit for the period you were overpaid it is called ‘underlying entitlement’. If you do not have an underlying entitlement (which means you were actually entitled to receive some of the benefit), we will use this to reduce the overpayment.
We may ask you to fill in a new form to explain your circumstances and give us documents as proof (such as details of your income and bank statements for the period) before we work out your underlying entitlement. If we find that you are entitled to any benefit for this period we can only use this amount to reduce what we have overpaid you, it is not an award of Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit.
What should I do if I cannot afford to pay you what you take from my Housing Benefit?
If you want us to change the amount we take from your Housing Benefit or your payments, contact us straight away.
What should I do if I am having difficulties paying my Council Tax because you have added a Council Tax Benefit overpayment to it?
If you have a problem paying your Council Tax because of a benefit overpayment you must contact us to make an arrangement. Our contact details are on the Council Tax bill and at the bottom of this page. If you don’t pay or contact us, we may give you a court order or send bailiffs to recover the amount you owe. We will add these costs to the amount you owe us.
What should I do if you send me an invoice for the overpayment and I can’t afford to pay it all back at once?
If you cannot pay the full amount, we can arrange for you to pay it back in instalments. Before arranging to pay by instalments, you will need to give us details of your income and outgoings. If you do not contact us to arrange to pay, we may register your debt with a collection agency,then the county court, and ask them to force you to pay it back. This is the same as having a court order against you and it will affect your credit rating. We will also add these costs to the amount you owe us.
How can I get help with my debts?
You can get help to solve your debt problems by contacting the people you owe money to. Many companies will be helpful if you talk to them.
You can’t ignore your debts so arranging to pay small amounts is better than paying nothing at all. If organisations won’t accept what you offer to repay, get advice.
You can get help and advice from lots of organisations to sort out your debt problems.
You can contact:
- Our Benefits Service team - to query a Housing Benefit overpayment or arrange payments
- Our Banking Services team - if you have a question about your invoice, invoice repayments or you want to arrange a repayment plan
- Citizens Advice - they give free,confidential and unbiased advice on debt. You can find out where your nearest bureau is by looking in your local phone book or by following the link above
-
-
Advice UK - you can contact independent advice agencies through Advice UK
- Consumer Credit Counselling Service - they give a free,confidential service to help you work out realistic solutions to your debt problems, avoid becoming bankrupt and learn how to manage your money
Where can I get more advice?
If you want more help or advice, contact us using the contact details at the bottom of this page. Or, you could contact any of the organisations mentioned above.
Other formats
You can download our leaflet "Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit: A Guide to overpayments" which contains all of the information on this page by clicking on the PDF icon below.
We can also give you the leaflet in other formats, including large print, Braille, and other languages. Please contact us using the contact details at the bottom of this page to request it in one of these formats.
Contact details
For more information contact us by either using our online form or by:
e-mail: citydirect@wolverhampton.gov.uk
Phone: 01902 551166
Minicom: 01902 555554
Fax: 01902 551195