Housing and Council Tax Benefit

Overpayments usually occur because you have delayed telling the council about a change in your circumstances.

If you have been overpaid Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit, we will normally want that money repaid.

We can recover almost all overpayments - the only exception being when we or the Department for Work and Pensions office made a mistake, and you couldn't be expected to know there'd been an overpayment.

If you have been overpaid Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit, we will write to you about the overpayment, and tell you:

• the reason for the overpayment
• how much you have been overpaid
• what period the overpayment relates to
• whether the overpayment will be recovered, and how.

If you disagree with our decision to recover the overpayment, you have the right to ask the Council to reconsider. Put your request in writing within one calendar month of the original decision date.

If you would like more information about how your overpayment occurred, please contact us.

Recovery of overpayments

Recovery of Housing Benefit and Council Tax benefit overpayments is undertaken in various ways.

Council Tax Benefit

Council Tax Benefit overpayments are usually recovered directly from your Council Tax account, and an amended Council Tax bill is sent to you. To discuss payment issues regarding your council tax please contact the Council Tax department.

Housing Benefit

Housing Benefit overpayments are generally recovered from the person the payments were made to. If the payments were made to your landlord, we may recover the overpayment from the landlord. In all cases the tenant is always notified of the overpayment and the ways it is being recovered.

If you are still receiving Housing Benefit, we will recover any overpayment by deducting the amount from your benefit entitlement. If you are not on benefit, we will send you an invoice.

If you are unable to pay the invoice in full, you can arrange to pay by instalments on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis. You can choose to pay by cash payments (using a payment book), direct debit, standing order or, if you work for the council, deductions from your salary.

Contact the Benefits Recovery Team to arrange to pay by instalments or to discuss the situation if you are having difficulties with your repayments.

Please quote your name, address and Housing Benefit/Council Tax Benefit reference number whenever you get in touch with us.

Remember, failure to repay an overpayment could result in legal action being taken against you.

Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit cannot be recovered against each other.

Failure to repay

Failure to repay an overpayment may result in further action being taken. This could mean that your account is passed on to a debt collector to recover on the Council’s behalf.

Alternatively, it may be passed to the County Court for a judgement to be granted against you. This could then affect your ability to get credit.

If, following such action, you still refuse to pay then the Council may take further steps, including:

• obtaining a warrant that entitles County Court bailiffs to remove your goods and chattels and sell them to satisfy the judgement
• applying for a Charging Order over any property which you own, or in which you have an interest
• obtaining an order whereby money is deducted from your salary.

If you're a landlord that fails to repay an invoice for an overpayment, we may decide to recover the amount by deducting it from any future Housing Benefit payments you are due to receive for the tenant in question or other tenants.

Our staff are here to help should you get into any difficulties with your repayments. Please contact us for advice.