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Frequently Asked Questions
Question:
Can the council recover overpayments of benefit from me?Answer:
Government rules allow the council to recover all overpayments except "official errors", for example mistakes by the council, the Department for Work and Pensions or the Tax Credit Office. However, even these errors can be recovered in any case where the person who received the money, or letter confirming its payment, could reasonably be expected to know that they were being overpaid.There is a lot more detail on the Overpayment of Benefit page but these are the important features:
- The council will normally seek to recover monies first from the person who caused the overpayment, or, if there is no causer, the person who could have realised the overpayment had occurred or, if neither of these, the customer/payee.
- If you are still entitled to help, the overpayment will normally be deducted at a fixed weekly amount. You should tell us if this causes you any hardship as we may be able to adjust the weekly recovery amount.
- If you are no longer entitled to any help, or are a landlord/agent, we will send you an invoice for the monies, with non-payment resulting in County Court recovery action unless agreement for repayment is made.