How will an overpayment be recovered?

The Council has several methods of recovering overpayments:

• Deduction from on-going Housing Benefit by a set amount each week. You would then be expected to pay additional rent to make up the benefit shortfall
• Deduction from wages or certain Social Security Benefits
• Issuing an Invoice
• Recovery from a deceased persons estate
• For Council Tax Support the amount of the overpayment can be added to the Council Tax bill

Please do not ignore our letters regarding overpayments as the debt will not go away, if we do have to take further action to recover an outstanding overpayment, the amount you owe will increase.

Let us know if you are having difficulties repaying an overpayment, we can then arrange to recover the debt over a longer period of time.

If you have been overpaid Housing Benefit/Council Tax Support there are some circumstances in which this could be reduced by underlying entitlement.

From whom can an overpayment be recovered?

The Council can recover the overpayment from:

• The claimant (and in some circumstances their partner)
• Someone acting on behalf of the claimant
• The person to whom it was paid to (including a landlord or agent)

Housing Benefit overpayments will normally be recovered directly from your ongoing benefit entitlement at a minimum rate of £10.95 per week. If the overpayment is created due to fraud the minimum recovery rate is £18.25 per week.

You can of course pay more if you wish to pay the overpayment back quickly, please contact us to make this arrangement.

If you have an overpayment of Council Tax Support an increase will be made to your council tax bill so that you can pay the money back gradually. You will then receive a new council tax bill.

If you no longer qualify for Housing Benefit an invoice will be sent to you and you can make an arrangement to repay the debt in instalments with the Council’s debt recovery department.