Housing & Council Tax Benefit - Overpayments

Description

What is an overpayment?

When you claim Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit or have a change in your circumstances, we work out your benefit and make every effort to make sure payments are accurate.

In some circumstances, we may have to work out your benefit again because you have had a change in circumstances or we have found we have made a mistake. If your benefit goes down and we have already paid you the higher amount there will be an overpayment.

The most common reason for an overpayment occurring is because of the time it takes between a change happening, you informing us, and us amending your claim. Even if you tell us straightaway and we deal with the amendment quickly, it is often impossible to avoid some overpayment.

If we pay you too much benefit by mistake this can be recovered if we think it was reasonable for you to have known about it. If we pay you too much benefit because you did not tell us about a change in your circumstances then we will always have to recover the overpaid benefit.

Where do overpayments occur?

Overpayments can occur on any Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit claim.

Procedure

Overpaid Housing Benefit

If you are still in receipt of housing benefit we can recover the overpayment out of each week's benefit until the overpayment is repaid. There are legal limits to how much we can take each week. If recovering your overpayment is causing you a problem, please contact our office for help and advice. If you are no longer in receipt of benefit we will send you a bill, if you cannot pay the bill all at once, we can arrange instalments.

Overpaid Rent Rebate (Council Tenants)

If your rent account is in credit due to the overpayment, we may use this credit to pay it off, but we will not put your rent account into arrears. If you still owe us money then we will send you a bill. If you cannot pay the bill all at once, we can arrange instalments.

Overpaid Rent Allowance (Private Tenants)

If we have been paying your housing benefit to your landlord we may ask them to repay the money

If you do not understand our letters or disagree with our decision please contact us. You have a right to ask for reasons for our decision or you may be able to appeal against our decision. For more information on appeals please click on the links at the right hand side of the page.

Overpaid Council Tax Benefit

Overpayment of Council Tax Benefit is usually taken back directly from your Council Tax Account. You will receive a new Council Tax bill with more to pay. If you have a problem paying the installments asked for, please contact the Council Tax helpline for advice - 01226 774774

 

Help

For other helpful information, including:-

Helplines
Locations and opening times
Self service access to view your Benefit Details Online

Click on the link to Benefit Enquiries

 

E-mail bentax@barnsley.gov.uk

Benefits helpline 01226 774743

Council Tax Helpline 01226 774774

Council Tax Recoveries Helpline 01226 774696

Overpayment Recovery helpline 01226 773736 or 774781

 

Methods of Payments Available

You can repay overpayments of housing benefit by various methods please

Click on Payment Methods to obtain further details

 

How can you help?

To avoid overpayments ensure you always give us correct information and report any changes in circumstances as soon as possible.

 

Websites

Housing Benefit Appeals

Appeals Form

Welfare Rights

Citizens Advice Bureau

 

What help is available?

If an overpayment has occurred and you disagree with our decision or would like an explanation please contact us within one month of the decision letter on 01226 774743.

If you are finding it difficult to repay an overpayment, please contact us for help and advice on 01226 774781.

 

Other useful organisations:

Housing Advice
Telephone 01226 773870

Welfare Rights
Telephone 01226 775656

Citizens Advice Bureau
1 Shambles Street
Barnsley
S70 2HT
Telephone 01226 206492

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do I have an overpayment to pay back?

Overpayments of Housing and Council Tax Benefit happen when your income increases or your household circumstances change. They happen most often when the Council is not told immediately about changes that have to be reported, the changes that have to be reported are listed on your benefit award letters.

Sometimes the Council does not manage to deal with the information provided about a change straight away and this creates an overpayment. In most of these cases the overpayment is still repayable because the law says that if you could be aware that the change might affect your benefit, the overpayment is still recoverable.

How can I repay the overpayment?

You can repay the overpayment in full if we send you a bill. If you have problems paying the bill you can ring the Council to arrange a weekly amount that you can afford.

If you are still in receipt of Housing Benefit we will deduct a weekly amount from this to repay the overpayment. You will then have to pay the shortfall to your landlord. If you have problems making these payments we may be able to reduce them.

Why have you sent me a bill for an overpayment of benefit when you paid the benefit to my landlord?

Housing Benefit to help pay rent is often paid directly to landlords instead of the person claiming the benefit.

If an overpayment occurs the Council look at who the benefit was paid to, and whether that person would have known they were being overpaid.

If you have a change in your personal circumstances, such as starting work or starting to get tax credits, it is not reasonable for a landlord to know about such changes. The overpayment is then considered recoverable from you as the person that claimed benefit and declared that they would inform the Council of those changes.

What can I do if I do not agree with the overpayment?

If you do not agree with an overpayment, or are not sure about it, you can ring us and ask us to explain the decision. You can also either request a written statement of the reasons, or ask us to look at the decision again. You must do this in writing within one month of the date of the overpayment letter.

What can I do if I don't agree with a decision about my benefit?

If you are unsure about any decision you can ring us and get an explanation.

If you are still unhappy you can either ask us for a written statement of the reasons for the decision or ask us to look at the decision again. You must do this in writing within one month of the date we sent you our decision letter. When you write to us you should give us all the reasons you disagree with the decision so it can be reconsidered in full, we cannot reconsider things you don't tell us about.

When we write back to you, if you still disagree you can appeal to the Tribunal Service. The Tribunal Service hear your case at a tribunal hearing. You do not have to attend the hearing, the case is decided on the evidence provided by you and by the Council.

I have been told I cannot appeal, what can I do?

Some decisions cannot be appealed against, for example the government sets the figures that the Council must use to assess benefit entitlement. These figures cannot be appealed against..

 

Legislation

Housing Benefit (General) Regulations 1987

Data Protection Act 1998

 

 

 

Last modified on 15/9/2008