Article: Overpayment of council tax benefit Article Body What is an overpayment? An overpayment is when we pay you an amount of council tax benefit, but you were not entitled to receive either some or all of it. If we have paid you too much benefit, we will usually ask you to pay back the amount you have been overpaid. It is the councils policy to pursue all overpayments that are recoverable. How do overpayments happen? When you claim 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 a higher amount there will be an overpayment. Some examples of why an overpayment could have happened are: 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 increased somebody may have moved into or out of your home you may have moved out of your former home and not told us you may have started work or changed jobs if you have other adults living with you, their circumstances may have changed we may have made a mistake and corrected it later there may have been a short delay between you telling us about a change and us changing your benefit award 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 for Work and Pensions (DWP) or Job Centre about your change in circumstances, you must still tell the council because it is the council that deals with housing benefit and council tax benefit, not anyone else. 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 recover the overpaid benefit. How do we recover overpayments? 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. Is your overpayment correct? In some circumstances we can reduce the amount you have been overpaid if you tell us about your correct circumstances during the period of the overpayment. If we do this it is called underlying entitlement. If you have an underlying entitlement (which means you could have received some benefit, but not all that we paid) we can use this to reduce the overpayment. What can I do if I cannot afford to repay the overpayment? Overpaid 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 each month. If you have a problem paying council tax you must contact us to make an arrangement. If you have a problem paying the installments asked for, please see council tax account enquiries for further information. If you dont pay or contact us, we may issue you a court order or send bailiffs to recover the amount you owe. We will add court costs to the amount you owe us. How can you help? To avoid overpayments make sure you always give us correct information, and report any changes in circumstances as soon as possible. For more details please see council tax benefit change in circumstances. Application forms Housing and council tax benefit - what to do if you think our decision is wrong Housing and council tax benefit application form Housing and council tax benefit application form - guidance notes Related documents Service standards Legislation Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 Council Tax Benefit Regulations 2006 Housing Benefit (persons that have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit) Regulations 2006 Council Tax Benefit (persons that have attained the qualifying age for state pension credit) Regulations 2006 Data Protection Act 1998 Contact details Enquiries and requests for application forms can be made as follows: E-mail: bentax@barnsley.gov.uk Telephone the benefits helpline: 01226 774743 Opening hours: Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm and Friday 9am to 4.30pm Telephone the overpayment recovery helpline: 01226 773736 / 774781 Opening hours: Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm and Friday 9am to 4.30pm Fax: 01226 774733 By writing or sending documents to: Benefits, Taxation and Welfare Rights Division, PO Box 634, Barnsley, S70 9GG By personal visit to any Barnsley Connects office Additional information To learn more about our compliments, comments and complaints process please see general complaints. Related services Council Tax Welfare Rights Barnsley Connects Homelessness and Housing Advice View your benefit detaills online Benefit calculator Other useful websites Citizens Advice Bureau(CAB) give free, confidential and unbiased advice on debt National Debtline is a free helpline for people with debt problems Consumer Credit Counselling Service give a free, confidential service to help you work out realistic solutions to your debt problems, they can help you avoid becoming bankrupt and show you how to manage your money. Frequently Asked Questions 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 on 01226 774743 and ask us to explain the decision. If you want to dispute the decision see the information page 'Council tax benefit appeals'.