Overpayments

If we pay you too much housing benefit it is called an overpayment. This might occur if you have a change in circumstances and do not tell us straight away.

The frequent causes of overpayments are:

• A change in your or a household members income or savings
• A change in your state benefit
• A change in tax credits
• Your household has changed (someone has moved in or out)
• You have moved house

If you do receive an overpayment:

We will send you a decision letter which will explain:

• The date that the overpayment covers
• The weekly amount of benefit you were paid at the time
• The weekly amount you should have been paid
• The weekly amount overpaid
• The reason for the overpayment 
• From whom the payment is to be recovered

Recovery of your overpaid benefit

If you carry on receiving your benefits then we can recover the overpayment from your new weekly benefit payments. This is called ongoing benefit recovery. The recovery rate that we will use will vary depending on your financial circumstances. 

While your benefit is being reduced to recover your benefit overpayment it is important that you pay the deducted amount in addition to any rent that you already pay to ensure you do not fall into debt. 

If the deductions start to cause you financial hardship then you should contact us to discuss your circumstances.

If you no longer receive benefits then we will send you an invoice with instructions on how to pay your overpayment.