Overpayments and recovery

Benefit overpayments are Housing Benefit payments that have been paid out to people who are not entitled to them. Commonly the cause for this is people failing to tell us about changes in their circumstances.

If we find that you have received an overpayment, we will write to you and give you details of the reason for the overpayment, when it occurred, the amount to be recovered and the method of recovery. Please find "Your Overpayment Letter Explained" in the download section to the right.

Reducing an overpayment (Underlying Entitlement)

Please find “How to reduce your overpayment” in the download section on the right.

How does the Council recover overpayments?

Reducing weekly benefit payments
If you still have an entitlement to Housing Benefit, the overpayment is recovered by reducing the weekly benefit, and offsetting the overpayment by the amount that has been deducted from the benefit entitlement.
Setting up a debtor account
This method of recovery involves setting up a debtor account and sending you an invoice that you will be responsible for paying.

Repayment amounts are advised on the invoice and there are a number of payment methods that you can use for this.

If you are unable to repay at the requested rate we may be able to reduce the amount of the instalments. This can be arranged by contacting us using the details on the right.

If you make no contact or offer of repayment, it is the Council's policy to then seek recovery through either a Debt Recovery Agent or through the County Court.

This will result in further costs being incurred, and these will be added to the already outstanding debt. This action will also result in a County Court Judgement.

You can contact Benefit Recovery using the details provided on the right.