Housing Benefit overpayments

Each overpayment is looked at individually. In most cases we will try to recover any overpayment from either you or your landlord.

Examples of how an overpayment might happen include:

• if the overpayment was caused by a change such as you starting work, we would ask you to repay the overpayment
• if we paid your Housing Benefit to your landlord after you moved and your landlord knew you were moving, we usually recover any overpayment from them

Always read your notification letters to check that the information we have used to calculate your Housing Benefit is correct. If you notice any errors you must let us know within 1 month of the date on your letter. 

What happens if you do not pay back the overpayment

We have a duty to recover all outstanding money owed and we may take any of the following actions:

• application for county court judgement or other legal action 
• application of a direct earnings attachment if you are in work
• referral to an external debt collection agency
• deductions from your ongoing benefit entitlement 
• referral to the Department of Works and Pensions for direct deductions from any benefits you receive

Recovery of an overpayment will not prejudice any criminal proceedings that may be taken by the council in respect of fraudulent overpayments.