A guide to overpayments and debt

5

If you have any questions about Housing Benefit or

Council Tax Benefit please contact us by:

Phoning us on 0300 123 70 70

Visiting your local council office, or looking at our

website www.durham.gov.uk

Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB)

If you need independent advice, contact your local Citizens Advice Bureau. You can find their phone number and other local advice agencies in the phone book, at your local library or by contacting us.

Welfare Rights

For advice about Social Security, Local Government benefits, or Tax Credits tel: 0191 370 8787 or email: welfare.rights@durham.gov.uk

www.durham.gov.uk

0300 123 70 70

A guide to

overpayments and debt

This booklet is a guide only. It is not meant to say exactly what your legal rights are.

Change in Circumstances

If your circumstances change at any time you need to tell us straight away. Any change could affect the amount of benefit you get and either mean you being overpaid or missing out on benefit due to you.

Leaflets in this series

This guide is one of a number produced with the aim of helping customers understand Housing and Council Tax Benefit.

Leaflets

available:-1 Help with rent and Council Tax for people of working age

2 Help with rent and Council Tax for Pensioners

3 Information for Landlords and Agents

4 A guide for Students

5 A guide to Overpayments and Debt

6 Can you backdate my Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit? 7 What to do if you think the decision about your Benefit is wrong

8 A guide to Discretionary Housing Payments

9 Claiming Housing Benefit if you sell your home and rent it from the new owner

A guide to overpayments and debt

Contents

1 What is an overpayment?

1 What is a recoverable overpayment? 1 What is an official error?

1 Why do overpayments happen?

2 How will I know if I have an overpayment?

2 What can I do if I disagree with the overpayment? 3 Can I appeal?

3 How do you recover the overpayment? 4 Can you reduce the overpayment?

4 What should I do if I cannot afford to pay you what you take from my Housing Benefit?

5 What should I do if I am having difficulty paying my Council Tax because you have added a Council Tax Benefit overpayment to it? 5 What should I do if you send me an invoice for the overpayment and I

can’t afford to pay it all back at once? 5 How can I get help with my debts?

Help us beat

Benefit fraud!

Call our 24 hour

fraud hotline

0800 032 1663

Email us at benefitfraud@durham.gov.uk Text the word fraud followed by

Housing Benefit and Council Tax

Benefit - a guide to overpayments

and debt

This leaflet explains about Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit overpayments and debt.

What is an overpayment?

An overpayment is when we, the council, pay you or your landlord an amount of Housing or Council Tax Benefit that you were not entitled to. If we have paid you too much benefit, we will usually ask you to pay back the amount we have overpaid. This is called a recoverable overpayment.

What is a recoverable overpayment?

We can recover all overpayments, except if they are caused by an official error and which you could not reasonably have known about when you were paid or told about your benefit.

What is an official error?

This is a mistake we, or a person acting for us (including the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Jobcentre Plus), make. It is not an official error if you or a person acting for you contributed to the mistake by not giving us information or by giving false or misleading information.

Why do overpayments happen?

They happen for various reasons. Here are some examples:

G 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 changed

G somebody may have moved into or out of your home G you may have moved out of your home and not told us G you may have started work or changed jobs

G circumstances of other adults you have living with you change. 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) about your change in circumstances, you must still let us know and not leave it to the DWP to tell us. Our contact details are on the back of this leaflet.

How will I know if I have an overpayment?

We will send you a letter giving you the full details of the overpayment. The letter will tell you how the overpayment happened, the amount you were overpaid and the period of the overpayment. It will also tell you how we will recover the overpayment and what to do if you disagree with the overpayment.

What can I do if I disagree with the overpayment?

If you disagree with the overpayment after reading our explanation you must write to us and ask for a more detailed explanation, or ask for us to look at our decision again. You need to do this within one calendar month of the date on the letter.

The things you can challenge are:

G if we can recover the overpayment or not G who we can recover it from

G how we have worked it out

G your savings and investments have reduced (only if we overpaid you because your savings and investments had increased) and G if you had an underlying entitlement (you were actually entitled to

receive some of the overpayment) see section ‘can you reduce the overpayment?’

The things you cannot challenge are:

G if we should recover the overpayment or not and G how we choose to recover the overpayment.

Can I appeal?

If you are not satisfied with our decision or how we explain our decision, you can appeal. You must appeal in writing and sign your appeal. You must make it clear which decision you’re appealing against and your reasons for appealing.

Send your appeal to us – our contact details are on the back of this leaflet. You must do this within one month of the decision you are appealing against. Your appeal will be heard by the Tribunals Service that is independent of the council.

You can formally challenge some decisions about overpayments if you think that they are wrong. You can also get more information or ask us to explain our decision.

Our leaflet ‘What to do if you think the decision about your benefit is wrong’ gives you more information about appeals.

How do you recover the overpayment?

These are the ways we can recover any overpayment:

G if you are still getting Housing Benefit, we may reduce your benefit each week to recover the overpayment

G if you pay us rent and your rent account is in credit, we may use this credit to pay back the overpayment

G if we are not paying you Housing Benefit, we may send you a bill and you should make arrangements to pay us

G if we paid your landlord your benefit, we may ask the landlord to repay the overpayment in certain circumstances

G we can ask the Department for Work and Pensions to take money out of your social security benefits to collect the overpayment G in cases where you have moved out of the area, we can take

money from any Housing Benefit paid to you by another council G if we overpaid your Council Tax Benefit, we will add the amount of

the overpayment to your Council Tax bill. The Council Tax department will collect the overpayment by increasing your payments.

We will not recover overpayments we have paid you for Housing Benefit from your Council Tax or overpayments for Council Tax from your Housing Benefit.

Can you reduce the overpayment?

In some circumstances we may reduce the amount we overpaid you if you tell us about your correct circumstances throughout the period of the overpayment. If we give you benefit for the period you were overpaid it is called ‘underlying entitlement’. If you do have an underlying entitlement (which means you were actually entitled to receive some of the benefit), we will use this to reduce the

overpayment.

We may ask you to fill in a new form to explain your circumstances and give us documents as proof (such as details of your income and bank statements for the period) before we work out your underlying

entitlement. If we find that you are entitled to any benefit for this period we can only use this amount to reduce what we have overpaid you, it is not an award of Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit.

What should I do if I cannot afford to pay you what

you take from my Housing Benefit?

If you want us to change the amount we take from your Housing Benefit or your payments, contact us straight away.

What should I do if I am having difficulty paying

my Council Tax because you have added a Council

Tax Benefit overpayment to it?

If you find it difficult to pay your Council Tax it is important that you contact us immediately to make an arrangement. Our contact details are on the back of this leaflet. If you don’t pay or contact us, we may give you a court order or send bailiffs to recover the amount you owe. We may add costs to the amount you owe us.

What should I do if you send me an invoice for

the overpayment and I can’t afford to pay it all back

at once?

If you cannot pay the full amount, we can arrange for you to pay it back in instalments. Before arranging to pay by instalments, you will need to give us details of your income and outgoings. If you do not contact us to arrange to pay, we may register your debt with the county court and ask them to force you to pay it back. This is the same as having a court order against you and will affect your credit rating. We will also add these costs to the amount you owe us.

Some things to remember

Please do not ignore the overpayment. If your circumstances change, don't forget to let us know as soon as possible. The sooner you let us know the less chance there will be an overpayment.

How can I get help with my debts?

You can get help to solve your problems by first of all contacting the people you owe money to. Many companies will be helpful if you talk to them. Debts can’t be ignored and arranging to pay small amounts is better than paying nothing at all. If organisations won’t accept what you offer to repay, get advice.

You can get help from many organisations to sort out your debt problems. You could contact one of the following:

G Citizens Advice – they give free, confidential and unbiased advice on debt. You can find out where your nearest bureau is in your

local phone book or visit www.citizensadvice.org.uk

G National debtline- this is a free helpline for people with debt problems. Phone 0808 808 4000 or visit

www.nationaldebtline.co.uk

G Advice UK- you can contact independent advice agencies through Advice UK at: Advice UK 6th floor, 63 St Mary Axe London EC3A 8AA Telephone 020 7469 5700 or visit www.adviceuk.org.uk

G Consumer Credit Counselling Service- they give a free, confidential service to help you work out realistic solutions to your debt

problems, avoiding becoming bankrupt and to learn how to manage your money. Phone 0800 138 1111 or visit www.cccs.co.uk

G Northern Money - please see overleaf.

Did you know that

Northern Money can

help you find safe savings

accounts and low-cost loans

in your local area?

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0191 279 4881

Northern Money

can help you find details of your local credit union, using a simple postcode search.

What is a credit union?

A credit union is a financial co-operative which offers safe savings accounts and low-cost loans to members.

Credit unions are great because…

• Everyone is welcome, it is easy to join and you receive a personal, friendly service

• Flexible ways to save, from as little as £1 per week

• A range of services are available, including Junior Savers accounts

• Credit unions are regulated by the Financial Services Authority, so your money is safe

• Your money stays within the local community

• Regular savers who are over 18 can apply for a low-cost loan (minimum £50)

• Quick loans for non-members may be available from some credit unions.

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