I owe UC a lot of money by recieving housing benefit I didn’t realise I was still getting

[Sunshine225]

So i was so poorly during my pregnancy with Hyperemisis. Then when I had my daughter I had a c section and have been struggling with my mental health due to illness during pregnancy and then continuing to have PPD. I didn’t realise I hadn’t changed my address (moved out January this year) and have been getting housing benefit for my old rented property. I have moved in with the father of my child’s dad as I had nowhere else to go and now I’m scared I’m going to get prosecuted for fraud. I have found this overpayment out and going to inform them and give them all the evidence to prove I didn’t realise and I’m so worried about the outcome. Has this happened to anyone else?

So many people say don’t check their statements - I really don’t understand it but yes if underpaid you would know at once - so this sounds totally false

did you not think it was a large amount to receive monthly

I had hg. Badly but still managed to do stuff that needed doing

if you are now moved into with partner , you should be on a joint claim so you would have been getting single allowance and rent - both not illegible in your circumstances

if you managed to update 5mths ago you had a baby / they will find it very hard to understand why you didn’t say now at diff address and joint claim and no rent to be paid

tell them today

you haven’t said if spent the money which would be well over £1000 for single and 2 kids plus then rent on top - so this could be over thousands you owe esp if dad earns well

Hi op,

first of all, it’s an easy mistake to do so don’t let it spiral in your mind.

contact them via the journal and let them know you’ve just realised this and ask how can you pay it back in instalments.

you will need to pay it back but UC are good at helping you find a way of paying it back monthly at what you can afford- even if it’s £20 a month for years they’ll let you do this if it’s all you can afford. Although personally i would want the debt gone as quick as possible.

as long as your upfront and working with them to sort it then it won’t be an issue.

I'm on UC and every April1st, I have to update my journal with the yearly rent increase.
So OP would have to have done this to continue getting the housing element.

This. have you now got a joint claim?

I've never had to do that because I haven't ever had a yearly rent increase

Presumably as you didn't know it was in your account you haven't spent it and can just pay it straight back. I'm failing to see the issue.

Did you remember to claim the extra CB?

Did you not think it strange that you weren’t receiving mail from the DWP?

If you didn’t need to check your statements and carefully budget, you were getting too much.

And you knew it.

You need to start by declaring you are no longer living in the property. Go to report a change where you live and what it costs. That will prompt Uc to enquire why they have been paying housing element for a home you no longer occupy. You’ll have an overpayment. Best case scenario you are just given a £50 civil penalty and the overpayment to repay. Worst case UC decide to prosecute but to be honest I don’t see that often.

That’s only for social housing tenants

God these threads are infuriating. So many people working the system and it works doesn't it? She will probably only end up having to pay it back £5 a month. They should prosecute, but they won't.

OPs excuses are bullshit. She definitely managed to do the parts that got her extra money but was too ill/out of it to do the bits where she lost money. Yeah right. Anyone who believes that is a bloody fool.

It's ok. Stop panicking. So you've had an overpayment. This manual for overpayment says:

5.19. Legislation allows deductions up to 40%, however as a matter of policy, from April 2025 the deduction rate from UC is 15% of the standard allowance.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-overpayment-recovery-staff-guide/benefit-overpayment-recovery-guide#chapter-1

That would mean £47 deduction if you get the under 25 rate, or £60 if you get the over 25 rate.

One thing to bear in mind is that the DWP will want to establish if you are living with your ex partner as a couple, or just lodging there. If they decide you're living as a couple, that will add a whole new issue. The fact that you've lived there for 10 months won't help, but if you have evidence that you've asked the council to re-home you, or that you've reported that you're homeless, that will help.

The OP says she is living her DCs paternal grandfather, presumably as a lodger not in a relationship with him. So her UC claim will be for her and DC, his income won't be relevant.

On the money she owes UC, it sounds like she won't have spent it due to illness and not paying full rent/bills etc, so will still have the money so it sounds like the easiest thing to do would be to say 'I've been ill and had a hard time so didn't realise I hadn't updated my address so have been receiving money for rent I wasn't paying, I need to pay back £x, how do I do this'. Job done. Although if she's been paying as a lodger, she'll need to ask to take this into account, so hopefully will be able to prove this, either as a regular SO to him, or at least a cash withdrawal each week/month.

If you rely on benefits, it’s absolutely your responsibility to make sure your details are right or notice errors. Some of us pay very high taxes to fund that support, so the least you can do is stay on top of your claim. Ten months without noticing isn’t good enough, and your excuses simply aren’t good enough.

No sympathy from me.

That will depend on whether the father of the baby also lives with his father, though, won't it? If that's the case, the DWP will want to establish that they aren't living as a couple.

Ah, good point, I didn't think of that. Although I'd have thought if the OP was living with the DCs father as well as his dad, she'd have said.

I don't have any experience with this but I think it depends on what you're worrying about.

If you're worried about being prosecuted/going to prison I don't think that's likely. You'vee realised first, you're admitting it and you intend to pay them back.

If you're worried about paying the money back then yes, I assume they will make you do that. But it also sounds like you have the money just sitting there unnoticed in your bank account? So you can just transfer it back, job done?

Mental ill health is a valid reason to lose track of your finances, I don't think they will be too harsh on you.

Course she hasn’t got it sat in her bank account. It was spent long ago

I know you’ve not been well and I sympathise with that but in this day and age of online banking it takes less than two minutes to check a bank account.

For a person’s own protection they should check their accounts on a regular basis.

I find it amazing how you didn't know/forgot that you had to let them know you not only moved, but moved in with a partner. As someone who has never claimed benefits and has only very basic understanding (via this website) of how it works, even I know if you move in with someone (you are in a relationship with) that this is clearly going to change your claim as their income counts in your calculation, so you have to inform them immediately. Or are you claiming that you are just living with the father of your child's dad and not your child's father?

If you move house you generally have to change your address on EVERYTHING I'd have thought changing it on your claim would be top of the list to sort. Unless you were in a coma for 10 months I'm not sure your excuses will wash, I think you'd notice if you were suddenly a grand (maybe more?) a month better off, unless you are claiming in 10 months you never once checked your internet banking and thought gosh there's a lot of money in there, how did that happen when I'm on mat leave/not working??

Telling that the OP won’t say how much it was or if she spent any.

Pregnancy issues aren’t an excuse, legally. And you’re actually undermining your apparent inability to cope with tasks like dealing with benefits when you say you were looking after both a newborn and another child - you were clearly capable.

They’ll decide whether this was an honest mistake (but given the time you were apparently unaware of this extra money, that’s unlikely) then decide whether this goes to the police. Benefit fraud is taken extremely seriously now and often the “I’ll repay” line doesn’t cut it.

How much extra were you receiving each month?
How much do you owe?

It hasn't happened to me but an overpayment happened to someone I know.
Things (sometimes big things) slip when you have a sick newborn it is a hard time for all concerned but not an officially accepted "reason".
Its good it's flagged now -
What if any of the do you have left?
Put it someone where and dont touch it as it will make the monthly payments easier
Presumably the money was spent on "family things" - can your partner help do thry have any savings they can contribute to help you pay it back?

I didn’t think this op would be back when the questions started coming.

DWP will ask the same OP!

Not knowing for any reason is ignorance…that’s what it’s called. For anything ignorance/not understanding etc is not an excuse.

No way does someone not check their bank statements since January and not realise that sort of money being paid in. Come on, they are not going to believe you just don’t check your statements all year.

it may not be as bad as you think but this will certainly be a sticking point.