Housing benefit overpayment

[Confusedbutheyho]

My self employed work stopped 20/3 so I had to apply for UC.

I notified housing benefit and have been gobsmacked to see I’ve been sent a £2800 overpayment bill from housing benefit from 2014 up until 2019.

At a time like this surely just why?! I’ve sent in everything every year so why have they made that mistake. Called and explained I’m on UC and they said £50 is the absolute minimum they can take a month even if I’m on UC.

Feel so down about it!

If you have always updated them then whats the reason for the overpayment?

@raffathebear

That’s what I was wondering! There was no explanation just dated 2014-2019 overpayment.

I think as I’ll never be going back to housing benefit as once you swap to UC that’s it, they did a last calculation and came out with that.

Awful to be hit with that bill at a time like this.

You can appeal the overpayment decision.
The letter you got should have the calculations on it detailing what they believe your income was minus the amount you are awarded to live off and minus any excess over this which is then deducted from your HB award.

If the amounts they had down for your earnings is wrong then if you send copies of your P60s for those years they can correct it.

they said £50 is the absolute minimum they can take a month even if I’m on UC.

That's not true.

I work in housing for a council and it's based on a % of your UC what they take for overpayments.
Dont let them bully you in to repayments you cannot afford.
Call your council and ask if they can refer you to a benefits advisor or welfare rights.

Appeal the overpayment and ask for a full explanation, also you can complete an income and expenditure form to show how much you can afford to pay (should the overpayment be correct).

Is it a new overpayment? If so need to ask for a statement of reasons and a reconsideration. There are time limits for the reconsideration so don’t delay.

Or - is this an existing overpayment they have been recovering, and now your claim has ended the whole sum has become due? If so you may very well have missed the reconsideration window.

Never mind “a time like this” - if you owe the money, you owe the money, the important thing to find out is WHY you owe them the money!

You will have been sent letters showing the overpayments each time they occurred, so yes you could appeal but not the historic overpayments - which you will have been notified about. Your claim has been running with HB taking out of your claim a weekly amount to pay back the overpayments- but until now you haven’t questioned this figure 🤷‍♀️ so your appeal will be on what grounds? And they will ask well you’ve had 5?years to question this so why haven’t you done so before within the time frame

Do a statement of means form and offer £4 per week, but start paying now - ask them how to pay etc