Housing benefit overpayments

An overpayment is when the council thinks they paid you too much housing benefit.

Examples of when this might happen are:

• the council made a mistake when they worked out your housing benefit. The council sometimes calls this an official error

• something you put on your housing benefit application form was wrong

• you did not tell the council about a change in your home, for example, if someone moved in with you

The council might stop your housing benefit while they get more information from you.

Letters about overpayments

The council must write to say they think you have been overpaid. They should say if they want you to pay the money back.

The letter must say:

• the reason the council thinks you have been overpaid

• how much they think you have been overpaid by

• who should pay the money back, for example, you or your landlord

• how the money can be repaid, for example, they might take money out of your future housing benefit payments

The council should write to you within 14 days if you have been overpaid.

Ask for reasons

Ask the council why they think you have been overpaid if the letter does not say.

You can copy this template into an email to send to the council.

You can also send the letter as an email attachment or by post:

• Word template: Housing benefit overpayments - ask for reasons (docx 21 kb)

• OpenDocument template: Housing benefit overpayments - ask for reasons (odt 7kb)

When you do not have to pay the money back

You might not have to pay an overpayment back if:

• the council made a mistake when they worked out how much housing benefit you should get

• you have debt relief in place

• the council decides not to ask you to repay the money

When the council makes a mistake

The council cannot ask you to repay the money if they made a mistake about how much you should get,

They can only ask you for the money if they can show that you should have known you were getting too much.

Debt relief

The council cannot tell you to repay the money if you:

• have a debt relief order

• have a bankruptcy order

• are on the breathing space scheme

Other overpayments

The council can tell you to repay the money at most other times. For example, if you do not report a change in your living situation.

How the council gets the money back

The council can take money from your future housing benefit payments.

This means you have to pay more towards your rent until the overpayment is repaid so that you do not get rent arrears.

You can ask the council to take a smaller amount for the repayments if you cannot afford rent, food or other living costs.

Get advice if the council will not agree to take a smaller amount.

Sometimes, the council sends you a bill. You can ask to repay the money in small amounts at a time.

The council can take court action to get the money back if you do not set up a repayment plan with them.

Challenge an overpayment decision

Ask the council to look at their decision about the overpayment again if:

• you think the overpayment amount is wrong

• the council made a mistake and you did not know you were being overpaid

You must ask for the review in writing within 1 month of getting the council’s letter about the overpayment.

Find out more about challenging a housing benefit decision from Citizens Advice.