Housing Benefit overpayments
Housing Benefit overpayments can happen if your circumstances change, such as:
- your income increases
- someone moves in with you
- you move out of the property
If this happens, we are required to recover the money.
It’s important to tell us about any changes to your circumstances or errors in your payments.
We will not recover overpayments if they were caused by our mistake and you could not reasonably have known about it.
If you’ve been overpaid, we will notify you with a letter explaining:
- why the overpayment happened
- the amount and how it was calculated
- how we’ll recover the overpayment
- your rights to request more details, ask for a reconsideration or appeal our decision
How we recover overpayments
We may recover overpayments from:
- you or your partner
- someone acting on your behalf
- the person who received the payments, including a landlord or agent
If you’re still receiving Housing Benefit, we may reduce your payments by a set amount. If this causes severe hardship, use the online form below and we'll look at reducing the amount we take.
Reductions in other benefits
If you receive certain benefits from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), we may ask them to deduct payments to pay for the Housing Benefit overpayment. These benefits include:
- Income Support
- Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Incapacity Benefit
- State Retirement Pension
Deduction rates are:
- Standard cases: £13.95 per week
- Fraud-related cases: £23.25 per week
Both rates can increase by up to 50% of disregarded earnings or payments.
These rates are updated annually in April. Housing Benefit payments will not drop below 50p per week.
If you receive an invoice
If deductions are not possible, we will send you an invoice to repay the Housing Benefit overpayment. This must be paid in full within 15 days. Payment methods will be detailed on the invoice.
If you are unable to pay
Contact us to arrange a payment plan.
If payment isn’t made, we may:
- refer your account to a debt collection agency
- apply for a Direct Earnings Attachment to recover payments directly from your salary
- take County Court action, which may include extra costs and affect your credit rating
If overpayment recovery involves your landlord, deductions may be made from their future Housing Benefit payments.
How to appeal
You have one month from the date of notification to appeal the recovery of Housing Benefit. Recovery will pause while your appeal is being reviewed.
Use the online form below to appeal the recovery of Housing Benefit.