Benefit overpayments

An overpayment is where you have been paid more Housing Benefit or awarded more Local Council Tax Support than what you are entitled to. You may have to pay this back, even if there was no fault on your part.

One of the most common reasons why overpayments occur is due to a change in your circumstances. There could be a number of reasons, for example:

• an increase in your income
• someone moving in with you
• you move out of the property

If an overpayment arises, we are duty bound to claim the money back.
 

How overpayments are recovered

Overpayments can be recovered in the following ways:

• If you are still receiving Housing Benefit, the amount you receive will be reduced by a set amount each week until the overpayment is repaid. You will need to pay extra rent to your landlord to make up the difference.
• If your Housing Benefit is paid directly to your landlord, you will need to pay extra rent to your landlord to make up the difference.
• If you are not in receipt of Housing Benefit, we may apply for deductions from other benefits you receive.
• For overpayment of  Local Council Tax Support, the overpayment amount will be added to your Council Tax account.
• An invoice will be sent if you no longer recieve benefits

How to make a repayment

Housing Benefit repayments can be made in several ways.

What do to if you receive an invoice

If you have received an invoice, you can set up a Direct Debit to make repayments in instalments. You can choose from a range of dates for when the instalments come out of your account and the instalment amount.

Set up a Direct Debit

If you are unable to setup a Direct Debit, you can contact our team at benefits@colchester.gov.uk to setup another form of repayment. Alternatively, call us on 01206 282600.
 

If you disagree with the overpayment decision

If you receive an overpayment invoice or disagree with the overpayment decision, you have one month to appeal this decision in writing. If we ask you to provide more information about your overpayment, this may help us to reduce the amount you need to repay.

Once the invoice has be raised we can recover an overpayment at any point.

Failure to make payments towards an overpayment or setup an arrangement with us may lead to further recovery action.