Housing Benefits overpayments
If we pay you too much Housing Benefit, you must repay the overpayment to us.
You need to contact us straight away if you think we have paid you too much benefit.
If we pay you too much, we will write to you and tell you:
- the amount you need to pay back
- how you need to repay the money back
- how we will recover the amount, if you don’t pay it back
Even if we pay your Housing Benefit directly to your landlord, you need to pay the money back.
Repaying your overpayment
We will take money out of each of your Housing Benefit payments, until you have paid the overpayment back.
If you no longer get Housing Benefit, we will send you an invoice for the total amount you owe us. You need to pay the overpayment back in full, or contact us to discuss a repayment plan.
To pay your invoice online, you will need:
- your benefit claim number
- your reference number, which is on the top right hand side of the invoice
- the amount you need to pay
How we recover Housing Benefit overpayments
If you do not pay your invoice, we can recover the overpayment from:
- other benefits you get
- your wages
If we can’t recover the overpayment from your benefits or your wages, we will take you to court. This will add extra costs to your debt, and affect your credit rating.