How will you get overpaid benefit back?

Recovering overpayments

If we have paid you too much Council Tax Benefit, we will take the overpayment back from your Council Tax account. The Council Tax Section will then send you a new bill. You can normally pay the bill in instalments if you arrange this with them.

If we have paid you too much Housing Benefit, and you are still entitled to some benefit, we will take part of your Housing Benefit each week to get the overpayment back. If you cannot afford the amount we are taking, you can get in touch with us. Depending on your circumstances, we may be able to take the overpayment back in smaller amounts.

If we have paid you too much Housing Benefit, and you are not entitled to any more benefit, we will write and ask you to pay the money back to us. You can send us a cheque or pay in person at any of the council's cash offices. If you cannot afford to pay all the money back to us at once, you should get in touch with us as soon as you get our letter. Normally, we will arrange for you to pay the money back to us in instalments.

If we have sent you a letter but you still have not paid the money back or asked us to let you pay the money back in instalments, we will send you an account. If you do not pay the account, we could take legal action against you. We prefer not to have to do this though, so please pay the money back to us straight away.

The page 'What happens if we pay you too much benefit?' has more information, including how to arrange instalments and how to dispute an overpayment.