Overpayments

Overpayments can occur for many reasons: 

• You may have given us wrong information, or not told us something we needed to know, or been slow to tell us about a change. 
• We may have been slow to deal with a change. 
• We may have made a mistake. 

All overpayments are usually recoverable unless they occurred as a result of an official error by the Council or the DWP.

If an overpayment has occurred because of an official error, there are three different elements that the Council must look at before deciding if that overpayment is recoverable or not. If all of the following elements apply, the overpayment could be classed as not recoverable:

1. Relevant Mistake – The overpayment must have been caused by an official mistake.
2. No Contribution by a Relevant Person to the mistake - The person who received the overpayment must not have contributed to the mistake. 
3. Knowledge of Overpayment  - The claimant could not have reasonably known that there was an overpayment. 

If you would like further information, then please contact us to discuss.