How we recover Housing Benefit from a tenant
If you currently receive Housing Benefit, the overpayment will be recovered from future benefit payments by a weekly deduction known as a "claw-back" at a rate which is set by the government.
If you do not currently receive Housing Benefit an arrangement can be made. Failure to do so could result in an attachment to Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) benefits, a direct earnings attachment via the employer or referral to a collection agent.
If you are overpaid Housing Benefit we will write to you and tell you:
- what your correct benefit is
- why you were overpaid
- how much the overpayment is
- the period it covers
- how the overpayment should be repaid
- how you can appeal if you think it is wrong
Recovery of an overpayment will not prejudice any criminal proceedings taken by us in respect of fraudulent overpayments.
If we raise an invoice for payment
You can pay your invoice online.
Copeland area - pay your invoice
Allerdale area - pay your invoice
Carlisle area - pay your invoice
Pay at your local Post Office or PayPoint outlet
How we recover Housing Benefit from a landlord
If we recover an overpayment from a landlord, we will issue an invoice. We may make deductions from other tenants' benefits paid to that landlord. We do not treat the amount of these deductions as rent arrears for those tenants. The landlord must not try to recover the shortfall from them.
Recovery of an overpayment will not prejudice any criminal proceedings we may take in respect of fraudulent overpayments.
When we might reduce the overpayment
In some circumstances we may be able to reduce the amount we overpaid you if you can tell us about your correct circumstances throughout the period of the overpayment.
If we give you benefit for the period you were overpaid it is called underlying entitlement. If you do have underlying entitlement which means you were entitled to receive some of the benefit, we will use this to reduce the overpayment.
If you don't pay the debt
Where an invoice remains unpaid, or an agreed arrangement to repay the debt over time is not being maintained, we may take action in the County Court.
A landlord who habitually fails to repay overpayments that are recoverable from them, can be declared not a "fit and proper person" under benefit regulations, and we can refuse to make payments to them directly.
If you would like to talk to us about Housing Benefits you can contact us.