Overpayments

Overpayments are created when there are changes to a claim that mean the benefit is decreased after we have already paid you at a higher amount.

You must report any changes in your circumstances to prevent an overpayment. If you do not tell us of changes, this could result in a fraud investigation.

Recovery of Council Tax Support

We pay Council Tax Support into your Council Tax account. If an overpayment has been made we will recover it from your Council Tax account. We will send you a new Council Tax bill to show how much you will have to pay in future.

Recovery of Housing benefit overpayments

If you continue to receive Housing benefit payments after the overpayment has been established, we will reduce the amount you receive on a weekly basis (statutory amounts shown in table below). If the overpayment has resulted from fraudulent activity, the amount is set at a higher rate.

Overpayment recovery rates

If you no longer receive Housing benefits payments after the overpayment has been established, we will send you an invoice for the total amount of Housing Benefit that you need to re-pay. You will need to pay the total amount in one payment within a month.  Email benefit.services@stroud.gov.uk if you have a problem paying us back, including your name, address and telephone number.  You can contact us on 01453 766321 Monday to Thursday 8:45am to 5:00pm, Friday 8:45am to 4:30pm to discuss other payment options.

If you do not pay, we may:

• ask the Department for Work and Pensions to take a weekly amount from your benefits
• ask your employer to deduct an amount from your weekly or monthly pay
• in some circumstances initiate legal action against you

Landlord or agent overpayments

We will recover an overpayment of Housing Benefit paid to you if:

• the tenant moved
• the tenant died
• there was a decrease in rent
• you were aware that you were being overpaid

We will reduce the amount of Housing Benefit you get by a set amount until the overpayment is cleared.

We may send you an invoice for the total amount of Housing Benefit you must return. If you do not pay we may:

• employ a collection agency to get this money on our behalf
• in some circumstances, initiate legal action against you
• take the full amount from payments made to you for other tenants

Email benefit.services@stroud.gov.uk if you have a query about an overpayment, including your name, address and telephone number. You can contact us on 01453 766321 Monday to Thursday 8:45am to 5:00pm, Friday 8:45am to 4:30pm.