Overpayments
Overpayments of Housing and Council Tax Benefit
Overpayments of Housing and Council Tax Benefits occur when benefit has been paid for a period beyond the date that entitlement to the benefit has reduced or ended.
Overpayments can occur for a number of reasons, however, most commonly, overpayments occur as a result of error and due to the late notification of Changes In Circumstances which will effect the amount of benefit in payment.
The vast majority of overpayments are fully recoverable and Perth and Kinross Council will seek full recovery in such cases.
How to Help to Prevent Overpayments of Housing and Council Tax Benefit
Overpayments often occur as a result of Changes In Circumstances not being reported at all, not being reported on time or are not being reported in the correct manner.
It is important to remember that Changes In Circumstances must be reported in writing and must be received in any of our local area offices or directly to our Benefit Team at Pullar House, 35 Kinnoull Street, Perth, PH1 5GD. For full details of our local area offices, Click Here.
It is advisable that if you know that your household circumstances have changed or are due to change in the future, you advise us in writing at the earliest available opportunity. If you are in any doubt of as to what changes may effect your entitlement, you can call us on 01738 476049.
For full advice on how to report Changes In Circumstances, Click Here.
If you have or are intending to Change your Address, Click Here, for further information.
What Happens When an Overpayment Occurs
As with all decisions relating to your Housing and Council Tax Benefit entitlement, if our decision results in an overpayment of either Housing or Council Tax Benefit (or both), you will be notified in writing. This notification will advise you of the reasons for the overpayment, how this has been worked out and your new entitlement to Housing and Council Tax Benefit, if any.
Our letters will also advise you on what you can do if you think our decision is wrong. For more information on this, Click Here.
How Overpayments of Housing and Council Tax Benefit Are Recovered
As Council Tax Benefit is paid in advance up to the end of the financial year (31 March), any excess Council Tax Benefit paid will be recovered directly from your Council Tax account. This will therefore mean that you will receive a revised bill for your Council Tax to advise you of how much you are due to pay up to the end of the financial year.
If we notify you of an overpayment of Housing Benefit, we will take no action to recover this for one month from when we notify you of our decision. This month will allow you to take any necessary action if you think our decision is wrong.
After one month, the recovery method will depend on your circumstances. We will notify you in writing of what action we will take after one month of our original decision. For guidance, we have given some examples of the action which we may take:
- If your change means that you have an overpayment but you still qualify for some Housing Benefit, we will reduce your entitlement each week by up to £9.00 until the overpayment is cleared.
- If your change means that you have an overpayment and you no longer qualify for Housing Benefit, we will issue you with an invoice and seek that an arrangement for the repayment can be made.
How To Make an Arrangement or Repay an Invoice
If, after a Change In Circumstances, you no longer qualify for Housing Benefit, and you have an outstanding overpayment (whether this relates to this change or previous changes), you will receive an invoice for the outstanding balance after one month of our decision, unless you have contacted us within that month to dispute our decision.
It is important to remember that once you receive your invoice, you contact our Overpayments Team on 01738 476050 to make an arrangement. This is a mutual arrangement between yourself and our team which is made taking into account your financial and household circumstances.
If you delay in making this arrangement or fail to make payment after an arrangement has been made, this may result in Reminder Notices and Final Notices being issued to you. Should this occur, further action may be taken to recover this overpayment.
To make payments, you can send a cheque or postal order or you can attend one of our local offices (Click Here for our full contact details) or by attending our main office at Pullar House, 35 Kinnoull Street, Perth, PH1 5GD. Please remember to bring your invoice with you. You can also call us on 01738 476050 to set up a standing order or to make a payment over the telephone.
Make a Payment By Telephone
Paying by Credit or Debit card is the easiest and most effective way to repay an overpayment. Unfortunately, currently, we do not operate a Direct Debit system within our Overpayments Team, however, this is something which we will be looking at in the future.
You can however, using a Credit or Debit card, make payment towards an overpayment by contacting our team on 01738 476049. Please remember to have your invoice at hand.
