housing benefit overpayment

[elou]

Hi all

 

I work 24 hrs a week my partner is currently unemployed ,I claim working tax and child tax credits and get housing benefitI have a 14 yr old daughter,my son who turned 20 in june was in college until he got a job on may 13th,I informed the HB and all other relevant depts,as soon as he recieved his wage slips I sent them to the housing benefit dept,got receipts for them,some of them I even took into one of thier life centres,this is where the problem started.

 

 

The person who took the information didnt take the correct wage down on the paperwork ,she wrote down the NET not the GROSS but they didnt inform me of this if I hadnt phoned to check the status of the claim I wouldnt have known anything,anyway i took the wage slips again and this time i made them take photocopies of the wages and send them to the correct dept.

 

 

Because they didnt have the correct information they said they would automatically put him down at earning £999 A MONTH so I wasnt entitled to any help with the rent,when they recieved the wageslips again they worked it out and am now happy with the result

 

BUT

 

Due to my fluctuating wage I ended up with an overpayment of HB , we have come to an arrangement to pay this back,

today I have recieved my first payment since 4th june,but it is only for this months rent

 

 

I was told that the claim would be backdated and i would recieve the money ,which I have already paid to my landlord.

I have phoned them today asking when will I get the backpay of housing benefit,only to be told that I wont that it has been taken off my overpayment debt.

 

My question is since it was thier mistake and it has taken from may13th to now to sort out ,and I have had to use all my wage to pay rent,can they do this? surely if I need to claim housing benefit I am unable to pay full rent but that is what I have had to do.

 

 

I am penniless ,my bills have been paid and my rent paid but I was depending on this back payment to get my daughters uniform,which I have explained to them on more than one occasion as was assured everytime that I would get the payment as soon as they sorted it out

 

hope this makes sense

 

 

and thanks in advance

Edited August 28, 2013 by citizenB
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bump in the hope someone knows and will reply for you

[estellyn]

You will need to appeal the overpayment decision on the grounds that it was official error. But I should warn you that the process of appealing and going to Tribunal if the HB Dept don't change their minds is quite lengthy.

 

To appeal, write a letter explaining what happened, ensuring you put the date of the overpayment decision you want to appeal and the words 'I wish to appeal this decision'

 

If it's more than one month since the overpayment decision, it will be a late appeal, and you will need to explain why it's late.