Does anyone have any experience/knowledge of making offer of settlement to the DWP in respect of overpayments?

I am assisting a client who was recently successful at Tribunal by getting £30k o/p reduced to £12k.
Can she make an offer to settle?
Thank you.

No experience of negotiation but for what it is worth:

I suppose that any settlement for less than the £12k held to be recoverable would in effect be the Secretary of State exercising his discretion not to recover in respect of the difference between the actual amount repaid and the recoverable amount. I can't see that that would be unlawful (although to be honest it does put the claimant who can afford to make a lump sum offer in a better position than one who cannot).

Perhaps the guidance on when that discretion should be exercised would help.

There is no legislation governing settlement of benefit disputes with the authorities, but there is no reason in principle why you can't make a binding agreement with the DWP to settle an overpayment dispute. However, in my experience, it is hard to get anyone at the DWP to be willing to be responsible for making a decision to accept part-payment of an overpayment.

Local authorities may sometimes be more pragmatic. I have just been involved in a case involving an alleged overpayment of over £180,000 which settled on payment of a substantial sum by two of the people from whom recovery was being sought.

The Secretary of State does have a discretion not to recover recoverable overpayments, although I have never had any success. But the overpayment is a civil debt and if it not paid then recovery will be sought in the County Court. I would advise to make an offer in full and final settlement, explaining why the full amount should not be paid. If this is refused then I would advise the client to make reasonable regular repayments and invite the Secretary of State to recover the full amount through the courts. When the case comes to court, show the judge all the documentation and ask for a settlement figure.