I have a client who moved into temporary accommodation on 10th September last year. The family had previously been privately renting and the Housing Benefit was paid directly to the claimant. They competed HB forms for the new address and were informed in writing that the HB would stop on the old address on that date, and then got a letter to advise of HB entitlement on that date for the new address. A lump sum of HB was recovered from their HB award at the new address for 2 weeks after the claim stopped. I want to argue that the claimants could not have reasonably known of the overpayment due to letters they received from HB, but can the HB department claim back the overpayment from the new landlord, thereby putting the rent account into arrears? I thought that they should pursue the claimant directly and she could then make her own affordable repayment arrangement.
Any advice/ comments would be appreciated

I'm not sure a delay of 2 weeks is sufficient to count as an "error". There are now several decisions where Cmmrs have found that LAs are not necessarily expected to act "immediately" - LAs are allowed a reasonable period of time to act on the info in question. So, based on the info given, if the LA are aware of those CDs, it's likely that an appeal will be unsuccessful.

In terms of overpayment being "recovered" from the new L/L, the LA may argue that it is not recovery at all - HB has already been paid (albeit based on the old rent level) and any adjustment for the two weeks simply takes into account the new level of rent. LAs cannot pay HB twice for the same period (barring overlapping liability cases).

Also, if benefit was paid directly to the clmt in respect of the old address, and assuming there is no overlap, why is that money not available for the new address?

In my view, unless there is more to this, it's difficult to see how any appeal or complaint would be successful.