Please seen Commissioner's Decision CH 943 2003 - available on the Social Security Commissioner's website - for an important decision on official error overpayments. Briefly, claimant renewed WFTC claim but was turned down. She notified local authority, and also appealed against Inland Revenue decision. HB awarded on basis of no WFTC entitlement. She subsequently won appeal against refusal to award WFTC, and award made and backdated. Authority subsequently re-assessed HB entitlement and billed her for overpayment. She appealed, and tribunal found that the original decision by the Inland Revenue was an official error, and therefore HB overpayment not recoverable.

Commissioner agreed (although for different reasons than those given by Tribunal).

I'm very confused by this decision. How can the client be assessed as having WFTC as income at all prior to apeal decision? Surely, once she wins her WFTC appeal she is paid arrears and they are treated as capital?

That makes two of us then Andy - my Zebedee guide to HB/CTB 2003/4, page 234, clearly states that arrears of WTC & CTC are treated differently to other benefits in that such arrears are always counted as capital and ignored for first 52 weeks following payment - para 13.32 (b)...............?

Or were the regs somewhat different at the time of her award.......

The benefit in question was Working Families' Tax Credit, Not Working Tax Credit - arrears of which are treated differently.

A backdated award of WFTC would normally have been treated as arrears of income and subject to Regulation 68(7).