Assistance required.

A claimant was issued with a letter indicating benefit entitlement for their accommodation from the relevant LA. This entitlement award letter for arguments sake stated that the LA had assessed their benefit and decided to pay £80 per week.

The LA then re-issued an entitlement letter stating that the claimant was only entitled to £60 per week therefore they were recovering overpayments for the period where they were in receipt of £80.

However the initial letter did not state that the £80 was an interim or temporary payment of any sort therefore am I right in thinking that the LA has no grounds to re-assess the claim until there is a change of circumstance or a rent increase?

The LA can revise the decision at any time if they find an error in their assessment or obtain new information about a claim.

However, if the overpayment was caused by an error by the LA it can only be recovered if the claimant (or their agent)could reasonably have been expected to realise they were being overpaid.

I would advise that the claimant lodge an appeal against the decision ASAP.