the SoS does have the power to recover overpaid pension credit where the overpayment arises due to late payment of prescribed income, under section 74(1) of the Admin Act, and it's not dependent on any fault on the part of the claimant. see also regs 7 & 8 of Payments on Account etc.
the overpayment is basically the difference between the pension credit actually paid, and the amount of pc which would have been paid, if the prescribed income had been paid at the correct time. the legislation leaves little room for argument in principle, but the calculation of the overpayments is a bit technical in terms of dates and mistakes about dates and rates are common.
it's a bit worrying that DWP will refer to a decision-maker _after_ sending the o/p decision, or did i miss something... : )
i would have expected your client's PC to reduce in December on receipt of the notification. if a section 74 overpayment decision includes any period after the date occ pen arrears were paid (other than days of that benefit week) the decision is wrong.
as it's pension credit, there's also the possibility of savings credit entitlement in the earlier period, just to give it an added twist... : )
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