Forum Home → Discussion → Housing costs → Thread
Overpayments where client notified correct savings, of over the limit.
Anyone had any experience of o/p’s created when a client puts savings down correctly. In this case £22,000. But HB awarded full HB/ I am expecting an overpayment decision possibly, ESA also claimed. Client Is Schizophrenic and did not complete the form himself. Any ideas of tactics?
If the claimant stated their savings correctly on the form and this was disregarded then that would seem to be an official error. In that case the recoverability of it would turn on whether the clamant ought reasonably to have realised that they were being overpaid at the time they got the payments or relevant notifications. If they have little or no past experience or knowledge of the benefit rules the case for it not being recoverable would seem strong.
The content of the Decision Notice, and you client’s ability to understand this, are likely to be the key issues. If your client received a decision which clearly stated…
Capital: £0
...the LA may argue that your client should have identified this mistake and therefore should ‘reasonably have realised’ he/she was being overpaid. If your client has some specific set of circumstances e.g. a visual impairment which meant it was not possible for them to identify the mistake, this could form the basis of your argument i.e. that they could not ‘reasonably have realised’ they were being overpaid.
Equally the Decision Notice might have been confusing and poorly written (many are) to the extent that no-one would have spotted the mistake and therefore been aware of the overpayment.
Either way, getting a copy of the Decision Notice is a good place to start.
This LA just gives assessments, with no information on the income used, or capital.
This LA just gives assessments, with no information on the income used, or capital.
Is that because this claimant is already on income-related ESA, and so is passported to maximum HB without the council ever getting as far looking at income/savings? If so, then tracing any official error may involve working out why DWP aren’t counting the claimant as having savings.
Also: if he didn’t complete the form himself, did he sign it? Or does he have an appointee? What should the appointee have reasonably realised about the error?
If the HB was paid while the claimant was on ESA(ir), any talk of an HB overpayment may be premature at this stage. The Council needs to contact DWP and ask them whether they were aware of the capital, whether it has been taken into account or disregarded and whether any ESA decisions are being revised as a consequence. There is only an HB overpayment if:
- DWP revises the ESA decisions to remove the HB “passport”, or
- DWP just won’t engage with the Council at all (it happens) and the Council concludes that the ESA was claimed dishonestly: the Council may then “go behind” the ESA
The Council has to give DWP a reasonable chance to comment before they go off and make any decisions of their own.
As Jon says, it isn’t necessarily an error on the Council’s part to award full HB on the basis of the claimant receiving ESA(ir) - they are entitled not to look too closely at the claimant’s income and capital where a DWP passport benefit is in payment. But there might have been an error at the DWP end (or there might not) - that is where investigations should begin.
If the claimant was not on ESA(ir) while the HB was paid, then there is an overpayment but it is plumb Council error from the point at which the form was completed. The issue is then whether the claimant or any formal appointee should have realised.
expect he is on contribution based esa