Found HB wrongly assessed client to be on DLA both care and mob. This is in fact the non deps income.

Client has good reason why he didnt realise..

I see this as LA error..

Is an o/p made through LA error recoverable and what grounds can you argue against it..?

You've sort of hinted at the answer yourself. A LA error OP can be recoverable if the claimant ought reasonably to have realised, at the time of receiving the payment or receiving notification, that he/she was being overpaid.

This can properly only be decided on a case by case basis, since people's level of "realisation" is going to vary greatly for all sorts of reasons. A decision on recoverability carries appeal rights.

It is likely to turn things like the scale and nature of the OP, the claimant's knowledge and experience of the benefits system, claimant's health, level of education, the existence of notifications and how detailed and clear they are.

Thanks for the reply... I dont know welfare rights terminology.. Want to go in all guns blazing, like I would with a typical creditor, but know the Beneifts system has much stricter regs which im not fully aware of...

Crikes alight... With all the regs and good practice guides etc etc.. I hope you get paid well.. x

Although, perhaps surprisingly, it is not a reported case, one CD in particular has become the default starting point in overpayment cases. CH/2554/2002.

Trouble is that you need an 'official error' that is uncontaminated by errors from the tenant, and once you have such an error, you then have to go on to show the tenant couldn't reasonably have realised etc, as pointed out by Andy.

I find local authorities tend to measure claimants actions in far too an objective fashion, when deciding 'reasonably realised'. The DWP HB Overpayment Guide is helpful here, because it sets out how LA officers are supposed to address these matters. Try paras 2.151 to 2.156, which encourages subjectivity, and can be quoted back to officers, if they prove difficult. Here is the web link:

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/housingbenefit/manuals/overpay/op-guide-amd2.pdf

Steve