a good day all to all

i have a couple who were both claiming j.s.a as single claimants.
an unfavourable cohabiting decision was made and both have submitted appeals against the decision.
no letters re : appeal have been received by either but jcp are now paying them as acouple even though neither asked for this to be done.
i contacted jcp who stated that this was normal practice while a cohabiting appeal was ongoing but if their cohabiting appeal was successful either with a jcp decision maker or at tribunal their claims would be separated again and both of them would receive any backdated benefit owed to them.
is this correct ?

my brain isn't working, help !!!

pete

I don't see why not. If a DM has determined that they are a couple then it would have been correct to remove entitlement from one of the claimants (A) and supersede the other's (B). If the decision is overturned then the decision to end A's claim and supersede B's claim will be revised. B will incur an overpayment as the arrears due on a single claim will not be sufficient to fully offset what was paid on the couple claim. Presumably the overpayment would not be recoverable since there is no failure to disclose or misrepresentation and a quick scan of ss.71 and 74 SSAA suggests that additional offsetting cannot be made from A's arrears.