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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Housing costs  →  Thread

Recoverability where partner ignorant of claim

benefitsadviser
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Sunderland West Advice Project

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Joined: 22 June 2010

I have a client who is working and lived with his partner.
His partner made a joint claim online for HB, claiming nil income, declaring that her partner did not work.

Client unaware of the claim ever being made as she did it behind his back, HB have found out, large overpayment has been generated and as a result they have split up. She hid all paperwork from him so he had no knowledge of this.

Technically he is jointly and severally liable for the debt but told me he is damned if he is paying his half for obvious reasons.

Overpayment is obviously recoverable , but can any strategy be used to limit his liability?

Thanks

Mike Hughes
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Senior welfare rights officer - Salford City Council Welfare Rights Service

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Have had a few of these over the years. Not nice. As it’s HB all o/ps are recoverable unless official error with the caveat that if a claimant contributes to the error or ought to have known of the error then it’s still recoverable. In this case the partner did not know so the debate moves onto whether they ought to have known. That’s where it gets interesting. On paper there’s no way the working partner ought to have known anything for obvious reasons. However, some in depth questioning is in order. How was the rent paid? Did one of them pay all of it? 50/50 split?

If the rent was split in some way then how did the working partner think their other half was or was intending to meet their commitment? Despite the lack of visible paperwork or suggestion of a claim you’ll have to cover all the bases around whether there was anything else obvious which ought to have led to at least a conversation. Chances are the working partner still doesn’t get touched but that won’t stop HB from trying.

As for the partner who made the claim. Any clues as to whether it was an attempt at a fraudulent claim or a symptom of ill health? Often a fruitful avenue to pursue.

HB Anorak
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Benefits consultant/trainer - hbanorak.co.uk, East London

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There doesn’t appear to be any possible way of arguing official error here, so it’s definitely recoverable.  The question is, from whom?

HB Reg 101 gives three options:

- if it was caused by a person’s misrepresentation of the facts, or failure to disclose a material fact, from that person only
- if it was caused by official error but recoverable because someone should have known, from the person who should have known only
- in any other case from both the claimant and, if different, from the person to whom the HB was paid as well

As far as I can see the only way your client could be in the frame would be if he actively misrepresented the facts - for example by signing the partner’s claim form.  Your client cannot be fixed with non-disclosure because he was not under a duty to disclose having no formal stake in the claim: only the claimant, HB payee and anyone acting on the claimant’s behalf is under a duty to disclose.  But you say the client did not know the claim had been made and therefore it seems unlikely he misrepresented the facts to the Council.

I cannot see any way that your client is a person from whom the overpayment is recoverable.  Has the Council set out why it considers that it is recoverable from him by reference to Reg 101?

Stainsby
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Welfare rights adviser - Plumstead Community Law Centre

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I agree with HB Anorak here and would just point out that unlike tax credits or JSA, there is no such thing as a joint claim for HB as there can only ever be one climant