UC/HB overpayment

Hi

Apologies if this issue has already been discussed before.

I’m just wondering whether there is any merit in an appeal.

I have a client with severe mental health issues. Due to this he was unable to maintain his benefit claims so they all stopped, his services (gas etc) were all cut off and he was sectioned.

Since then, his area became a full UC area. However, after he was released HB agreed to pay his rent until his UC claim was sorted.

A UC claim was made and awarded. HB terminated his claim. They said that he had been overpaid HB but that they wouldn’t recover it.

Later, UC then said because of the overlap between HB and UC, he had been overpaid UC and started recovering it. I submitted a MR enclosing the letter from HB saying they wouldn’t recover the o/p and said it was HB that he was overpaid (not UC) as HB was the benefit he was not entitled to. However, they have upheld their original decision.

What piece of legislation (if any) gives the legal definition of an o/p? Is an o/p merely links to a benefit that he has been paid too much of, or does an o/p link to being paid the wrong benefit?

Thanks in advance

It is this:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1230/regulation/10

What happens in these overlapping cases is that the overpaid HB is treated as income other than earnings in the UC assessment period in which it was paid.  In effect it should be seen as a down-payment of UC.  Because all the action happens at the UC end, these overpayments are non-recoverable as far as the Council is concerned.  The Council quarantines the overpayment as “DWP error” for subsidy purposes, which means they get full subsidy.  They notify DWP on the UC413 (I think that’s the right serial number) and then forget about it.

In a way your client is lucky that they have (correctly in my opinion) treated this as a UC overpayment which means the recovery is at least more gradual.  I have heard of cases where the overlapping HB was paid for several months and DWP have merged all the months together and said “Right, you are due £5000 of UC up to this point, you have had a combined total of £8000 UC and HB, so we will start paying you again once your accumulated UC entitlement reaches £8000.”  That is wrong because it doesn’t recognise that the assessment periods for which UC has already been paid are done and dusted awarding decisions and any change must be by way of revision leading to overpayment.  Seems like they have done it right in your client’s case though.

Thanks, that was very useful. I expect that I’ll see much more of this as UC gets rolled out further.