PC - overpayment issue

I have a married couple that have come to me for some advice on their benefits.

I initially checked their current awards and it turns out they they are claiming their benefits seperately as single persons:
- The wife is claiming State Pension, small Work Pension and Pension Credit - total £137.35. She is 65.
- The husband is claiming ESA (IR) and a small Work Pension - total £67.50. He is 57 and his ESA is currently under appeal.
- They are getting full HB for rent, but they are unsure if this is a claim as a couple or an individual claim.

This has occured because they were temporarily seperated in 2010 and had made individual claims for benefits. When they moved back in together (in June/July 2010), the husband notified ESA of this change (moving in with wife and change of address). The wife informed PC of the change of address but isn’t sure if she said about moving in with her husband. She appears to have thought her PC was linked to her SP and her own NI contributions and didn’t realise it had anything to do with her husband.

In June 2011, the husband’s had a heart attack and at that time the wife sought advice about their benefits from the local JBO. She was advised to make a claim as a couple and contacted PC about this, but has heard nothing since.

I know that they need to stop their claims as individuals and make a claim as a couple but I am assuming that they will then be asked to repay the money that has been paid incorrectly since June 2010 - is this correct?

Given that there was some disclosure on their part, is there any chance of a successful appeal?

As they have not benefited financially from this mistake (£137.35 + £67.50 = £204.85, and less than the PC couple threshold of £209.70), can they then appeal the recovery of the overpayment?

I would appreciate any advice that you have on this matter!

Could the pension service not argue that all PC paid to her could be deemed an overpayment as it was an incorrect claim : claiming as a single claimant when actually part of a couple?
Common sense states otherwise as they were in receipt of a smaller amount than a couples PC allowance anyway. In my experience though common sense has little to do with the benefits system.

Yes Duncan - she did contact PC to claim as a couple, but a year later - they moved back in together in June 2010,  and notified them of a change of address then, but it wasn’t until June 2011 that she made them aware for definite that they were a couple.

I was just concerned, that they will argue that they should not have paid any PC or ESA from June 2010 and try to recovery an overpayment for the amount.

The ESA could be appealed as the husband did notify them but they are less certain of the PC.

I am basically preempting that they will try and recover an overpayment.

There should be no ESA overpayment as there was no failure to disclose or misrepresentation providing there was ‘full disclosure’ and there was absolute compliance with reg 32 of the Claims and Payments Regs.

As for PC, any recoverable overpayment should be offset under reg 13 of the Payments on Account, etc, Regs to include any amount that would have fallen to be paid had the relevant disclosure been made.