Underlying entitlement when calculating an overpayment

HB claimant is part of a couple. The claimant became a full time student but did not tell HB or declare his income from a student loan. HB now know he is a student and have said that all the HB paid for the period was overpaid and recoverable.

If the partner, who is not a student, would have been entitled to at least some HB throughout the period in question. 

Could the amount that would have been paid to the partner be used to offset the amount owed by the claimant?

Para 1(c) of Reg 104 says that such an offsetting could be applied “on the basis of the claim as it would have appeared if any change of circumstances had been notified at the time the change occurred”.

I know that if the student had made the proper disclosure he would simply been told that the partner should claim instead and that the claim was always a joint claim.

Does the use of the word ‘claim’ in reg 104 limit any offset to amount that the ORIGINAL claimant might have been entitled to if proper disclosure was made or should it include the partners entitlement?