How do Housing Benefit overpayments happen
An overpayment can happen when:
- You didn't tell us about changes in your circumstances straight away
- It takes us a little while to process a change in your circumstances; or
- We make a mistake or another organisation gave us the wrong information.
If we’ve paid you too much housing benefit, we will usually ask you to pay back the amount we’ve overpaid. You can find out more about recovery of overpayments on the pages below:
Change of circumstances
You must tell us about any change in your circumstances that may affect the amount of benefit you receive. These are some examples of changes you must tell us about:
- You stop receiving income support or Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or Universal Credit (UC)
- Your income changes
- Someone leaves or joins your household
- Your rent changes
- Your tenancy agreement terms change
- You move to another address
- Your child leaves school or full time education
Tell us about a change in your circumstances online
Incorrect payment
If you’re not sure the payment you’ve received is correct, you can check by signing up for our online services.
An overpayment can happen when:
- You didn't tell us about changes in your circumstances straight away
- It takes us a little while to process a change in your circumstances; or
- We make a mistake or another organisation gave us the wrong information.
If we’ve paid you too much housing benefit, we will usually ask you to pay back the amount we’ve overpaid. You can find out more about recovery of overpayments on the pages below:
You must tell us about any change in your circumstances that may affect the amount of benefit you receive. These are some examples of changes you must tell us about:
- You stop receiving income support or Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or Universal Credit (UC)
- Your income changes
- Someone leaves or joins your household
- Your rent changes
- Your tenancy agreement terms change
- You move to another address
- Your child leaves school or full time education
If you’re not sure the payment you’ve received is correct, you can check by signing up for our online services.