Paying back a Housing Benefit overpayment

The council will usually take a basic amount of up to £12.75 each week. They can take up to £21.25 if the overpayment is because of ‘fraud’ - this means they think you deliberately gave them the wrong information. 

The council can only take more than the basic amount if they ignored some of your income when they worked out your Housing Benefit - called an ‘earnings disregard’. If you’re not sure, check the letter about how much Housing Benefit you’ll get.

The council will usually ask your landlord to pay them the whole overpayment at once. Your landlord will then ask you to pay the money back on top of your rent.

If you rent from a private landlord or letting agent, they’ll count the overpayment as ‘rent arrears’. 

It’s important to start paying it back so you can stay in your home - you can get help paying off your rent arrears.

If you rent from the council, they’ll add the overpayment to your rent account. The overpayment doesn’t count as rent arrears, so the council can’t evict you - but you’ll still need to pay off the debt. You can get help dealing with debts or ask your nearest Citizens Advice to help you.

The council might take money from your wages if you work for a company with 10 or more employees. They don’t need to ask your permission. 

Your employer will pay the council and take the money from your wages. 

You should get 2 letters telling you how much your employer will take - 1 from the council and 1 from your employer.

The council will work out what percentage of your wages to take. How much money they take depends on how much you earn. If you don’t think you can afford to pay, you can ask the council to reduce the amount they take from you.

If you earn up to £100 a week or up to £430 a month, the council won’t usually take anything from you.

The council can take more money from you if your overpayment is because of ‘fraud’. Fraud means the council think you gave the wrong information on purpose.

If the overpayment is because of fraud

The council can take a bigger percentage from your wages. They can also take money if you earn £100 or less a week (£430 or less a month).

The council won’t usually agree to reduce the amount they take, but you might be able to get extra help paying for other things.

If you leave your job

You must tell the council you’ve left - and who your new employer is, if you have one.

In most cases, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will reduce your Universal Credit payment by up to 15% of your ‘standard allowance’.

Your standard allowance is the basic amount of Universal Credit you get, not including extra amounts called ‘elements’ - for example, 'housing costs element'.

Check what you can do if your Universal Credit is reduced or stopped.

The council can’t take money from Child Benefit or Guardian's Allowance.

They can take money from any other benefit to pay back the Housing Benefit overpayment. 

The council will usually take a third of your weekly benefit payment. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will write to tell you how much they’re taking from your benefit and how long for.

You’ll need to pay the council directly if you don’t get any benefits and they’re not taking money from your wages.

The council’s letter will explain the different ways you can pay the money, for example using online banking.

Ask your local council to either:

• cancel some or all of the overpayment

• let you pay smaller amounts for a longer time

You can find your council’s contact details on mygov.scot.

You’ll need to show you wouldn’t be able to afford essentials like food or electricity if you had to pay more. 

They won’t usually change your payments if the overpayment is because of ‘fraud’ - this means they think you deliberately gave them the wrong information.

Before you ask to change your payments, work out what you can afford to pay. It’s easier to get them to change your payments if you can show you’ve checked how much you can afford.

If you can’t afford to pay back anything at all, you can ask the council to cancel some or all of the overpayment. It’s unusual for the council to agree to this. They might agree if there’s very little chance you’ll ever be able to pay back the overpayment. For example, they might cancel the overpayment if you have a severe disability that means you’re not likely to earn more in the future.

Before you contact the council, check if you can get other evidence to show it would be hard to pay what they’re asking for. For example, you could ask your doctor to write a letter if the repayments will be difficult because of your health.

You’ll need to either contact the DWP or your local council - this will depend on if you want to cancel, reduce or pause your payments.

If you want your overpayments cancelled

If you can’t afford to pay back anything at all, you can ask your local council to cancel some or all of the overpayment. It’s unusual for the council to agree to this. They might agree if there’s very little chance you’ll ever be able to pay back the overpayment. For example, they might cancel the overpayment if you have a severe disability that means you’re not likely to earn more in the future.

Before you contact the council, check if you can get other evidence to show it would be hard to pay what they’re asking for. For example, you could ask your doctor to write a letter if the repayments will be difficult because of your health.

The local council won’t usually cancel your payments if the overpayment is because of ‘fraud’ - this means they think you deliberately gave them the wrong information.

You can find your council’s contact details on GOV.UK.

If you want to pause or reduce your overpayments

Call the DWP Debt Management contact centre.

Before you contact the DWP, check if you can get other evidence to show it would be hard to pay what they’re asking for. For example, you could ask your doctor to write a letter if the repayments will be difficult because of your health.

Ask your local council to either:

• cancel some or all of the overpayment

• let you pay smaller amounts for a longer time

You can find your council’s contact details on mygov.scot.

You’ll need to show you wouldn’t be able to afford essentials like food or electricity if you had to pay more. 

They won’t usually change your payments if the overpayment is because of ‘fraud’ - this means they think you deliberately gave them the wrong information.

Before you ask to change your payments, work out what you can afford to pay. It’s easier to get them to change your payments if you can show you’ve checked how much you can afford.

If you can’t afford to pay back anything at all, you can ask the council to cancel some or all of the overpayment. It’s unusual for the council to agree to this. They might agree if there’s very little chance you’ll ever be able to pay back the overpayment. For example, they might cancel the overpayment if you have a severe disability that means you’re not likely to earn more in the future.

Before you contact the council, check if you can get other evidence to show it would be hard to pay what they’re asking for. For example, you could ask your doctor to write a letter if the repayments will be difficult because of your health.