What is an overpayment and how does it occur?

Council Tax - Frequently Asked Questions

An overpayment of benefit usually occurs after a change in circumstances leads to a recalculation.

Once we are notified of a change in your circumstances we recalculate your benefit entitlement. In cases where we have made a payment between the date of the change and the recalculation, the amount you received may not be the amount you are entitled to. This is why it is important to notify us of a change in circumstances as early as possible.

An over, or under, payment of benefit is said to be the difference between the amount of your old entitlement and the amount after the change in circumstances has been taken into account. Where an underpayment occurs we will usually issue you the credit with your next benefit payment.

If you are still entitled to benefit after the change has been taken into account, any overpayment will usually be recovered from future payments. The amount we will recover from your weekly payments is set by the Government and will be shown on your notification letter.

However, if the change means you are no longer entitled to benefit we will issue you a Debtors Invoice requesting payment.

You will receive a letter to notify you of how the overpayment occurred and how we will recover it.

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