UC have taken too much money
Hello we're having a problem right now with UC. To explain the problem I have to back track a bit.
Our claim began on 9/8/24 and my husband got paid his IS on 23/8/24 as we thought we would as a last legacy payment. For some reason he got an additional payment of IS a fortnight later on 6/9/2024. By the 18/9/24 our claim was finished and we were paid our first UC payment. After then they sent us a PDF stating we were overpaid by £273 and that they'd use the debt recovery service to pay it back over time which was fine.
We looked at our next payment and they've taken £550 saying we were given benefits we weren't entitled to (IS £420 and housing benefit £130) and we're only getting £208 to live off for the month!
I'd have understood if they were taking only £210 over time from the IS they paid through their mistake but it should have only been that one payment not 2!
I've contacted Citizens Advice Bureau and my husband is calling UC. Can anyone help or give advice?
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They messed up the overlap on my migration as well. I'm fortunate enough not to be affected financially but was concerned others would end up in this situation.
Still haven't worked out quite what they've done in my case. Now been told that UC don't know either and I should call the debt service instead. Not possible with my conditions. But also assume UC must have told the debt service the amounts in the first place!
That's an oddly small amount of housing benefit. How much HB were you getting each week before? I had a very confusing letter from the council stating that the final 2 week run on payment would be paid the following month, meaning that UC were correct to reclaim part of the housing element they'd paid me the previous month. Obviously waiting a month or more for rent money doesn't work in the real world!
If you can call the debt service directly, I would recommend doing that to see if they can clear it up and also see if they can change the real repayments to be a small amount each month rather than a lump sum.
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The HB is approx a weeks worth that's why it's small. HB is £177 approx a week so all in all £470 approx per month.
Well we did leave message on our journal saying the amount taken is extortionate and that we don't mind paying it over time.
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Ah ok, that HB may have been a genuine overpayment of just a few days while they were waiting for HB to send info across. At least we can rule out the 2 weeks run on payment.
I hope they respond to your journal message quickly though I fear they'll just tell you the same as they did me, to call the debt service instead.
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*£117 a week not £177
The thing is they said to my husband the money they've taken this time was meant to be taken from our first payment but they messed up. They left a message in the journal that they've referred it to a case manager and that they'll get back to us by 7pm tomorrow.
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*6pm
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I tried calling the debt management and they said its nothing to do with them as it's a deduction.
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Thanks for letting me know. That's frustrating. Have you had any response from the case manager today?
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Not yet but I'll let you know
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So the case manager got back to us 😮💨… all they did is explain what it was. That's it. No kind of payment plan.
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I just wanted to pop onto say we have the same problem with carers allowance where we owed them money if it's not one thing it's another
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It's been so stressful! I'm hoping that this'll be the end of it. We honestly don't mind paying them back but we just didn't want to do it in one lump sum. I've tried contacting UC helpline and they said to wait until the case worker gets back to us. But even when my husband spoke with them they said they couldn't do it as a payment plan. It's ridiculous.
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I'm sorry to hear that. 🙁
Did they at least confirm why both payments of IS were correct to be reclaimed?
My overpayments were reclaimed in two different ways. One came straight out of my second payment (no choice given) but the other said it'd be taken slowly from following payments in small amounts. Almost feels like they're making it up as they go along!
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Nope. Not at all.
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Hi @PeachyAna90. That sounds pretty stressful and I don't know how they expect you to live on that amount for the month. Whenever I've been overpaid I've always paid back a small amount each month that I've agreed to. Did you get any more answers when you contacted UC?
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Luckily I get PIP and my husband gets Carers Allowance every Monday so we'll be ok-ish.
No, they just explained that we got IS and HB when we shouldn't have and that they're deducting the UC they overpaid last time over time.
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@OverlyAnxious screenshot above is what they said to me
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I found this on Citizens Advice about paying back HB and IS overpayments through other benefits:
They've clearly taken more than a third in your case and I don't understand why they can't offer you a payment plan. If you didn't get PIP and Carers Allowance you would struggle to survive on so little. Is the case manager going to contact you again? It seems they weren't very helpful when they contacted you last time. Sorry you're having to deal with all this.
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I am waiting on a call back from CAB, hopefully it'll be on Monday. I doubt the case manager is getting back to us. I'll read the link in a bit. Thank you so much!
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Let us know what they say. I'm so confused about what they're doing!
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