Terms & Conditions

[orangepeel]

We have a unusual situation where DHP has been paid.

The claimant received a compensation payment in 2002 which was never declared to the Council. As we cannot disregard the payment the claimant has been overpaid Housing Benefit from 2002 to 2005, this overpayment includes DHP.

Taking into account the claimant’s needs and circumstances we have decided to recover the DHP overpayment, which totals £6,000.

Can anyone clarify for me if the claimant decides to repay the overpayment in a lump sum as he has capital in his bank account, can we put the payment back into the DHP fund for the financial year in which the repayment is made.

For example if the claimant repays the fulll overpayment in December 2009 can we put the funds into the budget for 2009/10 year?

Many thanks

[Anonymous]

Yes, that is precisely what you do

[orangepeel]

Thank you Chris for your reply. I thought that would be the case but never had a case before involving previous years and such a large overpayment.

Just to clarify if the claimant did repay this in one lump sum how do we inform the DWP at the end of the year how much was spent from their funding, and not from the Council’s budget?

For example if we get the £6,000 back in one sum, and because of the additional funds we spent more than the original budget allocated, how do we show the DWP that the additional spending was not through the Council’s own funds? Or does it not even matter?

Thank you
Steve

[Anonymous]

You complete a DHP3 (???) in May i.r.o. the previous year so you can amend that from your mid year estimate to show the true picture. If you’ve spent more than the DHP’s allocation in any event it doesn’t matter. If you’ve spent less and as a result of paying this back in it’s less than your mid year estimate they’ll be asking you for a refund

[orangepeel]

Thank you Chris, that is most helpful.

Thank you for your help.

[Author]

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