Terms & Conditions

[Anonymous]

Hi
Does any one know if we have to include the phrase ”you could have reasonably known you were being overpaid benefit” in overpayment notifications for legal reasons et… as we have many debates with customers about this , or maybe suggestions of how to re phrase it ,
Thanks liz

[chris harvey]

I think the law only requires you to state the fact that there is a recoverable overpayment. You can however supplement this with any additional information you think might be useful.
Most LA’s use systems generated overpayment letters which are often not great but do comply with the law providing the dates, amounts etc.
I am assuming you are thinking about overpayments caused by your mistake rather than those caused by a delay or by the claimant because these are recoverable irrespective of whether the claimant could have realised they were being overpaid. For the minority of overpayment cases caused solely by your mistake it would be good practice (if you have the resources) to supplement the standard inormation with some additional info explaining that although the overpayment was not their fault the council are of the opinion that they should have realised and as such the overpayment is legally recoverable from them.

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