Why do overpayments happen?
Sometimes Council Tax Support may be overpaid.
This usually happens because:
- you didn't tell us about changes in your circumstances straight away
- it takes us a little while to process a change in your circumstances
- we make a mistake or another team or organisation gave us the wrong information.
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Council Tax Support is awarded in advance for the full financial year. If there is a change part way through the year, you may be overpaid
For overpayments of Council Tax Support, initially we will add the amount of the overpayment to your Council Tax bill.
Our Council Tax team will then collect the overpayment by increasing your monthly payments.
Can we recover the overpayment?
Whether we recover an overpayment depends on how it happened.
We can recover overpayments if you had a change in your circumstances and didn’t let us know or if there was a delay in processing a change..
If an overpayment happens because we made a mistake, we may recover it. But we will only do this, if you should have realised that you were being overpaid at the time.
Who has to repay the overpayment?
Each case is different.
We will consider:
- what caused the overpayment
- if you could have known the award was wrong
Do I need to tell you about changes in my circumstances?
Yes, please read more about how to tell us on our change in circumstances page.
How long does it take to process a change?
When you tell us about a change in circumstances, it might take us a little while to deal with your claim.
If you’re not sure the Council Tax Support you’ve received is correct, you can sign up to our online benefits self-service system and manage your account online.
Manage your benefit claim online
You can also ring our benefits advice line on 0300 1234 121.
