Paying back an overpayment

If you have been overpaid, we will always send an invoice. If you still receive Housing Benefit, we will deduct money from your weekly benefit amount until the overpayment is cleared. If you are not getting Housing Benefit you will need to contact us and make a payment arrangement. You can pay using the following methods:

Online payment

You can make a payment using the council's secure online payment service.

Before you make a payment

You won't be able to save this form to complete later, so please allow yourself a couple of minutes to fill in the form.

Confirmation of your payment and a transaction reference number will be given and a receipt can be emailed to you if you need one.

You will need:

Invoice number
A payment card, Apple Pay or Google Pay*

Pay an invoice online

Other payment methods:

Standing order SHOW

Direct Debit SHOW

Contact the overpayments team directly SHOW

If you do not understand the overpayment

If you do not understand the information in your benefit letter you can ask us for more details. You have a legal right to ask us for the reasons we have made our decision.

If you do not agree with our decision you can ask us to look at it again or you can appeal
If you give us new information that means you are entitled to more Housing Benefit we will 'offset' the extra money against your overpayment
Your overpayment may be lower or you may not have been overpaid at all

If you fail to contact us or keep a payment arrangement we will take the following action

We can ask your employer to deduct money from your pay each payday until your overpayment is cleared
We can use a collection agency to call at your home to recover the money
We can register your debt with the county court which will affect your credit rating
If you owe us a large amount of money we may take steps to make you bankrupt