How to deal with a Universal Credit overpayment

The general rule for Universal Credit overpayments is that the DWP can make you pay back any overpayment, even if it is caused by a mistake made by the DWP. You might hear mistakes caused by the DWP referred to as ‘official error’.

September 2024

When we refer to Universal Credit, we mean both individual claims (‘single claims’) and claims with another person, such as a spouse or partner (‘joint claims’).

A Universal Credit overpayment is when you have been paid more Universal Credit than you should have been paid. This can happen for many varied reasons including:

If you have been accused of benefit fraud

Benefit fraud is a separate topic which we do not cover in this guide. If you have been accused of benefit fraud, you may have also been overpaid benefit, but different rules will apply. Get advice on your case from a legal adviser or solicitor.

You can also get help and information about ‘interviews under caution’ from Citizens Advice.

•  the DWP made a mistake.
• You didn’t tell the DWP about a change of circumstances that meant you were entitled to less Universal Credit or should stop getting Universal Credit entirely.
•  You were late in telling the DWP about a change in circumstances which affected your Universal Credit.
• You told the DWP about a change in circumstances which affected your Universal Credit but they took a long time to process this change on their systems.

Being overpaid benefit does not mean that you have done anything wrong. Overpayments can happen for many different reasons. An overpayment may not be your fault. It is still possible to be overpaid if you have done everything you should have done.

The general rule for Universal Credit overpayments is that the DWP can make you pay back any overpayment, even if it is caused by a mistake made by the DWP. The DWP call paying back an overpayment ‘recovery’ - they are ‘recovering the overpayment’ by getting you to pay it back.

You can appeal against a decision that you have been overpaid, or about the amount of the overpayment - but you cannot appeal against the decision to make you pay it back.

However, the DWP can choose not to make you pay back some or all of the overpayment. They call this a ‘waiver’ or ‘waiving recovery’.

We will tell you more about this in more detail in this guide.

It sometimes isn’t easy to tell whether the DWP think you have been overpaid or why.

You might notice that your Universal Credit payments are less than normal. This could be because you have been overpaid and money is being taken back from your payments.

You should check the ‘deductions’ section of your Universal Credit statement to see if the DWP are taking back an overpayment. You can find your Universal Credit statement on your online journal or on statements sent to you by post. If you do not have a copy of your Universal Credit statement you should ask for one by contacting the DWP  - call the helpline or by leave a message in your online Universal Credit journal.

If the DWP are taking back an overpayment you will see this under ‘recovery of overpayment’.

The DWP should write to you to let you know that you have been overpaid benefit. If you have been overpaid Universal Credit this letter is likely to appear in your online journal or in the post if you do not have an online journal.

This letter has the title ‘You have been paid more Universal Credit than you are entitled to.’  See an example of this letter. 

If the DWP tell you by telephone that you have been overpaid Universal Credit, ask them to write to you with their decision letter.

Your decision letter should tell you the amount of benefit they believe you have been overpaid and give reasons for this. Sometimes, however, it doesn’t. If the letter does not tell you the reasons they think you have been overpaid, do not panic. You can write to the DWP either by letter or on your Universal Credit journal asking for ‘full written reasons’ for the overpayment. Do this as soon as possible.

The ‘full written reasons’ should explain why the DWP think you have been overpaid.

You may need to chase up this request in writing and/or by telephone. Keep a copy of any messages in your journal and details of any phone calls you make including the name of who you spoke to, dates, and times of calls. It can be useful to do this on a note on your phone so that you can easily find it again.

When you have your decision letter, Find an adviser if you can. The last page of this guide tells you how to do that.

If you can’t access advice, don’t panic. This guide will tell you what you need to do. This guide will show you how to check and challenge the overpayment.

The DWP usually asks the claimant (or in case of a joint claim, both claimants) to pay back the overpayment. If the overpayment occurred while you were claiming jointly as a couple, and you have since split up, the DWP will ask you each to pay back half.

They can also ask an appointee for the claimant to pay back the overpayment.

There are some exceptions:

•  Where housing costs have been paid direct to your landlord and the overpayment is due to a change of address – the DWP can ask both you and/or your landlord to repay the overpaid amount.
   
• Where housing costs have been paid direct to your landlord and the overpayment is a result of a misrepresentation, failure to tell them something, or failure to report a change – the DWP can ask the person(s) who failed to tell them or misrepresented the information. This may be you or may be your landlord.
   
• Where housing costs have been paid direct to your landlord and they have been paid more rent than they should have been- the DWP will only ask your landlord to pay the money back.

If you think your overpayment should be recovered from your landlord and not you, tell the DWP.

Bear in mind that if your landlord pays back the overpayment, it might put you behind on your rent. If this will happen to you, agree with your landlord how you will pay off the amount you owe them. Don’t put it off. It would be helpful to get debt advice from a charity like  StepChange or National Debtline.

Check the amount of benefit you have been overpaid, by comparing the amounts in your recent decision letter against the payments you have received. Check your bank statements to see how much benefit you received.

You may have been entitled to some or all the amount of Universal Credit.

The amount of overpayment is the difference between the amount you were paid and the amount you should have been paid.

It will probably take some time and research to check whether the amount of your overpayment is correct. Overpayments can span a period of many months, sometimes years.

It is likely that the DWP will have changed your Universal Credit award after they decided you were overpaid. Your Universal Credit statements will show both the new amount of Universal Credit and the previous amount. (If you find the statements hard to follow, put a note on your Universal Credit journal asking for ‘full written reasons’. These usually give you a clearer idea.)

If you do not have an online journal and want copies of your original award so that you can check it, you can ask for it by making a Subject Access Request (SAR) under the Data Protection Act.

If you cannot access your Universal Credit journal (this may be because your claim was closed) you can make a Subject Access Request (SAR) to ask for all information in the journal about your overpayment and previous payments.

We show you how to make a Subject Access Request below.

If you can, find an adviser to help check if the amount overpaid is correct. 

Reasons for the overpayment

Check the reasons for the overpayment and decide whether you agree with them.

Some common reasons for overpayments are:

• You did not inform the DWP of a change in circumstances, such as a change in rent or separating from a partner.
• You did not inform the DWP of capital/savings you have or received during the time you claimed Universal Credit. For example, this could be receiving inheritance or a payout from an employment tribunal.
• You went abroad for more than one month and are no longer entitled to Universal Credit.
• The DWP decided that you were entitled to Universal Credit, and they have now decided that you were not.

The reasons for your overpayment will be individual to your circumstances. If you feel the reasons are incorrect, you should challenge the overpayment. This means asking for a mandatory reconsideration, and appealing if that is unsuccessful – See How to challenge an overpayment.

If you don’t know the reasons for your overpayment you can still ask for a mandatory reconsideration. When the DWP respond to you they are likely to explain the reason for the overpayment.

If you were overpaid because of savings or property  

If you have been overpaid because you did not tell the DWP about your savings or property you own, then the rules are different. The overpayment amount doesn’t stay the same forever, it becomes less every 3 months. This is because the DWP assume that you would have spent some of this money anyway. 

You can ask for any information the DWP hold about you and your Universal Credit statements online: Request your personal information from DWP. You can also do it via post.

Use this template to ask for your Universal Credit statements if you need to. If you are sending it by post, make sure you get proof of posting and keep a copy.  

Penalties

Sometimes the DWP can add a penalty to a Universal Credit overpayment. This is an extra amount of money you have to pay because you may have caused the overpayment – like a fine.

This is called a Civil penalty which is set at £50.

Your decision letter will tell you whether a penalty has been added to your overpayment.

If a Civil penalty is added you can ask for this to be removed if you think you have taken reasonable steps to correct the error which led to you being overpaid.

Kelly has had a Civil Penalty added to her overpayment.

The DWP have looked at her entitlement to Universal Credit following information that she received £7,000 inheritance in January 2022. The DWP have said that she did not notify them that she received this inheritance until July 2022.

Kelly remembers that she did contact the Universal Credit helpline as soon as she received the money, so she challenges the Civil Penalty and tells the DWP that she called in January 2022, giving an approximate date and time. The DWP check their records and confirm that Kelly did contact them. The DWP then removed the Civil Penalty from her account.

 If the civil penalty is not removed and you think you have a good case, you could ask for an appeal, explaining why you think the decision to fine you is unfair. (In Northern Ireland you appeal via NIDirect).

You can use these arguments to challenge a Universal Credit overpayment:

• There is no overpayment (you only received the correct amount of benefit).
• The overpayment has been calculated incorrectly – for example, the amount of overpayment or dates it covers are wrong.
• The DWP failed to take account of other facts that would reduce the overpayment.

Mandatory Reconsideration (MR)

If you do not think the overpayment is correct, you can ask for a mandatory reconsideration - this is where the DWP looks at the decision again.
 
You are supposed to ask for a mandatory reconsideration within one month of the date of your overpayment decision. But if that deadline has already passed, ask for one anyway and explain that you were unable to do it until now as you had been unable to find advice or information.
 
We have included a template to ask for a mandatory reconsideration for you to adapt and use. You can copy and paste this into your Universal Credit journal or post your mandatory reconsideration request to Universal Credit.
 
If you are posting it, get a certificate of posting from the post office (this is free). If you are uploading the evidence to your Universal Credit account, take a screenshot to show that you have done this and save it on your phone/computer. Email a copy to yourself too, just in case anything goes wrong with your phone/computer.
 
While they reconsider the decision, they may contact you to ask for more evidence. Try to stick to the deadline they give you – if you cannot, get in touch to explain the delay.
 
The DWP do not stop taking payments to pay back the overpayment during the mandatory reconsideration or the appeals process. If this means you will struggle to pay for food, bills and basic essentials (like soap and nappies) for you and your family then you can ask the DWP Debt Management team to lower this deduction.

The DWP call this inability to pay for the basics like food and heating ‘financial hardship’.

If the DWP refuse to lower the deduction, you can only challenge the refusal by judicial review (we explain what this means later). However, you could ask the DWP again for the deduction to be lowered - for example if your situation changes or if you get more evidence to support the request.

Template letter to DWP: Asking for a Mandatory Reconsideration
 
Use this template letter to write your own letter to the DWP.
Fill in your own details in the sections which are ‘Bold’.  

Your name

Your address

Your national insurance number

Your contact telephone number

Universal Credit Address

Date of Letter

Request for mandatory reconsideration

Dear Universal Credit
 
I am writing to you to ask you to reconsider your decision dated [insert date of decision] which decided that I have been overpaid Universal Credit of [insert overpayment amount] for the period [include start and end date of overpayment, if known].
 
I do not believe I have been overpaid because:

You can argue here that the reason for the overpayment is wrong.

•  For example, the DWP decided that you have been overpaid Universal Credit as you are responsible for one child. In fact, you are responsible for two children so you have not been overpaid.

Or, if you do not know why you had been overpaid

• For example, I do not know why I have been overpaid. Please provide me with the reasons for the overpayment so that if I can I am able to provide evidence to challenge it.

Or: I do not believe the amount of the overpayment has been calculated correctly because:

• For example, I was still entitled to Universal Credit for some of the time I was overpaid.

Or: The DWP failed to take account of other facts that would reduce my overpayment.

• For example, I have been underpaid another benefit or element of Universal Credit.

Please refer this mandatory reconsideration request to a DWP decision maker.

If your mandatory reconsideration does not change the decision

If the DWP don’t change the decision, and you think the amount of overpayment is wrong, you should appeal. You can ask for an appeal online via Appeal a benefit
decision on GOV.UK (or appeal via NIDirect if you are in Northern Ireland). You will need the letter that told you the mandatory reconsideration decision.
 
Appeals are free and the final decision is made by an independent tribunal whose job it is to make sure that the law is applied fairly, not the DWP. You do not need the help of an adviser or solicitor, but if you can get advice it would be helpful.
 
You are supposed to ask for an appeal within one month of the date of your mandatory reconsideration decision. But if that deadline has already passed, ask for one anyway and explain that you were unable to do it until now as you had been unable to find advice or information. You can ask for an appeal up to 13 months after the date on the mandatory reconsideration notice.
 
You can also ask the DWP’s debt management team to stop making you pay the overpayment back while you wait for appeal. See our advice as to how to do that below.

The DWP can make you repay the overpayment of Universal Credit in a number of different ways. Which way they choose will be based on your circumstances.

You should get a letter telling you about the deductions before they start, but this often does not happen.

The DWP often quickly start to take back the overpayment back from your benefits. Check a recent Universal Credit statement to see if there is a deduction (money taken from your benefit payment) for overpayment recovery. The DWP are supposed to send you a letter telling you about the deductions before they start, but they sometimes begin to take money from your benefits straight away, and often without asking how it will affect you.

Deductions from benefit

Universal Credit overpayments can be deducted from ongoing Universal Credit payments and payments of other benefits (other than Income support, Housing Benefit, Social fund payments, Child Benefit and Guardian’s Allowance).

How much is taken each week will depend on your circumstances.

If you are receiving Universal Credit and do not have earnings, the DWP’s policy is to take 15% of your standard allowance to repay the overpayment – they call this the ‘standard rate’. Your standard allowance is the ‘element’ of your Universal Credit you get based on whether you are a single person or part of a couple, and over or under 25.

If your Universal Credit is reduced by 15% of your standard allowance and you usually get £393.45 a month, your total payment will be reduced by £59.02

If you were overpaid Universal Credit as a couple and have now separated, you should each be expected to pay half of the overpayment.

If you are receiving Universal Credit and have some earnings, they will usually deduct 25% of your standard allowance to repay the overpayment.

You can request a lower rate of deduction if it means you cannot afford basics for you and your family.

You can contact the DWP Debt Management team to request that the deduction is lowered (see our template letter below). You can propose an amount which is more affordable to you. We would advise you to suggest a low amount so that you can still afford the basics you and your family need. The DWP may ask for details of your income and expenditure. You can provide a basic financial statement. You could use the Income and expenditure form on StepChange or the Budget planner on MoneyHelper.

If they agree, this arrangement is reviewed regularly, so if your income goes up the amount you pay back will too. See ‘How to request a lower deduction’ below for a template letter you can copy.

If you already cannot afford the basics for you and your family (like food, heating, and essentials like soap) and you could not afford to pay any deductions without making things worse, you should ask the DWP not to make you pay back the overpayment. See Asking the DWP not to make you pay back the overpayment. 

Deductions from earnings

If you work for an employer with at least 10 employees, the DWP can ask your employer to take money from your pay before it is paid to you. This is called a ‘direct earnings attachment’. These are set at a different percentage based on the amount of money you earn after your tax, national insurance and pension contributions have been paid. If these deductions mean that you cannot afford the basics, then you should ask for deductions to be reduced or Ask the DWP not to make you pay back the overpayment. 

Offsetting it with benefit owed to you

If you have an overpayment and are due to be paid arrears of benefits (for example, if you recently won a benefit appeal), these arrears of benefit can be withheld in part or in full to recover an overpayment. If arrears are owed to you due to a suspension of benefits (for example, if they stopped paying you while they looked into whether you had been overpaid) these arrears cannot be offset against any overpayment.

Other ways to make you pay it back

If the DWP cannot agree with you to repay the overpayment through deductions to your benefits, deduction from wages, or by negotiating a payment plan with you, they can refer the overpayment debt to a debt collection agency instead of (or before) taking you to court. Debt collection agencies are not bailiffs, they cannot take your belongings to pay the debt or
force you to pay in other ways.  But a phone call or visit from them can be quite intimidating.

The DWP say they won’t use a debt collection agency when they feel that it would be more suitable to stop taking the overpayment back or write off (waive) the overpayment. If you are in this position and cannot afford to repay the overpayment, we would suggest that you ask the DWP not to make you pay back the overpayment. Send a copy of the request to the debt collection agency as well, and ask them not to take any further action until the DWP has considered your request.
 
If the DWP are unable to get you to pay back the overpayment, they can also make you pay it back by taking you to court. If they do this, the DWP's court costs can be added to the overpayment so you want to avoid this happening if you possibly can.

You can ask the DWP to reduce the amount that you are repaying each month so that it is easier for you to buy the essential things that you need.
 
Use this template letter to write your own letter to the DWP Debt Management Centre. Fill in your own details in the sections which are ‘Bold’.  

 
Your name

Your address

Your national insurance number

Your contact telephone number

Universal Credit Debt Management Centre

Date of Letter

Request to reduce rate of recovery for Universal Credit overpayment

Dear Universal Credit
 
I am currently paying back a Universal Credit overpayment through ongoing deductions to my benefit. The deduction is £XX.XX per month.
 
I understand that deductions cannot be more than the set percentage of 15% or 25% and that there is no minimum amount of deduction.

My current deduction is too high and is causing me hardship as (include/delete as appropriate):

•  It leaves me with not enough money to pay my rent and afford bills and food. Taking back the overpayment at this rate will push me further into debt and worsen my financial situation.
• It means I cannot afford essential food, medication and soap which is likely to worsen my health and/or the health of my family. The stress of not being able to get the basics is also having an effect on my mental health.
• It leaves me with no or very little money to live on to pay my rent and afford bills and food. I will have to skip meals so that I can make my benefits last.
• If you continue to take money back from me at this amount, I won’t be able to keep paying my rent and will get into arrears. I won’t have enough money to pay all of my bills so will get into arrears. Taking back this overpayment will push me into more debt and make my financial situation worse.
• It means I cannot afford to travel to my medical/hospital appointments or take my family to their appointments. This means I will miss out on getting the care and help I need to cope with my physical and/or mental health.

You must explain that the current rate of reduction is too high and is causing you financial hardship, and have a few examples ready to help them understand how repaying the overpayment at this rate is pushing you further into poverty and debt.

I have included a basic financial statement showing the money in and out each month, including money I am paying back for other debts.  
 
In the first instance, I request that my deductions are suspended until I have received the outcome of my benefit appeal.
 
Alternatively, if you are unwilling to suspend the deductions, I suggest that a more affordable amount each month is £XX.XX.
 
Thank you for your consideration of this matter.

You may have been overpaid another benefit, such as Employment and Support Allowance, Housing Benefit, Income Support or Tax Credits. The rules for overpayments of these benefits are different to Universal Credit and can sometimes be more flexible. The Low Income Tax Reform Group have some helpful guidance on how to challenge a tax credit overpayment. If you have been overpaid a different benefit and need advice try to find an adviser.

If you have been overpaid a different benefit this may be being deducted from your Universal Credit. If this is the case it will fall under the rules for Universal Credit overpayments so the advice in this guide will still apply.

Check your online journal or paper statements. If it says there is a deduction for ‘Other DWP Benefits recovery’, this could be due to an overpayment. Find out more if you can. If you can find out the benefit you have been overpaid, you can contact the relevant benefit office to find out when this happened and why it was.

The DWP have the power to decide not to make you pay some or all the overpayment back.
This power is called their ‘Discretion not to recover’. Advisers and the DWP call it ‘waiving an overpayment.’
 
They do not use this power very often.  For example, in the first three months of 2023, the DWP received 40 requests and only agreed to totally write off the overpayment for 6 people.  This doesn’t mean it is not worth trying. Follow our instructions so that you make sure your request is as good as possible.
 
Most people do not know they can ask the DWP to do this.
 
If you cannot afford to pay back the overpayment, we suggest that you ask the DWP not to make you pay it back. Make this request as compelling and convincing as you can.
 
Try not to put it off as it can take a while for them to respond and they won’t routinely pause taking the deductions from you while they are making the decision (although they sometimes do if you ask for it – see our advice below on how to include it in your letter).
 
 You need to make them understand the impact of this overpayment on your money and health and include examples where you can.

What you need to do	Example
Clearly label it ‘Waiver request’.	Dear Sir/Madam Re: Waiver request for Sue Frame
Start with ‘I am writing to request that you waive recovery of my Universal Credit overpayment in line with the guidance as set out in Chapter 8 of the Benefit Overpayment Recovery Guide’.	I am writing to request that you waive recovery of my Universal Credit overpayment in line with the guidance as set out in Chapter 8 of the Benefit Overpayment Recovery Guide
List the benefits you get, how much they are and how often you get them	I get Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment. My Universal Credit is £393 per month, paid on the 27th of each month. My Personal Independence Payment is £290.60 paid every four weeks - this is the standard rate of daily living.
Tell the DWP about how the overpayment is affecting you or someone in your household For example, it may prevent you from being able to feed yourself or your family adequately. Are you having to skip meals or are you unable to put the heating on when it is cold? Are you unable to buy soap, medication or the period products you need? Is the stress and worry of it worsening your physical or mental health? If you already have a physical or mental health problem they know about, it is important to explain how repaying the overpayment is making it harder for you to get well. Include every difficulty it is causing for you.	The overpayment means that I wake up stressed every day. I feel depressed as it is on my mind all the time. There is £29 taken off my Universal Credit for this overpayment but I need this £29 to feed myself. It will take a long time for the overpayment to be repaid so I can’t see how things are going to improve. I have one meal a day if I am lucky, I am always hungry. As I cannot afford much food I don’t feel I am in a good place to cope with my mental health.  I was diagnosed with depression and this overpayment situation has made my depression even worse. I have bad days more often and just want everything to ‘go away’.
Tell them relevant information about how the overpayment happened and if it was the DWP’s fault. You may have told the DWP about a change and it took them a long time to process this change on their systems. For example, you told the DWP that your adult child moved out several months ago and it took them ages to reduce your Universal Credit payments, therefore you were overpaid. Had the DWP reduced your Universal Credit when you told them your overpayment would be less.     It is important to mention if you were given wrong information by the DWP or have been told that you were not being overpaid. Include information such as screenshots from the journal.	I told the DWP on the 5th August that my son moved out on the same day, but my Universal Credit stayed the same for August, September and October. My payments reduced in November and then I got my letter saying I had been overpaid.
Tell them what you did to minimise or prevent the overpayment. For example, you may have contacted the DWP to tell them that you were concerned you might be being overpaid but the DWP then didn’t do anything about this. Or you contacted them again to make sure they knew about the change.	I thought my Universal Credit payments looked wrong as my son had moved out and I was still being paid for him, so I called the DWP helpline who told me that my payments were correct. I then left two journal messages over the next six weeks as the payments still looked wrong. My case manager left a message back to say my payments were fine. I was not happy with this and left another message to ask them to investigate but they never replied to me.
Tell them if you have spent the overpaid money because you thought it belonged to you.   For example, you spent the money you received on day to day living expenses, like food, or bills, or household expenses, not realising that it was not yours to keep. As you spent the money, you are now unable to pay it back.	I left three journal messages in two months letting the DWP know that I thought my Universal Credit payments looked wrong, as they were paying my old rent not my new rent, which is lower. They left messages back saying it was fine, I believed them but I clearly shouldn’t have. I spent the Universal Credit on food and heating which I wouldn’t have done if I had known I was being overpaid. I am now going to struggle with paying for food and my bills with less Universal Credit each month.
Explain any other relevant circumstances or reason making you pay it back wouldn’t be in the public interest. Explain anything that makes the overpayment particularly unfair, such as, you were given the wrong advice by the DWP. Also mention anything that means they should be more sympathetic to your circumstances, for example, you are a carer, a single parent, recently bereaved, recently out of hospital, or have a disability.	I have depression as well as physical health problems, and I am a carer for my mum who has Alzheimer’s. Because of this overpayment that I did not cause, I can now not afford to visit my mum in her care home or take out. We have no other family or friends who can do this for her.
End your letter by saying ‘Please suspend recovery of the overpayment while you make a decision about this waiver request’.	Please suspend recovery of the overpayment while you make a decision about this waiver request.

Evidence

 It is important to include any evidence you can which shows how the overpayment and the deductions are affecting you. Strong evidence could mean that the DWP decide not to take back the overpayment. 

Evidence can include:
 

• Bank statements
•  Benefit award letters showing the money coming in
•  Evidence of debts and steps you are taking to deal with these debts
•  Letter from a medical professional showing how taking back the overpayment is affecting the health of you and your family. This should show that the overpayment is or will make your physical or mental health worse.
• If you have children, a letter from the school or nursery that says that the child’s health and wellbeing is being hurt by recovery of the overpayment, for example, because they are not always able to eat enough healthy food or have the things they need.
• If you have a social worker, a letter from them that explains how it is hurting your ability to look after yourself or your children would also be helpful.

If you cannot get hold of this evidence, you should still send the request and explain to the DWP the difficulties you have had in getting evidence.
 
If you are in a very bad financial position, you could also add ‘Please also refund the money you have already recovered’. They sometimes do this if asked.(They won’t if you don’t ask, so ask!)
 
It is always best to ask them to stop making you pay the money back in writing  - keep a record of what you have sent and proof of postage. 
 
When you have finished your letter and got your evidence together, send it by post to debt management at the address below and put it on your Universal Credit journal.

Debt Management (C)
Mail Handling Site A
Wolverhampton
WV98 2DF
 
What next?

You should hear whether they have agreed to stop making you pay back the overpayment in 4-6 weeks. If you haven’t heard, phone the debt management centre (DWP Debt Management Centre on 0800 916 0647) and ask what has happened about your request that they waive your overpayment.

Sometimes the DWP decide your letter wasn’t a formal request to not have to pay back the overpayment. If they have not dealt with it as such, ask them to do so now. Make sure that you remind the DWP of the date of your request, as if successful they can decide not to take the money back from you from the earliest possible date.

If they refuse to stop, pause or reduce deductions, you can ask again. There is no limit to the number of times you can ask. This might be wise if, for example, your situation has got worse or you have been able to get new evidence that the deductions are harming your health or that of your family.

If you asked for them to be stopped, you could now instead ask for them to be reduced. 

If they refused to consider the request, you could make a complaint. Include a copy of your request that the deductions be stopped. If the delay has increased your stress or impacted your health in other ways, say that.

The DWP’s failure to exercise their discretion not to recover an overpayment can be challenged through a legal process called Judicial review (JR). This is a complex procedure for which you should seek advice from a solicitor with expertise in public law, and if not definitely the help of an adviser. Judicial review claims have very short deadlines, so you should seek advice as soon as possible.

You should not bring a judicial review claim without first speaking to a solicitor, because you may end up having to pay costs that you will not be able to afford.

You may be able to access free legal advice on judicial review through legal aid. To find a legal aid solicitor, you can use the Legal Aid Agency ‘Find a legal aid adviser’ page, and tick ‘Public Law’.

Use Advice Local to find the best options near you.
 
Enter your postcode and select ‘welfare benefits’ from the drop-down menu and search. This will tell you about any Citizens Advice, law centres, or independent advice agencies in your county. (Beware - it misses out ones in your area but in another council area. If you live near a council border, check there isn’t a closer option by looking for a Citizens Advice or Law Centre).

If you are contacting a service outside your council area and it isn’t a national organisation, they may say they cannot help you for funding reasons.
 
If that doesn’t bring up a service that you can get to, check if there is a Citizens Advice that helps with benefits problems near you. Many now offer advice over the telephone.

Check if there is a Law Centre near you.

If you are a single parent, see if Gingerbread can help you.

If you are a serving member of the armed forces, a veteran, or a family member of either you can get advice from the Royal British Legion.

Ask for a translator if you need to get advice in a different language.

 
Benefit Overpayment Recovery Guide (BORG) – this is the DWP guidance that sets out the rules the DWP use to recover overpayments. You might hear advisers refer to it as the BORG.
 
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) – The government agency that manages benefit entitlement and payments (among other things) in England, Wales and Scotland.
 
Department for Communities (DfC) - The government agency that manages benefit entitlement and payments (appeal among other things)  in Northern Ireland.
 
Deduction  - money taken from your benefit before it is paid to you to pay off a debt you owe, usually to the DWP.
 
Discretion not to recover - this is where the DWP decide not to take back the money you owe them.
 
Official error – this means a mistake made by the DWP (or DfC in Northern Ireland). The general rule is that the DWP can make you pay back a Universal Credit overpayment even if it was caused by the DWP.
 
Overpayment - you have been paid more than you should have been.
 
Recovery - this is where the DWP take back the money you owe them.
 
Waive an overpayment - this is where the DWP decide that they will not take any more money from you for the overpayment.

Debt Management at DWP
Debt Management (C)
Mail Handling Site A
Wolverhampton
WV98 2DF
 
Telephone: 0800 916 0647
Textphone: 0800 916 0651
Relay UK (if you cannot hear or speak on the phone): 18001 then 0800 916 0647
Monday to Friday, 8am to 7.30pm
You can find updated telephone and textphone numbers on GOV.UK
 
Contact details for Debt Management in Northern Ireland are at the following page:
https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/contacts/debt-management-northern-ireland

Debt Management at Department for Communities (Northern Ireland)
Debt Management Northern Ireland
Department for Communities
PO Box 2136
Belfast
BT1 9RW
Telephone: 0800 587 1322
Textphone: 0800 587 2986
Contact debt management via the video relay service (for users of British or Irish Sign Language)

Find an adviser
See How to find an adviser for help to find an adviser or representative.
 
More information about Benefit overpayments

National Debtline have some helpful information about Universal Credit Overpayments.
 
GOV.UK have some useful information on repaying benefit overpayments. Be warned – it does not mention the possibility of asking to repay the overpayment in smaller amounts or asking the DWP not to make you repay it because of the impact that will have on you or your family’s health and well-being.

The information in this guide applies to the UK.

The law is complicated. We recommend you try to get advice from the sources we have suggested.

The cases we refer to are not always real but show a typical situation. We have included them to help you think about how to deal with your own situation. 

Acknowledgements

Advicenow is grateful to the Ministry of Justice for funding the creation of this guide under the Online Support and Advice Grant.

Thanks to Samantha Scarlett. Advicenow would like to thank everyone who provided advice and feedback on this guide, including Emma Vincent-Miller from Osbourne’s Law, Niamh Grahame from the Public Law Project, Matt Cole from AdviceNI, Luke Albarran from North Bristol Advice Centre and Jo Davenport of the Royal British Legion.

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September 2024