[2024] UKUT 39 (AAC)

The issue in this appeal concerns the recoverability of housing benefit paid to CA (the Respondent in these proceedings but the Appellant in the proceedings before the First Tier Tribunal) after she commenced employment on 13^th January 2020 for the period 27th of January 2020 to the 23rd of March 2020.

CA received Housing Benefit from 2011. On 13^th January 2020 she commenced employment with Pulse Healthcare Limited but did not immediately report this change in circumstances for various reasons, including illness and bereavement. CA sent an e-mail to Revenue Services on the 5th of March 2020 stating she had started full time employment. The local authority replied by way of letter of the 23rd of March 2020, erroneously requesting information regarding her full-time education course and advising her housing benefit had been suspended. This letter was followed up with an e-mail on the 24th of April 2020 to which CA replied stating she was not in full-time education but had commenced full-time employment.

CA stated she phoned DWP in January 2020 to inform them of her full-time employment. She states was advised she was entitled to extended payments of housing benefit as she had not worked for the previous two years. This information was not sent to the local authority, who did not receive any notification from DWP that CA’s payments of Universal Credit had ceased. The local authority decided on the 25th of June 2020 that CA had been overpaid by £1828.20 for the period 27th of January 2020 to the 30th of March 2020 (dates amended to the 27th of January 2020 to the 23rd of March 2020). The local authority considered this had arisen as a result of CA commencing work on the 13th of January 2020, but not notifying it of this change until 5th of March 2020 and that the overpayment was recoverable.