What is a benefits overpayment?

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If we pay you too much benefit, this is called an overpayment. An overpayment is usually the result of a benefit claimant failing to tell us about a change in circumstances.

The following are examples of the sort of changes of circumstances you need to tell us about:

• you or your partner start or stop receiving Income Support (IS), Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• you start working, change your job, or your hours or income changes
• someone joins or leaves your household (including the addition of a new baby)
• the amount of any benefits you get changes (eg. tax credits increase)
• you start to receive any additional benefits
• you move house
• your rent changes
• you or your partner are going to be away from home for more than a month
• if you or anyone living with you becomes a student, goes on a youth training scheme, goes into hospital or a nursing home, goes into prison, or gets, changes or leaves a job
• you receive any decision from the Home Office

The longer you fail to tell us about a change in circumstances, the larger the overpayment will be. We will always ask for this money back. If you know you've been overpaid but don't do anything about it, you could be suspected of committing benefit fraud. It's the same if you deliberately fail to report a change in your personal circumstances.

If you have been overpaid, find out more about how to repay an overpayment.

Last updated: 23 January 2012