Watford Borough Council

If we pay you too much Council Tax Benefit, this is known as an overpayment (or excess benefit).

If the overpayment has been caused by the fact that you did not tell us about a change in your circumstances, we will usually look to recover the overpayment from you. 

If the overpayment has been caused by a mistake that we have made, we will make a decision on whether it will be recovered from you. This will take into account if it was reasonable to expect that you would realise that had been overpaid or if you had contributed to the overpayment in any way.

If we give you too much benefit, we will send you a letter.

The letter we send you will inform you:

• why we gave you too much benefit
• how much the overpayment is
• if you have to pay back the amount

The overpaid amount will be added to your council tax account. In most cases we will send a revised council tax bill, and you will usually have to pay more council tax.  

If you disagree with the decision that we have made that you have been overpaid, you can ask us to review our decision or submit an appeal.