Appealing about an overpayment

You must make your appeal in writing and sign it. You should make it clear which decision you’re appealing against and your reasons for appealing.

We will write to you explaining about the overpayment. After reading our explanation, if you disagree with it or are not clear about anything, you must write and ask us for a more detailed explanation. You can also ask us to look at our decision again. You need to do this within one month of the date on the letter.

You can challenge:

if we can recover the overpayment or not;
who we can recover it from;
how we have worked it out;
if your savings and investments have reduced (only if we overpaid you because your savings and investments had increased); and
if you had an underlying entitlement (you were actually entitled to receive some of the overpayment), see section ‘Can you reduce the overpayment?’.

You cannot challenge:

if we ‘should’ recover the overpayment or not; and
how we choose to recover the overpayment.

Send your appeal to us. You must do this within one month of the decision you are appealing against. Your appeal will be heard by a tribunal run by the Tribunals Service, who are independent of the Council.

You can get a booklet about appeals (121KB - 07 June 2006 - PDF Help) from any of our offices or surgeries. It includes a standard appeal form for you to use if you wish.