This information is for people living in Northern Ireland.
Sometimes Universal Credit or Housing Benefit might say you have an overpayment.
This means they think you got a benefit payment when you weren’t supposed to.
You can get advice if you are in this situation.
An overpayment might happen because:
- you gave incorrect information about your income or savings
- the agencies giving the benefit made a mistake
- you had a change in circumstances you did not report
You are expected to:
- keep track of your benefit payment, and
- report if you think you have been overpaid.
Sometimes you might not have to pay back an overpayment.
You usually have to pay back Universal Credit, even if the overpayment was not your fault.
Our advisers can help you figure out if you were overpaid. You can also talk about what to do next.