Member

123: After Clause 96, insert the following new Clause— “Overpayments made as a result of official error(1) Section 71ZB of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 (recovery of benefit payments) is amended as follows. (2) In subsection (1), for “The” substitute “Subject to subsection (1A), the”.(3) After subsection (1) insert—“(1A) The amount referred to in subsection (1) must not include any overpayment that arose in consequence of an official error where the claimant or a person acting on the claimant’s behalf or any other person to whom the payment is made could not, at the time of receipt of the payment or of any notice relating to that payment, reasonably have been expected to realise that it was an overpayment.””Member’s explanatory statement This new Clause would bring the test for recovery of Universal Credit overpayments caused by official error into line with Regulation 100(2) of the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 by providing that they can only be recovered where the claimant could reasonably have been expected to realise that there was an overpayment.