Waiving recovery of an over-payment

Reasons for a waiver

There are several different reasons why waiver may be considered and not all have to be met for a waiver to be granted. Waiver will take into consideration your entire circumstances, as far as they are known, including the following: 

• your financial circumstances and those of your family and household members 
• whether the recovery of the debt is impacting your health or the health and welfare of your family
• how the over-payment arose for example
  • by fraud
  • the Department’s conduct
  • whether you took steps to report the change of circumstances which caused the over-payment
  • whether you made a mistake and failed to advise of a change which caused the over-payment
• whether you have relied on the over-payment to your cost such as making a financial commitment
• whether it was intended you have the money such as entitlement to another benefit which wasn’t paid
• where you can show that you did not benefit from the money that was paid
• any other reason which appears relevant or which indicates recovery would not be in the public interest

This is not an exhaustive list and all factors which appear relevant will be considered along with the individual circumstances and any other exceptional circumstances.

Applying for a waiver

You do not need to be currently receiving a benefit for a waiver to be considered. You can ask for a waiver at any time, even before we begin to recover the over-payment. However, only the over-payment balance outstanding at the time of the decision can be waived.

Asking for a waiver should normally be made in writing by you or your representative stating the grounds for the waiver request.  You can send your waiver request to Debt Management Northern Ireland.

Providing evidence to support a waiver request

When applying for a waiver, you are responsible for providing all necessary information and evidence to explain and support your application. This may include information about the over-payment, as well as detailing your personal circumstances.

If you act as an appointee or Power of Attorney for someone else who has an over-payment, a waiver can be considered regardless of whether the person is aware of the over-payment or not.

Financial Hardship

If you are having difficulty repaying an over-payment you can ask the Department to consider reducing the amount you are paying. If you feel your repayments are no longer affordable, you can contact  Debt Management Northern Ireland to discuss an affordable repayment plan.

The Department will always work with you to agree an affordable and sustainable method of repayment which does not place undue burden on you.

Further information is available on repaying Over-payments of Benefit and Financial Support information page

Where the waiver is asked for on the grounds of severe financial hardship, you would need to show that this has been long standing and not expected to improve soon. The hardship must be of such severity that it is not reasonable to expect you to make even reduced payments.

The Department for Communities will consider your overall debt position and may ask you to provide full details of your financial position. Normally this would include but is not limited to:

• a full list of all debts and steps taken to manage your debts with creditors
• full details of your income and expenses, and where applicable, any other household members
• bank statements for the past 6 months

Welfare and / or ill health

Recovery of an over-payment may cause some level of hardship or stress. A request for a waiver on the grounds of welfare or ill health normally requires supporting evidence detailing how recovery of the debt is the main or only cause of the ill health, or the reason for your ill health getting worse.

Evidence includes a letter from a professional such as a GP, consultant, psychiatric nurse or support worker. This must clearly show the effect the over-payment recovery is having on your health and prove that your circumstances will only improve by waiver of the debt.  This must be the opinion of the professional writing the letter. This evidence should not simply be a list of any medical conditions you have.

If more information is required, you will be contacted in writing and asked to provide it before any decision is made. If you do not provide the information within the agreed time, the Department will make a decision based on what you have already provided. However, there may not be enough information to reach a successful or favourable decision.

The Waiver Decision

If a waiver is granted, recovery of the debt will cease from the date of the waiver decision. The Department for Communities will only waive recovery of the balance of the over-payment outstanding at the time the decision is made. No refund of any monies already recovered will be given.

Where it has been decided that the conditions for waiver have not been met, you can contact Debt Management to discuss the possibility of a reduction in the rate you are paying back. Debt Management may also consider suspending recovery for an agreed period.

If you do not agree with the decision

There is no right of appeal against a decision not to apply discretion or if you disagree with the discretion applied. You may however be able to apply for a Judicial Review if it is felt that discretion was not properly applied.

Other over-payments

If your Welfare Supplementary Payment, Housing Benefit, Universal Credit Housing Costs or Rate Relief is paid directly to your landlord, they may be asked to repay the money if they caused or contributed to the over-payment. If the over-payment was your fault, you may have to repay it.

More information on how to apply for a waiver of a Welfare Supplementary Payment is available on Support if you're affected by welfare changes