Mandatory Reconsideration of UC Overpayment Decision

Hi there,

I have been waiting on a decision of my Mandatory Reconsideration of an alleged UC Overpayment for 12 weeks.

I keep ringing the helpline and checking my journal, but all anyone can tell me is that it is still with the Decision Maker team.

The stress this is causing is unbelievable and I am at a loss what to do. Any help would be appreciated 🙏

Many thanks

Thanks David,

Thanks David. Well, all it said in the original decision letter was that my "housing costs and transitional protection were not calculated correctly during the assessment periods 21/10/25 to 20/03/26." As far as I could tell, they were calculated correctly, but for some reason the DWP seem to think otherwise. I requested a Statement of Reasons at the same time as the Mandatory Reconsideration, which they have yet to give.

Dee

Hi David,

I had a rent increase back in November, which I reported early to get it out the way. They came back to say they could not verify the rent increase til the actual date of the increase, and to redeclare my housing costs at that time.

So I followed their instructions and redeclared the rent increase on the date, as well as uploaded all the documents they requested. This was all confirmed and correct and verified shortly afterwards. The rent increase did not increase my award because I was already receiving the maximum eligible amount of housing element for my circumstances, so there was no reduction in Transitional Protection.

Payments then continued as usual until 5 months later, they tell me there is an overpayment. The revised statement now shows the housing element removed completely for the month prior to the rent increase with no explanation as to why. In addition, as the following month the housing element remained, the amount of UC award was now higher than the previous month, and thus all my transitional protection was wiped out too.