A letter arrives years after you stopped being someone’s appointee, naming an old Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or Incapacity Benefit claim and asking for the money back. Whether the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) can recover it, and from whom, turns on the law that governed that claim, not on how long ago it ran. This page sets out the test, the DWP’s own guidance on appointee liability, and how to challenge a decision.
When an overpayment can be recovered
The DWP can recover a benefit paid because someone misrepresented or failed to disclose a material fact, under section 71 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992. A separate, no-fault power, section 71ZB, recovers any amount overpaid without proving fault, but only for Universal Credit, Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance and the housing credit in Pension Credit.
Incapacity Benefit and old-style, income-related ESA are not covered by section 71ZB at all; they can only be recovered under section 71 (Social Security Administration Act 1992, section 71, checked 1 November 2026). New-style, contributory ESA claims made on or after 29 April 2013 can be recovered under either section, including for the DWP’s own error. The DWP’s overpayment recovery guide says the no-fault official-error power applies only to Universal Credit and new-style JSA and ESA (DWP, Benefit overpayment recovery guide, para 1.3, checked 1 November 2026). If the old claim was Incapacity Benefit or income-related ESA, section 71 is the only recovery route: the DWP has to identify what was misrepresented or not disclosed, by whom, and when.
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) sits in the same position: it appears only in the general list in section 71(11), so a PIP overpayment can only be recovered where the DWP shows a misrepresentation or a failure to disclose, never on a no-fault basis (Social Security Administration Act 1992, section 71(11), checked 1 November 2026).
Who the DWP can recover from when there was an appointee
The DWP’s Decision Makers’ Guide says an appointee has a duty to disclose as if they were the claimant, and that where an appointee misrepresents or fails to disclose a fact, the overpayment is recoverable from the appointee, the claimant, or both. Two exceptions narrow this: money the appointee kept, and a claimant whose appointee took due care.
The guide sets out the test at paragraphs 09280 to 09288. An appointee is fully responsible for the claimant’s benefit dealings and has the same duty to disclose as the claimant (DWP, Decision Makers’ Guide Vol 3 Ch 9, para 09281 (PDF), checked 1 November 2026). Where an appointee misrepresents or fails to disclose a material fact, a decision maker should normally find both the claimant and the appointee liable, even if only one is actually pursued, and notify both (paras 09283–09285).
The first exception is where the appointee kept the money rather than paying it to, or applying it for, the claimant: then only the appointee is liable, unless the claimant was party to the misrepresentation. Unless there is evidence otherwise, a decision maker presumes that benefit paid to an appointee was applied for the claimant (para 09286). The second exception is where the appointee acted with due care and diligence: then only the claimant is liable, and it is for the appointee to show that care was taken (para 09287).
Deductions from a current benefit can only be taken from someone the recoverability decision names as liable (Social Security (Payments on account, Overpayments and Recovery) Regulations 1988, regulation 15, checked 15 September 2026). Because decision makers are told to cover both parties’ liability, a demand that only explains the appointee’s role, or a deduction taken from the former claimant’s own pension without saying why they are liable too, is a decision worth asking questions about.
Is there a time limit?
Recovery by deduction from an ongoing benefit has no time limit in England and Wales. The DWP’s own guide says the legal right to recover a benefit debt does not expire, so an ESA or Incapacity Benefit overpayment from years ago cannot be defended on age alone. Only recovery through the courts is time-limited.
The guide states it directly: “5.111 … there are no time limits for recovery of a benefit debt … the legal right to recover does not expire in England and Wales” (DWP, Benefit overpayment recovery guide, para 5.111, checked 1 November 2026).
Court action does carry a limit. The Limitation Act 1980 says an action to recover a sum recoverable under legislation cannot be brought more than six years after the cause of action accrued (Limitation Act 1980, section 9, checked 1 November 2026). The DWP’s guide confirms that this six-year limit governs civil court action only, counted from the overpayment decision, the notice letter, any written acknowledgement, or any voluntary repayment, whichever is later, and that it does not affect deductions from benefit (DWP, Benefit overpayment recovery guide, paras 5.107–5.109, checked 1 November 2026).
This page covers England and Wales. Scotland has a separate limitation regime for court recovery of debts, which this page does not set out.
Challenging the decision
Ask the DWP in writing for the decision letter, the calculation, and the period covered, and for the fact you are said to have misrepresented or failed to disclose. You can then ask for a mandatory reconsideration, usually within one month of the decision, extendable to 13 months for a good reason such as illness or bereavement.
The DWP confirms the right of appeal against both the amount of an overpayment and its recoverability, though for Universal Credit only the amount can be appealed (DWP, Benefit overpayment recovery guide, para 3.9, checked 1 November 2026). GOV.UK says you usually need to ask for mandatory reconsideration within one month of the decision, and can ask later with a good reason, such as having been in hospital or a bereavement (GOV.UK, Challenge a benefit decision, checked 1 November 2026). The 13-month absolute limit and the conditions for a late request come from regulation 4 of the Social Security and Child Support (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 1999 (legislation.gov.uk, regulation 4, checked 1 November 2026).
Deductions are not automatically paused while a reconsideration is pending. The DWP’s guide says recovery continues until a decision maker overturns the overpayment decision, though its policy, not a legal requirement, is to suspend deductions on request, outside Universal Credit and new-style ESA and JSA (DWP, Benefit overpayment recovery guide, paras 4.9, 4.25, checked 1 November 2026). If the reconsideration does not change the decision, the next step is an appeal to the independent First-tier Tribunal, following the same mandatory-reconsideration-then-appeal route as other benefit decisions.
What you can afford
The DWP’s guide gives standard weekly deduction rates for benefits such as Income Support, Pension Credit and income-related ESA: £13.95 at April 2025, rising to £37.20 where fraud caused the overpayment, and £4.65 for someone in long-term residential care. Contact DWP Debt Management if the rate causes hardship; it runs a Repayment Negotiation Framework based on individual circumstances.
For new-style JSA or ESA, deductions can go up to 40% of the age-related amount, though DWP policy from April 2025 is 15% of the standard allowance for Universal Credit; for other contributory benefits the policy maximum is one third of the personal rate, whether the overpayment involved fraud or not (DWP, Benefit overpayment recovery guide, paras 5.13–5.22, checked 1 November 2026). Older, income-related benefits use a different mechanism under the 1988 regulations, taking three times 5% of the single personal allowance from each benefit week (Social Security (Payments on account, Overpayments and Recovery) Regulations 1988, regulation 16(4), checked 1 November 2026).
DWP Debt Management can be reached on 0800 916 0647, or +44 (0)161 904 1233 from abroad, Monday to Friday, 8am to 7.30pm (GOV.UK, Benefit overpayments: how to make a repayment, checked 1 November 2026). Where a hardship case is raised, the DWP’s guide says it can reduce or suspend recovery once evidence is provided (DWP, Benefit overpayment recovery guide, paras 5.70–5.72, checked 1 November 2026). Our State Pension overpayments page sets out the same contact for a pension-age claim overpaid more recently.
Small amounts sit below the DWP’s own cost-effectiveness threshold. Its guide says a specific level has been identified below which it is not considered cost effective to apply the full overpayment process, called the small overpayment (SMOP) limit and currently set at £65, with exceptions for fraud and some death cases (DWP, Benefit overpayment recovery guide, paras 2.16–2.17, checked 1 November 2026).
Asking for a waiver
GOV.UK does not use the word waiver, but the DWP’s Benefit overpayment recovery guide has a dedicated chapter on it, covering statutory overpayments, Civil Penalties, recoverable hardship payments and Universal Credit advances. Factors it lists include the debtor’s financial circumstances, the impact on their health, whether they still have the money, and the DWP’s own conduct.
It also weighs the circumstances that caused the overpayment, including any missed opportunity by the DWP to act sooner, and whether the debtor relied on the money to their detriment (DWP, Benefit overpayment recovery guide, paras 8.4–8.12, checked 1 November 2026). An outstanding mandatory reconsideration or appeal does not stop a waiver being considered at the same time. There is no published form; a waiver request is made to DWP Debt Management, setting out the same factors, in writing.
What an appointee should do now
Contact the benefit office named on the letter, whether or not you are still the appointee. Ask for the decision, the calculation, and whether both the former claimant and the appointee have been found liable. If you are still the appointee and want to stop, resign formally with one month’s written notice.
This formal resignation, under regulation 33(2)(b) of the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1987, works alongside GOV.UK’s instruction to contact the DWP straight away (Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1987, regulation 33(2)(b), checked 1 November 2026).
GOV.UK says to contact DWP immediately if you want to stop being an appointee, phoning the benefit office that deals with the claim, and to tell it if you already have (GOV.UK, Become an appointee for someone claiming benefits, checked 1 November 2026). Our appointee hub covers what the role involves and how it ends, and removing an appointee covers the DWP’s power to revoke one.
Take welfare rights advice before agreeing a repayment plan or admitting liability in writing, particularly where the claimant has since died or lost capacity, since who is liable, the claimant, the appointee, or both, is a decision the DWP has to make and explain, not one to assume.