Please help with potential claim against local council. Urgent

[Bluemoon1]

Please could someone offer some badly needed advice or a point in the right direction.

The case is complex, but I will try to summarise as best that I can.
in 2014 I was evicted from my home through no fault of mine and became homeless. I presented to the local authority (LA) and they placed me in bed and breakfast accomodation while they assessed my housing need.

I was informed that the cost of the accomodation would be funded by HB as I was on a low income and I would have to make a small contribution toward the cost.
I was resident at the accomodation approx 6/7 weeks and then asked to leave because I was not 'priority need'.
Following this, I had a lot of house moves and an extremely unsettled period. I returned to work, but struggled to make ends meet on minimum wage.
In 2017, I was shocked to discover a deduction from my wages via an attachememt of earnings.
when I tried to establish who the AOE was being paid to, I was informed that it was the L.A..
It was apparently the full cost of the B&B accommodation plus legal costs. A ccj had also been placed on my credit file (which remains on my file to date)
I asked the LA to investigate and continued to stipulate that I was entitled to HB that would have offset the cost of the B&B and I don't owe anything.
Eventually their investigations were concluded and they have admitted (via email) that an administrative error meant that the HB entitlement for the B&B was allocated to the wrong account.

I therefore did not owe the debt that they were pursuing me for (total £1,777)
They have since refunded a small percentage of the money that I paid via the AOE and provided an insincere apology.

The ccj placed on my credit file caused hardship and distress. I was unable to obtain any credit nor obtain privately rented accomodation via a reputable agent.
The AOE deducted from my salary placed me in a impoverished situation, I was already struggling to make ends meet and this had a huge impact.
I feel that I am entitled to the full amount paid via the AOE = £749.00, fees that I paid to a letting agent and then lost = £260 plus compensation for distress, damage of reputation and damage to my credit file/rating?
I am not sure how to pursue this or if it' is worth the cost of pursuing it? I have been informed that this type of case would not be covered by legal aid?
What sort of solicitor should I approach?

I don't have the knowledge or confidence to take this to court myself which at the moment seems like my only option (via the small claims court route)

I have exhausted the ombudsman service who were no help whatsoever.
It appears to me that the LA can do as they please, steal money, make a massive admin error which has a detriment on someone and have zero accountability.
I want my money back.

Any advice or help would be so appreciated.
Thank you in advance.

[Amethyst]

If the council made a county court claim to recover the 'debt' and you never received that claim and had opportunity to defend you could look at applying to set aside the judgment. It might be worth a call to the court to see if they have a copy of the original claim made against you (have the council said what address it would have been served to ?) You should also had notice of the attachment of earnings before that was implemented. You could try and get these documents from the Council ( maybe sending a Subject Access Request would help if they are awkward about sending copies of documents relating to the claim ).

Have they given a reason why they have only refunded a partial amount of the sums wrongly taken under the AoE ?

[Bluemoon1]

All they have said (via email) that an admin error meant that the HB entitlement was allocated to the wrong account.
With regards the paperwork, notification of AOE etc, I told them that i did not receive anything and had I done so I would have defended it.
The ccj was for a total of £1,777 which included legal costs. Upon realising their error, they paid an amount to the benefit department to offset the debt that they say I owed and paid me the remainder. (£452) via cheque.

[Bluemoon1]

Thank you Amethyt......... a subject access request to enable me to proceed is a good idea. I'll get onto that immediately.

[Amethyst]

Have you had a breakdown of the alleged overpayment of Housing Benefit which they retained ? Were you previously aware of that ( apparently separate ) debt?

SAR example to start from: - Subject Access Request Letter

Oh also, do give the court a call to try and get the original claim and judgment order - best place to start is Northampton business centre as they should be able to find it in their computer records from your name and address where it was served.

[Bluemoon1]

I did not receive any correspondence from them relating to any debt. Nothing. There was no 'seperate' debt. The first i was aware of the Attachment of earnings was when it was taken from my salary in 2017.
I made enquiries as to whom it was being paid to and asked the LA to investigate.
my investgations then established that I had a ccj placed on my credit file to the value of £1,777