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My mother was receiving some money to help with housing costs in 2015. She moved into another property in September of 2015 which belonged to my late father which we own so she informed the council that no further benefits were needed to be paid. I also did the same around the same time or a couple of months after we moved in. But she told me she had informed them the same week or so after vacating the previous property. I didn't realise they had continued to pay the benefits into her account for some months after our notification.
We received a letter a few months later asking her to pay back the overpayment. The letter gave us 30 days to pay back about £1500 and had the usual threatening tone as these letters often do. I paid back £1000 of the amount on my own credit card, and £500 on a debit card.
After some research only in the past few months, I discovered that if I make (multiple) notifications and they continue to pay the benefit it amounts to official error, and amount cannot be recoverable.
I called my credit card company and they said they can reverse the transaction but of course I will need to provide evidence to support my claims that the overpayment needn't be paid.
My next step is to contact the council to ask for her data (or my mother to do it) which needs to include recorded phone calls because I am confident we both told them at least 3 times.
What is the general approach I need to take when requesting data like this such as phone call recordings?
We received a letter a few months later asking her to pay back the overpayment. The letter gave us 30 days to pay back about £1500 and had the usual threatening tone as these letters often do. I paid back £1000 of the amount on my own credit card, and £500 on a debit card.
After some research only in the past few months, I discovered that if I make (multiple) notifications and they continue to pay the benefit it amounts to official error, and amount cannot be recoverable.
I called my credit card company and they said they can reverse the transaction but of course I will need to provide evidence to support my claims that the overpayment needn't be paid.
My next step is to contact the council to ask for her data (or my mother to do it) which needs to include recorded phone calls because I am confident we both told them at least 3 times.
What is the general approach I need to take when requesting data like this such as phone call recordings?
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