A WOMAN from Hove has been left mystified and stressed after being ordered to pay more than £3,000 to Oldham Council in housing benefits.

Aida Heston was told by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) she was owed more than £1,100 due to an underpayment.

The discovery felt like an “answered prayer” for Aida as she lost her job in security due to work being cancelled because of the pandemic.

But the 46-year-old’s delight ended when she was told the money she was owed would be swallowed up by a £3,000 plus housing benefit debt to Oldham Council.

Aida, who has never been to Oldham, was shocked and it was later found money had been taken out of her Universal Credit (UC) allowance for more than two years.

She then contacted the council who said there was no record of her being on their systems.

In a letter to Aida, a council spokesman said: “UC is a benefit that is administered by the DWP and local councils have no input on how this benefit is calculated or awarded. I cannot explain as to why the DWP is recovering overpaid housing benefit from your claim, but I can assure you that it is not because of our instructions.

“I suggest that you take this matter up with the DWP and ask them to investigate the overpaid housing benefit.”

Aida has contacted Sussex Police and Action Fraud in case a scam has targeted her.

She said: “I have never visited Oldham, let alone lived there.

“I have lost work through the pandemic and when I heard about the underpayment that was owed to me it was a Godsend. I was in utter shock when I was found out about the housing benefit ‘debt’.

“I do not get housing benefit, just Universal Credit, so to be told I owed a debt into the thousands was ridiculous. It has been hard as I have just started a new job and dealing with this has been very stressful.”

A DWP spokesman said: “We have suspended the recovery action on Ms Heston’s account pending further investigation, and have contacted Oldham Council for more information.

“At this stage we have no evidence to suggest fraud or a DWP error. When councils ask us for a deduction from a UC payment, they do so through a secure online portal.”