Money received by mistake from welfare office
10-3-2015 | IslamWeb
Question:
A few years ago I received over £220 from the welfare office on unemployment benefit. Every 2 weeks I get £110 but on that week I got an extra £100. The jobcentre at the time sent me a letter asking for it to be paid back, I said I would but did not do it now I am not sure if they took money out of my account or not. In Britain it says the welfare office if they make an error due to a mistake on their part they can not ask for the money unless the claimant is at fault and did not inform them of a change in circumstances or they were aware of overpayment but did not inform them
In my case I didnt use deceit also I was not aware of overpayment until I changed my bank balance and received a letter. This has hanged over my shoulders for a while, today I went to the jobcentre and asked them about it the person said due to the fact there has not been a follow up and due to a lengthy time I shouldnt be worried about it and they checked their systems and nothing has come up. I spoke to someone on the phone and they said they cant find anything from a few years ago, then I contacted debt management they said there is nothing on the system with my national insurance number meaning no outstanding debts.
Do I need to pay back this £110 even if its not on their system as they probably took it out my account a few years ago and I didnt know or should I just accept what they told me and the fact they aint bothered me about it over the years as they maybe wiped it off.
As I said it doesnt show on their system nor have they written letters to me it seems they written it off and are not bothered about it now. Do I need to repay it and is it a debt
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
You are certain that you have received that extra amount in your account but you are in doubt whether they have withdrawn it from your account, and they also do not know whether they have done so. Hence, you are not cleared of sin until you pay it back to them, unless you consult the person in charge in the welfare office and he exempts you from it if he is authorized to exempt you from it. Otherwise, you must give it back to them as you have no right to it.
The Prophet said: "The hand is responsible for what it has taken until it returns it." [Ahmad, Abu Daawood, At-Tirmithi, An-Nasaa’i and Ibn Maajah]
Allaah Knows best.