LADY SYLVIA Hermon, the sole Ulster Unionist MP, has repaid £2,730 to the Westminster office which handles expenses.
She said the overpayment followed a mistake she made in 2005 and 2006 in relation to rent claims on the flat she used at that time when attending parliament.
The North Down MP had written a request on her expenses application to the fees office at Westminster that they be checked. She had written: “I’ve lost track here, please double check.” She said she “naively” assumed her affairs were in order because she had heard nothing back.
In the wake of the furore of MPs’ expenses Lady Hermon contacted the fees office to ensure her papers were in order and she was “embarrassed and horrified” to learn she had claimed too much.
Speaking to The Irish Times Lady Hermon said the errors occurred while she was caring for her late husband, Sir Jack Hermon, who died last November and for her two teenage sons.
She had never claimed for a mortgage on a second property, nor had she sought expenses linked to furnishings, local taxes or for anything else associated with the upkeep of a London home close to Westminster. She was critical of the fees office for not spotting that she had accidentally made 13 claims for monthly rent on accommodation instead of 12.