Is overpaid wages after employment ended a debt?

chambers007_2

just read all the replies regarding overpayment.
I think alot of the replies to Kluged are a little harsh! I agree with Kluged, this problem was due to a 'computer error'. I was overpaid once by the LA, and yes i am repaying this back, but to be quite honest i would not if they had not have requested the money back.
I think that there a lot of 'do gooders' in this country!

Why don't people tell others who are claiming benefits, people who should not be in this country and people working illegally. These are the people who you should be having a go at.

To Kluged - if you get away with this - good luck to you. (at least you have paid tax/NI) not like those s*** b*** out there who pay £0 contributions.

I could go on and on about this, but this is not the correct thread.

Hope everything works out ok Kluged.

lucydebussy

I left my previous employment early November 2008. Since then payments to me have continued (monthly) despite the fact that I and my previous line manager has contacted payroll on several occasions. It is a government organisation and I am acutely aware that every penny I receive is taxpayers money. I have several questions as follows:

• I know that some of the money paid was owed to me, I have requested a safe amount that I can spend but to no avail. I haven't spent any in case I am incorrect and suddenly have to pay it all back. This has left me short of money. Are they legally obliged to tell me how much I owe within a certain timeframe?
• I am with a new employer but as I have not received my P45 and I continue to receive funds from my old employer I am being taxed at the basic rate (emergency tax). Is there anything my new employers can do to remedy this in the short term? Every penny counts for me and I daren't spend any of the overpaid money but don't want to overpay/underpay tax either.
• Is there any way that I can liaise with my bank to block payments from my old employer? They (my previous employer) seem quite happy to keep paying me even though I would rather not receive it.
• If I suffer hardship financially because of this i.e bank charges on current account i.e overdraft charges (I have transferred fund to high interest account) am I able to claim these back from the old employer once my debt to them has been paid?
• I have contact the payroll department several times but to no avail. Is there anything else I can do to ensure that these payments do not continue?

Please help :huh: I hate the idea that I have money that isn't mine and even feel guilty for keeping it in an ISA and earning interest on it even though it seemed the practical solution to prevent me from spending it inadvertantly.
Many thanks in advance for taking the time to read my wall of text.

whatatwit

Lucy, you may be as well in starting a new thread with your specific query.

Tax wise, you can complete a form P46 with your new employer, specifying that the new job is your only/main job.
I would also write to the tax office that deals with your old employer and tell them that you want that job to be taxed at BR. This is different to emergency tax though, on emergency tax, you just get the tax allowances due for that week/month, so have a look on your payslip for the new job to see what it says.
Also write to the tax office dealing with new job and explain that you want the allowances to be given at your new job.

If you have tried to contact the old job, then do not feel guilty about having the money sat in an interest bearing account.

In respect of how much you can spend of Novembers wage, can you not calculate this on a pro rata basis, using Octobers wage as a guideline?

Write to your old payroll, maybe send the letter by registered/recorded delivery so you can confirm delivery and who signed for it, and ask for a reply in writing within 14 days, keep a copy of the letter.

sammy115

To the OP....This may not be an error on your part but you could have put a stop to it when you first noticed the error.

I have experience of these matters. Your former employer will take you to court and even though it is not in your contract of employment your former employer WILL win, will be awarded costs and interest (probably more than you are getting in your savings account). The outcome of this case will not rest solely on whether it is in your contract or not.

I know because I have taken a former employee to court and won..and I was the idiot who paid the former employee incorrectly in the first place.

whatatwit

Sammy, the OP, Kluged, hasn't been on the boards since the reply received wasn't the one they wanted (cynical moi? )

That's why I feel Lucy should start a new thread to distance herself from the grabbing attitude of Kluged

Debt_Free_Chick

lucydebussy wrote: »

I left my previous employment early November 2008. Since then payments to me have continued (monthly) despite the fact that I and my previous line manager has contacted payroll on several occasions. It is a government organisation and I am acutely aware that every penny I receive is taxpayers money. I have several questions as follows:

• I know that some of the money paid was owed to me, I have requested a safe amount that I can spend but to no avail. I haven't spent any in case I am incorrect and suddenly have to pay it all back. This has left me short of money. Are they legally obliged to tell me how much I owe within a certain timeframe?

Do you not know what you're owed? Can you estimate it? It would be difficult to get them to pay you what they owe, if you don't know the amount. Perhaps let us have some brief details e.g. why/what they owe you for.

• I am with a new employer but as I have not received my P45 and I continue to receive funds from my old employer I am being taxed at the basic rate (emergency tax). Is there anything my new employers can do to remedy this in the short term? Every penny counts for me and I daren't spend any of the overpaid money but don't want to overpay/underpay tax either.

As previous reply - ask your new employer for form P46

• Is there any way that I can liaise with my bank to block payments from my old employer? They (my previous employer) seem quite happy to keep paying me even though I would rather not receive it.

Best to ask your bank, but the simplest way is to send a cheque back for any amount you receive in the future.

• If I suffer hardship financially because of this i.e bank charges on current account i.e overdraft charges (I have transferred fund to high interest account) am I able to claim these back from the old employer once my debt to them has been paid?

No way - sorry. You don't have to transfer it to another account and by doing so you are creating a situation that could lead to bank charges. So, it would be your action that leads to bank charges, not your ex-employer's (indeed, their action would never lead to bank charges as they are paying money in, not out).

• I have contact the payroll department several times but to no avail. Is there anything else I can do to ensure that these payments do not continue?

Contact the head of finance for that organisation - likely to get a quick result

Shedsrus

I need some advice regarding overpayment of salary. My daughter has just had a court order presented to her to recover overpayment of salary from a period in 2009. Knowing my daughter and the typical care-free attitude of single 20 somethings, I wouldn't discount the fact that she had been overpaid and hadn't given it another thought apart from convincing herself that this was a bit of good fortune (innocence and stupidity of youth). My query is based around the employer's responsibility of contacting her to inform of the overpayment in the 1st place and that they intended to take court action in the 2nd.

The circumstances are that she left the employment and moved home address (even country) and the 1st time she was officially informed about the OP was when the court order with fees and oodles of interest was presnted to her by a debt collector (yesterday!). On initial investigation the council recovering the monies has indicated that her 'file' showed she had been sent a letter back in 2009 but it was sent to an address she had vacated some considerable time before her employment period. Her employer had been given her details including home address whilst in employment and a forwarding address of her new employer when she left but it would appear (and I'm not totally sure about this as she has to go back to her present employer in another country before confirming) that no other correspondence was sent.

My question therefore: I would have thought that in order to recover the overpayment through court proceedings, her last employer would have had to take 'reasonable' measures to contact her and that if indeed they have not sent correspondence to her address when she was employed with them or her new forwarding address then they haven't acted reasonably? Now I'm not saying that this may be a defence to avoid paying the overpayment because at the end of the day, if she has received money she hadn't earned and not entitled to receive then she most definitley has to pay it back- of that there is in no doubt and will be done. My 'truck' is that the additional expense of court proceedings, debt collector and interest for such a lengthy period have swallowed the overpayment amount and will have not only 'blackened' her name and credit rating but as it was delivered to my address, would have the same impact on me and this address. If the evidence is that they haven't taken reasonable measures, have I any recourse to reclaim all other expenses and clear our names? Thank you

DVardysShadow

Shedsrus wrote: »

I need some advice regarding overpayment of salary. My daughter has just had a court order presented to her to recover overpayment of salary from a period in 2009. Knowing my daughter and the typical care-free attitude of single 20 somethings, I wouldn't discount the fact that she had been overpaid and hadn't given it another thought apart from convincing herself that this was a bit of good fortune (innocence and stupidity of youth). My query is based around the employer's responsibility of contacting her to inform of the overpayment in the 1st place and that they intended to take court action in the 2nd.

The circumstances are that she left the employment and moved home address (even country) and the 1st time she was officially informed about the OP was when the court order with fees and oodles of interest was presnted to her by a debt collector (yesterday!). On initial investigation the council recovering the monies has indicated that her 'file' showed she had been sent a letter back in 2009 but it was sent to an address she had vacated some considerable time before her employment period. Her employer had been given her details including home address whilst in employment and a forwarding address of her new employer when she left but it would appear (and I'm not totally sure about this as she has to go back to her present employer in another country before confirming) that no other correspondence was sent.

My question therefore: I would have thought that in order to recover the overpayment through court proceedings, her last employer would have had to take 'reasonable' measures to contact her and that if indeed they have not sent correspondence to her address when she was employed with them or her new forwarding address then they haven't acted reasonably? Now I'm not saying that this may be a defence to avoid paying the overpayment because at the end of the day, if she has received money she hadn't earned and not entitled to receive then she most definitley has to pay it back- of that there is in no doubt and will be done. My 'truck' is that the additional expense of court proceedings, debt collector and interest for such a lengthy period have swallowed the overpayment amount and will have not only 'blackened' her name and credit rating but as it was delivered to my address, would have the same impact on me and this address. If the evidence is that they haven't taken reasonable measures, have I any recourse to reclaim all other expenses and clear our names? Thank you

Start a new thread please, rather than get tangled up in irrelevant history. It looks like she should be applying to have the judgement set aside.

I see you have reposted: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3077824