NU have overpaid me and want their money back!

stejay20

Hi I am new to this, so hopefully I have entered this correctly. I was desparate for money do decided to cash in my endowment policy with Norwich Union which was due for payment In November 2010. The policy was surrended in April 2009. I was told an amount and then paid this. But the money which went into my account was short. They apologised, re issued a debit for the full amount then put the correct credit amount into my bank. A week later they wrote to me to advise they had underestimated and there was an additional payment, which they paid into my bank account. They have now contacted me to say they have done an audit and note that they over paid me by 1353.00.

I obviously needed the money otherwise I would not have cashed my policy in, so do not have the money to pay back. As this is their error, am I in my rights to say that this will not be returned?

ALIBOBSY

They have cocked up so I would say althought they can ask you for the money back politely they would struggle to take you to court over it.
You (hopefully) still have written proof of what they told you was to be paid. You have every right to assume they know how to calculate they payment professionally and accurately. Unless the amount was a massive overpayment ie you expected around 10k but got 50k, it was reasonable to assume it was correct and to spend the cash.
Fair enough if it was an obvious amount to high or they wrote to you within a few days to say it was wrong, but in this case I would say they should write it off.

I think I would write and point out the above-you assumed they could work out the amount correctly etc etc and that you do not have the cash to pay back. I would request they write it off as their error. You may have to write a few letters and negotiate and maybe place the matter with the FSA.

In the end you may have to accept paying back some or all of the money depending on how awkward they are, but at the least they should give you plenty of time to pay it back, not in a lump sum.

I wouldn't ignore them as they may just sell it on to a debt collector who won't be interested in who is in the right and in fact will lie, cheat and harrass to get the cash, any cash.

I would do it all in writing so you have a record (unless you can record phone calls-which you must inform them about before doing).

good luck

ali x

Actually re reading your OP have they just said you were overpaid or have they actually said they want it back? If it is a reasonably polite letter it may well be they are asking for it, but know they may not get it.

dunstonh

As this is their error, am I in my rights to say that this will not be returned?

No. Legally you do owe them the money and cannot withhold it just because of an error.

As it was their error, they do have to accept that they may not get it back in one go and its normal in these cases to agree a payment schedule, say over 12 months and they cannot charge you interest.

If you refuse to pay it back, they can go to the courts to get it from you but if you offer a repayment schedule that is reasonable they wont.

I think I would write and point out the above-you assumed they could work out the amount correctly etc etc and that you do not have the cash to pay back. I would request they write it off as their error. You may have to write a few letters and negotiate and maybe place the matter with the FSA.

You may request they write it off but they dont have to. The FSA do not get involved with consumer complaints and the FOS, when dealing with complaints like this, nearly always side with the company as long as they act fairly. There are some exceptions to have to paying it back but they dont appear to be applicable here.