P45 being held to ransom?

sweetmisery

I recently finished working for my previous employer on the 25th December. Due to their bureaucratic excellence, I was still on their payroll at the end of January: I discovered this when January's payslip came in (!), despite having handed in my notice two months before.

I reluctantly decided to let the company know of their mistake, not least because the first P45 they sent was incorrect and I wouldn't want to be accused of benefit fraud. They promptly replied asking for January's pay back - fair enough. However, they also claim that they overpaid me by a week for December and want that money back too. They are asking for this pay (and I quote) "in order to issue [me] with a correct P45", the implication clearly being that they won't send out the corrected form until they get the money back. Are they allowed to do this? It sounds a lot like they're holding my P45 to ransom, and it's surely dubious to do that with a government-mandated document.

What are my rights in this situation? It seems absurd that they could do this when the situation is due to their incompetence in not telling payroll I'd resigned. Do they even have a right to request the money back, as my contract's been null and void as of December? If anyone had any advice or could point me in the direction of someone to speak to, then it'd be much appreciated. Thank you!

McKneff

\it isnt an implication, Its a fact.
You have been overpaid and yes, you do have to pay it back, it isnt yours.

The only thing you can do is pay the money back (not sure whether you can ask to pay it in installments
but if you have left, then this would be difficult)

It isnt being held to ransom, they cannot issue you with a correct P45 until
they get their money back, otherwise they would be issusing you with another incorrect p45.

mountainofdebt

Yes they do have the right to ask for any overpayment back, after all if they wrote to you and apologised for not paying enough, then you'd bank their cheque wouldn't you?

However you need to make sure that their calculations are right so that any repayment takes into account the extra tax and NI paid that you have had deducted.

sweetmisery

I'd just like to add that I was the one who got in touch with them in order to pay the money back - I was fully intending to return the money, my question was more about whether or not they could withhold the P45 until I had done so as I needed it in order to claim jobseekers etc.

DCFC79

Id either work out myself if they have actually overpaid you by a week for december or ask them to provide a breakdown of the overpayment

McKneff

But until the money is sorted, they cannot issue you with a p45

as it would be incorrect.

Newbiesw

sweetmisery wrote: »

my question was more about whether or not they could withhold the P45 until I had done so as I needed it in order to claim jobseekers etc.

They have to issue you with your P45, they're not withholding your P45, probably just haven't decided what they're going to do yet.?
Obviously they'd like their money back and are probably waiting to see if you do pay it back, so a P45 issued now will be wrong.
If you don't pay it back, they may not consider it worth chasing and just write it off, in which case they should then issue your P45 once this decision is made (not withhold it out of spite!).
They may insist on the overpayment (through the legal process if they think its worth it) but in these early days I think you/they are both in limbo, them waiting to see if you re-pay, you waiting to see if they forget.

Newbiesw

Coveredinbees!!!!

you don't need a P45 anyway so don't worry too much about it you can fill out a p46 form