Double Credited - Am I legally obliged to pay the money back?

Nukumai

Equaliser123 wrote: »

Can you quote a case where doing nothing constitutes an actus reus for theft?

Well, unless things have moved on, this is/was a commonly referenced case :

A-G' Reference (No 1 of 1983) [1985] QB 182

It's the one about the policewoman who was overpaid and chose to do nothing. The basis of the court's decision (Appeal Court) was that she was overpaid in error and - although knowing this to be the case - took no action to repay the monies.

Equaliser123

Nukumai wrote: »

Well, unless things have moved on, this is/was a commonly referenced case :

A-G' Reference (No 1 of 1983) [1985] QB 182

It's the one about the policewoman who was overpaid and chose to do nothing. The basis of the court's decision (Appeal Court) was that she was overpaid in error and - although knowing this to be the case - took no action to repay the monies.

I seem to recall that case was very specific and dealt with the obligations of Police officers hence the fact that it was an Attorney General reference and related to Section 5(4) TA. I believe it is not followed in non-public offices - hence employees in the private sector cannot be prosecuted for overpayment.

Equaliser123

barvid wrote: »

Another way of looking at it - just look at s3(1) TA 1968. "Any assumption by a person of the rights of an owner amounts to an appropriation, and this includes where he has come by the property (innocently or not) without stealing it, any later assumption of a right to it by keeping or dealing with it as an owner." Sounds like it fits the OP's circumstances if you ask me.

Possibly - however, as I said, there would, effectively, be a transfer of title in 6 years so providing the OP does not "deal with it as an owner" then there is no offence.

Of course if they asked for it back, then the OP is obligated to do so.

fish2000

Old_Wrinkly wrote: »

What about charging the company (say £20?) for your time in rectifying the mistake, and knocking this off the amount you return to them?

Thanks for the response, Wrinkly.

I have wondered about this myself. Afterall, some companies would charge me a restocking fee, if I ordered the wrong thing and wanted to return it and most Insurance companies will charge admin fees for making changes to policies, like Registration details or address, even if the change made doesn't change the risk involved. However, I guess that is defined in a contract I have agreed to and I would doubt I have any such right in this instance, sadly.

rl290

Morally you should give the money back. Legally, I'm pretty sure this is the case too. Even if the company was less than helpful, the moral or legal basis of this does not change.

While it may be worth asking for compensation for your time, the truth is that they didn't reply to one email for two weeks. Not brilliant customer service, but not a huge loss of your time either.

In your case, I would return the money immediately (this is your obligation), and (if you're really that bothered), write a well mannered complaint to someone reasonably high up explaining how unimpressed you are with their service. Don't hold your breath though.

R

fish2000

rl290 wrote: »

Morally you should give the money back. Legally, I'm pretty sure this is the case too. Even if the company was less than helpful, the moral or legal basis of this does not change.

While it may be worth asking for compensation for your time, the truth is that they didn't reply to one email for two weeks. Not brilliant customer service, but not a huge loss of your time either.

In your case, I would return the money immediately (this is your obligation), and (if you're really that bothered), write a well mannered complaint to someone reasonably high up explaining how unimpressed you are with their service. Don't hold your breath though.

R

Thanks for taking the time to reply, rl290.

As it turns out, I entirely agree with you, though it was more than one e-mail and it's more the manner in which they have pursued the debt, that has annoyed me - their mistake and they are aggressively (red demand letters, threatening action if I don't pay up) demanding the money, without explaining the situation.

All said, I have finally gotten a phone call from someone at the company. Unsurprisingly, I got nothing more than an apology. Though I didn't really expect anything else. I have now paid the money back, so I certainly hope I won't receive any further demands, as they really would be unjustified now.

Thanks to all those that have replied.

Regards

Fish2000

woody01

Stealing the money (effectively) wouldn't sit right with me.
HOWEVER!
I would not chase them to pay back either. Just sit back and wait for them to request it.

It's hardly a life changing amount anyway.

OnTheUp_2-2

If you were not aware of the overpayment immediately the company could be estopped from claiming it back

This happened to me when i was overpaid a few years back and my employer waited nearly a year to claim the money back at which point I told them that it would be detrimental for me to return it and I had not been aware at the time of th overpayment..

"If money has been paid to a client in error and it was not reasonable for client to have known that it was an overpayment, and if the money has been spent or financial commitment entered into on strength of the overpayment it would not be reasonable for the money to be returned if this would put client in a worse financial position than they were before the overpayment"

BUT you are aware of it.. it is only £25 though !!!!!!!!