Ex employer demanding too much money repayment

sleepy

Warning: Very long post!
I left my previous job in August to study for a PGCE to be a teacher.
I recieved my P45 in the post less than a month later, with all the figures matching my last paycheck. I knew I would owe the company some money as I left half way through the month, so I waited for the letter asking for the overpayment back. In October I got a letter demanding twice the amount I expected, including money for excess holiday, that I really don't believe I took. I wrote back to them asking for a full break down of how they arrived at the figure they did, including dates for holidays they believe I took. I got a response shwing how they had worked out the salary overpayment (incorrectly, but I've addressed that in my reply, and it only makes about £10 difference) but stating that they didn't hold the information on what dates holiday they were claiming the excess back for! I have just sent the following reply :

Thank you for your letter dated 24th October, regarding the supposed net salary overpayment. However there seems to be some inaccuracies with the calculations. Your letter states that out of 31 days in the month I only worked 18, however I worked a four day week, so would only have worked 17 days in August even if I had worked for the full month. Out of the 17 working days in August, I worked 10, leaving 7 that I have been paid for, but not worked. I calculate that this means I have been over paid by £525.96. I will happily repay this £525.96, however I will need you to send me out a new P45 first, so that I can sort out the tax and national insurance situation. My current P45, sent when I left British Gas, states that I have been paid £7,182.33 this tax year and obviously when I repay the £525.96 this will be incorrect.

While I am happy to repay the £525.96, and will do so as soon as you amend my P45, I am not prepared to repay the extra money you are demanding for overpaid holidays as I do not believe that I took the amount of holidays you are demanding money for. If you want me to pay for extra holidays you need to tell me the exact dates for any excess holiday taken and any other relevant information. I cannot understand how you can demand money for excess holidays without even basic information to back up your claims.

So my questions are:
1. Does this letter sound fair?
2. What do I do if they say they cannot sort out a new correct P45?
3. Can they demand money for holidays without providing me with any info on when they believe I took it?

Thanks for reading such a long post!

lynzpower

So my questions are:
1. Does this letter sound fair? YES
2. What do I do if they say they cannot sort out a new correct P45? TELL THEM YOULL RUN IT BY ACAS
3. Can they demand money for holidays without providing me with any info on when they believe I took it? THEY CAN TRY!! BUT THEY WILL END UP LOOKING WORSE than they already do.

You stick to your guns.

Sounds like they havent twigged you did a 4 days week to me??

skim

I had an employer that tried the same with me & I just ignored them & they never bothered me again.

Don't know whether BG will do the same though or not.

I guess it'd be too much trouble to try & get the money back personally.

sleepy

I tried ignorong their first letter in the hope they wouldn't bother, but just a week after the first one they sent a letter threatening legal action, so thought I'd best sort it.

camper

Just a thought, a P45 is a legal document that can't just be amended at will, it must involve the tax office (as they would have received a copy of the original).
Is it possible the holidays they are querying is august bank holiday? If you did not work the last working day before that date (31st August) you may be overpaid for that date even though its not a 'working day'?

sleepy

They might be counting August bank holiday, but they're claiming I took about 10 days too many holidays, and I think I'd have remembered taking at least sme of that!
What should I do about the P45? I don't want to give them the money withut sorting it, because otherwise it'll be wrong and will presumably mess up how much tax I have to pay.

Shazmar_2

No one can take money from you without providing proof that you owe it to them. So the burden of proof is on your former company. So add to your letter that you insist upon an itemised list of what they claim is owed and how they came to the conclusions that they have. Contact your tax office for advice about the P45 explaining your problem, they are very quick to reply normally.

kelloggs36

Ask for a list of all the holidays taken to date and double check them with the dates you have. It will only be from April and the holiday entltlement will be pro-rata for the year now.

recovering_spendaholic

If they finished you up they should have done a calculation of what your final salary payment was before they produced your P45. I would write to them asking why they did not do this, as a P45 is a statement of what you actually earned, not what you would have earned if you hadn't left. I don't think they can just demand the money back, not once you have been issued a P45.

sleepy

Thanks everyone, I'll ammend my letter a bit, to make it clearer that I'm not giving anything back unless they can explain/remedy the P45 situation and that they're not getting any holiday money back without proof. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

ABN

How many days holiday per year were you entitled to and how many did you take?

Remember that holiday is earn over the year ... thus if you only worked for 6 months then you would only be entitled to half your normal holiday. Could that be where the confusion is?