Previous employer overpaid me, now wants money back but I'm unemployed!

Lexica

Hiya

I actually work for the NHS chasing salary overpayments. Please dont let it stress you out. Most of the letters you have recieved are probably automatically generated and so seem very cold and threatening. Basically if you can only afford £1 per month then post them a cheque right away. You will be asked for reviews every now and then but it will not go to debt collection while you are making any payments even if they are token.

Its so annoying that this happens so often as i can see how badly it impacts lives, if management would do their paperwork on time people wouldnt get over paid. Please dont stress though x

SpagBol

Thank you so much Lexica, that has put my mind at rest a bit. I will offer them a token per month, £5 or £10 we'll see. The annoying thing is that they are claiming that they didn't get the paperwork in time to only pay me part of the month but I gave 2 months notice!!

As for the SOA I have posted it before, been on here for ages whittling monthly costs away, packed lunches all the way, cut down sky, phones, never go out or get takeaway any more, our weekly shop for 4 is between £60 and £80 max including bits for christmas at the moment to spread the cost for example I got the crackers and wrapping paper this week. Car is 8 years old just flew through MOT with no extra cost so loathe to change it, walk everwhere possible and use it (estate car) to camp in summer so cheap holiday. Buying kids xmas presents on ebay with money I get from selling old clothes, car seats etc on there. I will post it again next week when I get the chance! I never buy anything unless it is second hand or in a sale. My son has swimming lessons but those will be stopping after Christmas now. No coffees or lunches out, even for my hubby I have his card so he's not tempted!! Our Christmas presents to each other are books from the charity shop.

I appreciate that some people don't understand saving money but we have really been trying hard for a year or two to get back on track after borrowing far too much in the good times. This has upset me because I feel like I have no control over the situation and essentially someone wants to take £400 ish out of our very stretched debt recovery plan (self inflicted, not a DMP or anything) which has got literally NO contingency plan. I also feel a bit affronted that I have to show evidence of my lack of money (as I'm sure you will understand, this is a very private, shameful thing) to the people that caused the problem!!

DVardysShadow

I am shocked at the advice here.

eg "You dont really have a leg to stand on, you simply have to pay it back, as B&T says" as the opening statement

Come on people, you know better than this. When any other creditor demands money, the advice is to send the 'prove it' letter. Now, the prove it letter is not quite right for this case, but the principle still stands. The first thing SpagBol should do is to write and ask the employer to justify the claim. If and only if the claim is justified the money should be paid back.

pauletruth

did you pay tax on this over payment. have you claimed the tax back on the uniform cleaning/shoes. its not a lot but it will reduce it a bit. were you a member of a union and did you have to be registered with a governing body. both can be claimed for

SpagBol

Thanks DVardysShadow, that's a bit more positive, I will do that today.

Pauletruth, I'm not sure about tax, I would have paid tax on the overpayment through PAYE but I'm not sure they sorted that out in the calculation. Frustratingly I've lost the letter with the initial claim on it! Should I ask for a breakdown? I could claim for professional body fees, didn't realise I could claim for union fees, uniform etc not applicable as provided and washed onsite. Can this tax relief be given at source though?

Should I now reply asking them to justify the claim and whether the tax has been calculated correctly?

There were also childcare vouchers muddying the water.

timbstoke

People seem to be missing an important point here: The employer made a deduction from the OP's salary without authorisation. They simply can't do that. If they overpaid you then yes, they're entitled to it back, but they can't just take it from your salary. They're obliged to pay you, and use other means to claim back anything they feel entitled to.

You should get onto your old employer and demand your outstanding salary as a matter of urgency. Tell them that if they feel they overpaid you, they need to provide you with evidence to back up their claim. If necessary, speak to ACAS - they'd be pulled over the coals should you need to go to a tribunal.

It sounds like your ex employer is pretty incompetent when it comes to HR/Finance matters, so I certainly wouldn't just take them at their word that they've overpaid you.

SpagBol

Incompetent is putting it mildly!!

I've just looked at the original e-mail and not sure the figures add up. I will phone ACAS now. Thank you!

System

timbstoke wrote: »

People seem to be missing an important point here: The employer made a deduction from the OP's salary without authorisation.

They have a right to under the Employment Rights Act

The Employment Rights Act 1996 provides that it will not be an illegal deduction from wages to recover an overpayment from salary. This means that an employer is not prevented from deducting the overpayment from future wages or salary provided that this is done reasonably over a period of time and not done in such a way as to amount to a breach of trust and confidence in the employment relationship. The interesting point about the Employment Rights Act is that overpayments can be recovered from future wages whether or not the overpayment itself is recoverable from the employee on the basis of the three point test set out above.

In practice, the employer can simply recover an overpayment from wages and the onus is on the employee to then make a legal claim to attempt to claim back the money that has been wrongly deducted. This involves bringing a claim to the County Court and is inevitably rather complex.

Assuming that the employer intends to recover the overpayment from wages, then there is no fixed rule about the rate of recovery and whether this should be in one lump sum or over a period of months. However, there is a general rule that an employer must not act in such a way as to undermine the employment relationship or to breach trust and confidence. In the light of this general duty, the best advice for an employer is to discuss the overpayment with the employee and propose repayment over a reasonable period of time depending upon the size of overpayment and the period over which it occurred.

Boris_Allen

McKneff wrote: »

Oh, you'd be surprised at what is on peoples SOA, one lady had her daughters horse riding lessons on it and 'oh no, she couldnt possibly have to do without those' they were on the verge of bankruptcy. lol

Dear oh dear...

Boris_Allen

DVardysShadow wrote: »

I am shocked at the advice here.

eg "You dont really have a leg to stand on, you simply have to pay it back, as B&T says" as the opening statement

Come on people, you know better than this. When any other creditor demands money, the advice is to send the 'prove it' letter. Now, the prove it letter is not quite right for this case, but the principle still stands. The first thing SpagBol should do is to write and ask the employer to justify the claim. If and only if the claim is justified the money should be paid back.

Agreed, if only to buy time as much as anything else!