Overpaid student!

jessie15

Hi
My daughter who is a full time student (Age 19) had a part time job working 4 hours a week, she did not like it as she was promised more hours and gave up a job on that infomation given to her they also did not treat her right, she left this job. Several months later she has received a letter stating that she owes £45 which was overpaid to her, she is not working and not claiming any benefits how is she expected to pay this back? We have written to this nameless company (for now) telling them of the facts but they have now got a debt collecting company to write to my daughter!

Am i to just pay up on my daughters behalf or is there anything she can do?

dmg24

I hate to be harsh, but surely she knew that she was being overpaid at the time? If she was only working 4 hours a week, then £45 is quite a lot to be overpaid.

She needs to pay it back - perhaps they will wait until the summer holidays and she can get a job?

iceicebaby

Unfortunately they are entitled to it back

lapat

how long was she there..?

i would contact the company and ask them to provide your daughter with all the hours she worked on which days etc and how much she was paid for these days and also request them to provide you with a breakdown of how she had been overpaid.

the likelyhood is you will not hear nothing off them and if they do provide it then im afraid yes they are entitled to it

good luck

jessie15

I am not disputing whether they are entitled to it but rather than how is she to pay it back without a job or money to do so? She is desperatley looking for a job but has had no luck so far.

MercilessKiller

If you know that she was overpaid £45 then that £45 belongs to them, and though a point of contact may help to explain that you will pay it but cant currently, legally the money is theirs!

However I would definitely advise you write and ask for the complete breakdown of hours and pay. That way they wont send any debt collectors during the process, they legally HAVE to provide these hours so until they've done that your daughter can look fast for a job!

Good luck

SeptemberBaby_2

Hi Jessie, when I was unemployed I wrote to all my creditors and advised that I could only repay the debt at rate of £1 per month due to my circumstances and enclosed a cheque. I put a paragraph in my letter that if the matter was taken any further by them then I would produce this letter as evidence of my itention to repay. They all banked the cheques and all agreed to my repayment plan!

Not saying this is ideal but it was the only responsible way I could see out of a sticky situation at the time and it obviously showed willingness to pay.

I hope this helps and good luck! xx

MercilessKiller

SeptemberBaby wrote: »

Hi Jessie, when I was unemployed I wrote to all my creditors and advised that I could only repay the debt at rate of £1 per month due to my circumstances and enclosed a cheque. I put a paragraph in my letter that if the matter was taken any further by them then I would produce this letter as evidence of my itention to repay. They all banked the cheques and all agreed to my repayment plan!

Not saying this is ideal but it was the only responsible way I could see out of a sticky situation at the time and it obviously showed willingness to pay.

I hope this helps and good luck! xx

Hey, Sorry just wanted to ask, does this mean you sent a cheque by post every month? As then your paying a lot more in total over the course of the months due to the stamp on the letter.. i.e £1 each month for 20 months becomes about £1.20 for 2 months adding £4 :x

Then again I suppose if you post dated the cheques they'd cash them anyway? :x

SeptemberBaby_2

Hi, yes I sent a cheque each month and the cost of a 2nd class stamp was worth each and every penny for peace of mind! However, unless you pay bills via DD/SO/Bank/PO then you need to post a cheque off each month anyway! x

lapat

i didnt read the debt collection bit in the first post appologies for that.
get her to speak to them saying she can pay a pound a week for the next 45 weeks. as long as hse sticks to the payments there is nothing they can do..
they made the mistake let them wait for the money.

jenijellybean

Could you pay and then your daughter repay you once she finds a job so you can be rid of the stress? If not then try and propose a repayment plan, as SeptemberB & Lapat suggest as they obviously don't want to let the matter drop (even though I'm amazed they involved a debt agency for £45!).

I hope it all gets sorted soon. Good luck!