Large overpayment of wages

stash999

Hi all,

Last month I noticed an overpayment on my 4 weekly wage of £660, (it relates to a flexibility payment that I used to be entitled to) I informed HR and 2 days later they informed me it had been going on since April 2014 !!! I genuinely did not notice !
They now want the money back (over £11,500) initially they wanted £400 per wage but I told them that was completely unrealistic as i had clearly got used to the £660 extra whether I should have had it or not, I got a mortgage on the strength of it and just last Feb a 10k bank loan, I offered £1300 then £150 per wage with further one-off payments based on overtime/bonus/other windfalls, still waiting to hear back from them. my questions are:
1. do I pay back the amount on the wage slip (before tax/NI) ? obviously I have paid tax and NI on that amount
2. can they just take £400 a month if they don't agree to £150 (HR lady says they can)
3. the overpayment was all in higher tax bracket (40%) theres a good chance I would have been under it without it so does that get taken into account ?

this is a phenomenal amount of money, obviously I would never have took out the 10k loan if I knew this would happen, it is literally keeping me awake at night so any help would be really appreciated.

thanks.

stash999

just to add when i was entitled to the £660 I never had anything from HR confirming it, signed a contract etc, likewise when it should have been removed there was no confirmation of anything, I was briefly seconded to a role that was entitled to it but throughout it all my grade and job title etc stayed the same.

tomtontom

You didn't notice but you got a mortgage on the strength of it? Hmmn, that's not going to look too good is it?

Your tax and NI should be adjusted to reflect the overpayment.

You need to reach some kind of agreement with them. Ultimately, it looks like you have been dishonest and you could be dismissed on that basis.

stash999

the mortgage was on the wage when I should have had the flexibility payment and it's irrelevant how it looks after all I spotted it and alerted them to the fact, I'm happy to pay it all back at a rate I can afford I just don't trust my HR department to get it right so id like to be clear on the process myself. There's absolutely no way in the world any company in the UK can dismiss you because they overpaid you for any length of time.

tomtontom

stash999 wrote: »

the mortgage was on the wage when I should have had the flexibility payment and it's irrelevant how it looks after all I spotted it and alerted them to the fact, I'm happy to pay it all back at a rate I can afford I just don't trust my HR department to get it right so id like to be clear on the process myself. There's absolutely no way in the world any company in the UK can dismiss you because they overpaid you for any length of time.

Sorry to burst your bubble but, if they believe on the balance of probabilities you have been dishonest, that is a breach of trust and grounds for summary dismissal. You certainly wouldn't be the first case of this kind.

You need to handle this with care, you don't seem to realise how serious it could be.

ohreally

How have they arrived at that figure and how do they intend accounting for N.I. contributions and other deductions such as pension payments etc - I.E are they attempting to recover an equivalent gross amount?

stash999 wrote: »

There's absolutely no way in the world any company in the UK can dismiss you because they overpaid you for any length of time.

It wont take much creativity to manage an individual out the door especially after the relationship has soured.

stash999

tomtontom wrote: »

Sorry to burst your bubble but, if they believe on the balance of probabilities you have been dishonest, that is a breach of trust and grounds for summary dismissal. You certainly wouldn't be the first case of this kind.

You need to handle this with care, you don't seem to realise how serious it could be.

Your not bursting any bubble, its impossible to prove that I knew I was getting paid too much given the fact there was no official change in any of my details etc, I must have read 100 test cases on this and not found a single one where someone got dismissed, to prove deception of some sort when you've overpaid someone yourself is nuts, in many cases I read people ended claiming constructive dismissal (and winning) but none of this answers my original questions.

Johnnytwostep

Pull the over one its got bells on it. You didn't notice, and you think you should have it as you have got used to it.

Good luck with that argument.

stash999

ohreally wrote: »

How have they arrived at that figure and how do they intend accounting for N.I. contributions and other deductions such as pension payments etc - I.E are they attempting to recover an equivalent gross amount?




It wont take much creativity to manage an individual out the door especially after the relationship has soured.

possibly, but it also wouldn't take much to convince a judge you were wrongly dismissed.

stash999

Johnnytwostep wrote: »

Pull the over one its got bells on it. You didn't notice, and you think you should have it as you have got used to it.

Good luck with that argument.

read the post, thats not the argument.

stash999

ohreally wrote: »

How have they arrived at that figure and how do they intend accounting for N.I. contributions and other deductions such as pension payments etc - I.E are they attempting to recover an equivalent gross amount?


Thats what I am wondering, I have read they can only ask for the net figure, but they appear to be asking for the gross, I don't know what the correct procedure is obviously I have already paid tax on it and it could be a nightmare proving what percentage tax I paid.