Solicitor deadline query

Baled

Hi

Last Tuesday, I received a solicitors letter on behalf of my former employer about an overpayment they made to me in December. On the letter is a deadline of 07/07/22 to either make contact or payment otherwise they will take me to court.

I called the solicitors that day and explained how employer gave the wrong repayment figure in April (wrong leave date was entered into their system so figure was too low) to which I told them straight away and that the correct figure was only provided mid May. Also, payroll only advised me my correct pay/tax figures on 30th May so I said I would like confirmation when payroll will update HMRC as I'm overpaying tax due to their incompetence.

Solicitor said he would speak to employer then update me. I got an email Monday lunchtime basically fobbing me off and not answering my query. I started drafting my response yesterday inbetween working full time and worrying about a close friend who has gone in to hospital last week for cancer treatment.

I want to speak to payroll directly to ask about HMRC but the person who has been dealing with my case is on holiday, returning tomorrow.

6.19am this morning I've had an email from the solicitors saying we haven't heard from you regarding Monday's email. It's not even been 2 days and I'm beginning to feel like they're hounding me.

My question is, if they've given me a deadline of 07/07 and I have already made contact, could they start court proceedings before that?

JReacher1

It’s an arbitrary deadline that means nothing really. They can take you to court whenever they wish too. 

If you owe the money and can afford to I would just pay them. You don’t want to have to deal with this hassle.

 As your previous employer seems to have gone down the legal route only two weeks after your last payment from them I assume there is more to this story and relations aren’t great. 

Baled

Thanks for your reply. I had an inkling that would be the case but I wasn't sure.

It's a really sorry saga - when i received the overpayment in December I contacted a former manager straight away.

When they ran a correction in January and messed that up I emailed payroll with no response.

When overpayments team wrote to me in April I contacted them within days and told them the figure was wrong.

I got the corrected figure mid May and was basically told the pay/tax issues they created is my problem, not theirs.

I hope I never subject anyone to such incompetence/appalling attitude they have shown to me. 

Undervalued

Baled said:

Thanks for your reply. I had an inkling that would be the case but I wasn't sure.

It's a really sorry saga - when i received the overpayment in December I contacted a former manager straight away.

When they ran a correction in January and messed that up I emailed payroll with no response.

When overpayments team wrote to me in April I contacted them within days and told them the figure was wrong.

I got the corrected figure mid May and was basically told the pay/tax issues they created is my problem, not theirs.

I hope I never subject anyone to such incompetence/appalling attitude they have shown to me. 

Frustrating as that is, it doesn't give you any additional rights. They are entitled to reclaim any accidental overpayment and the matter has been ongoing for nearly six months.

If there is still a valid dispute about the amount owing then that clearly needs to be resolved. However the amount due should really be paid without any unnecessary delay. 

If you genuinely cannot afford the amount due then you can reasonably ask them to accept instalments. They don't have to agree but if they took you to court (and won) you would then be ordered to pay at whatever rate the court assessed you could manage. The court fees etc would be added to the total.

Baled

It is indeed very frustrating and stressful. They wouldn't have known their original repayment figure was too low but for me pointing it out to them.

Expecting companies to correct their numerous errors fully and properly seems to be too much to ask for apparently.

Not that I want it to go to court but out of interest, in what scenario could the employer lose?

Undervalued

Baled said:

It is indeed very frustrating and stressful. They wouldn't have known their original repayment figure was too low but for me pointing it out to them.

Expecting companies to correct their numerous errors fully and properly seems to be too much to ask for apparently.

Not that I want it to go to court but out of interest, in what scenario could the employer lose?

Assuming a correct calculation shows that money is actually owed, it is difficult to see how they could possibly lose!

JReacher1

I think it probably depends what “lose” means. If you go into court and demonstrate you have engage with them and offered to repay the money in a realistic timeframe via a payment plan then suspect they would not win a judgment which said you had to pay the full amount back in one lump sum 

MalMonroe

I agree with Undervalued. The only way the employer will lose is if you don't owe them anything.

They could be awkward and take it to court and you could play along but as you owe them the money they could claim not only that but court costs from you as well. And it's a money and time-wasting exercise all round.

It sounds like you are well rid of that incompetent place - thank your lucky stars you are out of it now, pay the money and move on. If HMRC does owe you overpaid tax, that will be forthcoming.

We all have similar experiences in life and hopefully we learn from them and move on. Anything else is just upsetting and it's really not worth it. Dare I even add 'life's too short'?  (No, sorry!)

All the best for your future. Onwards and upwards.     (sorry - yet another silly cliche)

Marcon

Baled said:

It is indeed very frustrating and stressful. They wouldn't have known their original repayment figure was too low but for me pointing it out to them.

Expecting companies to correct their numerous errors fully and properly seems to be too much to ask for apparently.

Not that I want it to go to court but out of interest, in what scenario could the employer lose?

If you could run a successful change of position defence they could, but be aware that is extremely difficult to do. You'd have to show that you had relied on the information they had provided/spent the loot and irrevocably changed your financial position in reliance on the incorrect information and that you could not reasonably have known it was wrong. Given you've already pointed it out to them, that's not going to wash!

Baled

Thank you for your replies everyone. I have nearly finished composing an email to the solicitors in a considered and measured tone. I will pay them this week but I am also requesting a full explanation and apology for their mistakes. I've probably got more chance of winning the Euro Millions and I don't even play it.

It sounds like you are well rid of that incompetent place - thank your lucky stars you are out of it now

I am and I do! 

JReacher1

Baled said:

Thank you for your replies everyone. I have nearly finished composing an email to the solicitors in a considered and measured tone. I will pay them this week but I am also requesting a full explanation and apology for their mistakes. I've probably got more chance of winning the Euro Millions and I don't even play it.

It sounds like you are well rid of that incompetent place - thank your lucky stars you are out of it now

I am and I do! 

Asking for an apology seems to be a bit pointless. 

Is the mistake not just they forgot to remove you from the system and paid you by mistake in December?

Frankly I think you’ve dragged this out a bit too much which is why your previous company has has to resort to using solicitors to get the money back. You should have just paid them months ago. 

I hope you don’t ever need them for a reference