AIBU to ignore previous employer's request to repay overpayment?

I was overpaid by a large retail organisation. They sent me a letter about 6 months after the overpayment, the letter was worded in a weird way such as to suggest that I didn't have to repay it , as in it wasn't mandatory.

However I did repay it.

To go to debt collectors do they not first have to legally prove a debt? Otherwise anyone could claim they're owed money and send it to collectors.

Good grief.

Ask them why they still have your personal details to allow them to contact you as a ex employee under GDPR.

This is such awful advice. I was over payed (working in the nhs but payroll had a glitch and paid a number of us in February for working 1 January- which we hadn’t). Totally their error that I didn’t spot as it was the same month I got a pay rise and most of it went on my student loan and pension so it was £40 more in my pocket but I owed £120. They told me in the September and just took it as I still worked there. I researched it then and learned you absolutely have to pay or it’s seen as fraud.

F

I do and I have been in op situation and you legally have to pay an overpayment back. I paid it back over two years at a set amount.

The fact it’s been a year is neither here nor there. They have six years to request you repay an overpayment.

Then they’ll need to go to court if the OP disputes their version of events. A debt collection agency can do nothing other than posture, if they don’t have a court order.

Is this correct @PotNoodleNancy ?

BT said I owed them money - I didn't.
I kept ringing them and they promised to sort it, they never did. Red bill after red bill arrived!

Next thing they had sold the "debt" to a collection agency. Agency called me and told me that if I paid half they'd write off the debt. Naively I paid half just to put it behind me. Even though it was all BT's error and I had been incorrectly charged cancellation fees

Agency started chasing me for the other half, the half they told me on the phone they'd write off. I ended up paying this too.

Shortly after I started being bombarded with calls and junk Mail from payday loan companies, offering me credit at extortionate interest, having been sold my details by the debt collection company. Horribly exploitative, targeting people with history of debt, bad credit etc

For the sake of £100 I'd avoid this shitshow if you can

I think it’s a P45 when you leave employment

Hi. Your P60 should have detailed the amount of pay you received as well, they are also legally obliged to provide this as well. Make sure they provide it, if they have not already done so.

Well done op, let's wait and see what they come back with. You did the right thing attacking it head on rather than burying your head in the sand.

Many times someone may be give a stack of files for collection. They either aren't provided with a history, or are auditing, and come up with different figures. Again, they might not have all the emails, etc. I don't know what the statute of limitations is for collection, but I would ask for a complete accounting of your time there. They can take it from there. Many times, for small amounts, they choose to write it off. If they do, ask for a letter confirming that.

I'd ask for the calculations and see if they were correct.

Did they pay you too much money per your payslips (ie you worked 4 weeks and you actually only worked 3 weeks) or did they pay you more than your payslips said (ie payslip say net pay of £200 but they paid you £300)?

The emergency tax point is moot as it's hard to control what code hmrc out you on when you change jobs and you can claim it back from hmrc if you were overpaid.

If you do repay them make sure it gets reflected in this year's income as a deduction so you don't pay too much tax.

If they sent back a calculation I could understand I would repay but expect to do it in instalments.

Definitely get in touch with HR and ask them to provide evidence of the calculation etc. Also they need to make sure that what you pay back accounts for tax because as you mentioned you have already been taxed on what was paid so you shouldn’t be paying back the gross amount because you’d then need to reclaim the tax and I don’t know how this would work. It’s their error so point this out to them and it’s on them to solve it. I think maybe you pay back the net amount and they have to solve for the tax portion? My DH was overpaid once so had to deal with all this but the company told him pretty much straight away and it was a larger sum. Given the length of time and the small amount I’d say if you ask enough questions they may realise it’s not worth it.

Oh dear, that’s not very helpful advice and is actually incorrect.

Firstly, the company need to provide evidence that the OP owes this money and a good explanation as to why it’s taken a year for them to discover THEIR error.

Then they’ll need to go to court if the OP disputes their version of events. A debt collection agency can do nothing other than posture, if they don’t have a court order.

Number one rule is NEVER offer to pay anything if you’re not 100% certain that you owe the full amount being demanded and ALWAYS check any paperwork very thoroughly.

If it’s a relatively small amount and the paperwork is inconsistent, I’d tell them to take me to court and let a court decide what’s reasonable.

Could it be Betty, having revenge for having her nose out of joint? 😀

Yes they will sent it to collection agent and you will be charged their fee as well. It will also.effect credit rating.
Offer to.pay 5 pounds a month to them.

Just pay it. Do you seriously want to risk ruining your credit over ‘such a paltry amount’ (your words)

You might have some luck with the principle of "estoppel" have a Google, you may just be able to reply with an estoppel defence and it will go away. Failing that, I would just pay up.

That is their job to highlight how much she was overpaid and what the error was! I’d write bac and say I certainly was not aware, and I will need to see an original and corrected payslip. If you have worked out you think you’ve overpaid me you must be able to explain to me how.

It seems that they are not considering the travel expenses and their actions. I would do nothing on principal as they did nothing when the role was reversed

You'll also find that as an employee you're legally obliged to repay overpayment, it's likely in your contract. Is it really worth all this saga for £100?