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

[IOnlyHopeItsGoingGoingGone]

I worked for a company last year for 7 weeks. I was only there a short time because they were dreadful and my manager was even worse, so I cut my losses and left before it all started to get to me (which I knew it would, it was only a matter of time). So, I left in May 2023. During this time, I didn't get a full month's payslip, so had no idea what my normal monthly pay was. I was also put on emergency tax, so grossly overtaxed for what I did do. I'd also accrued some travelling expenses, which were due back to me, and took me a lot of chasing and over a month after I left to actually get. So it was all a bit of a mess, and I just wrote it off, put it down to experience and moved on. Anyway, a month ago (so over a year after I'd left) I received an email saying that due to an admin error, I'd been overpaid and that I needed to pay back what was owed as a matter of urgency. This was not a huge amount (around £100). They also insinuated in the email that I may have been aware that I had been overpaid (certainly not the case due to the reasons I mentioned above). They gave me 14 days to pay what I owed. I ignored this email. Now, a month later I've received another email saying that the matter is urgent and if I don't pay up within 14 days they will pass my case to their debt collection agency which may incur additional charges and affect my credit score. Would they really do this for such a paltry amount, when it's their error, over a year since I left the business?? Wouldn't it cost more in legal and admin to try and recover it than its worth? Are they just bluffing and AIBU to continue ignoring this? I don't even know if what they're saying is correct anyway!

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.

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

Good grief.

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.

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.

For anyone that missed it, I sent an email to them requesting a detailed explanation and calculations, and if I can understand and agree with what they have said, I will repay (albeit in instalments). I haven't said I won't pay, but I want to understand exactly what the correct figure is first (as should anyone, especially as they had the chance to take it from my last pay - I left on 2nd of month, received notification that I had been overpaid on 15th of month, and was paid my final pay (inc. Holiday owed) at end of month). I await a response.

I think I would ignore there demands as the tax is also an issue on what you have paid, they made a mistake and that is their problem plus as you say there are other factors involved.

They can hold data if they have a legitimate reason for doing so. Being able to contact an employee that left last year would likely be seen as legitimate for pension/payroll enquiries.

There's a massive level of misinformation on here it's staggering!

Are you sure it's not a scam?

It sounds like a scam to me.

if it is real, it has probably already cost them well over £100. They are idiots.

they need to re-adjust “everything” for you, tax, ni, etc. re-issue new documentation

all this process costs them more than £100

Fuck me, this thread is a hotbed of shit opinions and false information.

I would pay it but not before they’ve provided you with calculations that prove you owe it as it sounds bloody complicated.

you can’t ignore it because usually, when you get a job there is a clause about the employer being entitled to claim back overpayments.

Ask for a revised pay slip and set up a repayment that's affordable for you.

The most sensible response on the thread by a country mile.

Ask them to provide you with:

Copies of payslips detailing the error and how and why it occurred;

Details of the full investigation into how such an error occurred and the outcome of said investigation;

Copies of any correspondence, whether physically written or sent via email, mentioning you - remind them they are legally obliged to provide you with this under GDPR;

A copy of your contract of employment, signed and dated by you, stating clearly that any overpayments made in error will be rectified by you, by what method and in what timescale;

Details of the legislation under which they can declare this a debt, given you have not signed a credit agreement.

If they get a debt collection agency involved, they’ll be lucky to get 20 quid. It will cost three times that in man hours to provide the information you requested.

You are being unreasonable in ignoring g the email.
Email to ask for a breakdown of what you should have been paid and what you were paid (including holiday pay owed).
If you are satisfied with the figures tell them you wi pay it back at £10 per month.

Keep us updated please OP. Also consider using the odd paragraph here and there. Walls of text are painful on the eyes.

FWIW I totally agree that they need to provide you with a payslip and calculations as proof.

They also insinuated in the email that I may have been aware that I had been overpaid (certainly not the case due to the reasons I mentioned above).

You say this in post but later say they emailed you not long after you left to say you were overpaid. So then you certainly were aware that you were overpaid.

👏👏👏and that's how it's done.

Regardless of how long you worked there, you should have received a proper payslip, (or more) for the time you were there, plus a P45 (UK).
Also, you would then need to adjust your tax for the same amount.

As per PPs and your own comments, OP - I’d want to see their proper calculations.
Did they issue you a P45 when you left? If so, surely the calculations on that would be the ones that should be adhered to?

It’s interesting that the OP requested their evidence and they don’t seem to have sent it yet. If they have become aware of the error surely they have the evidence all ready to go.

I agree with this. And the only thing I would add is that £100 is about the amount you’d typically write off as a company. Particularly if it’s a one off discovered so far afterwards (they’ve probably done an annual audit and spotted it).
It feels unusual to me (someone who works in Compensation & sees these kind of things happen from time to time) that they’d come for this a year later given the value is so low (relative).

So with this in mind please be 100% certain this isn’t a scam. Because it’s so easy for emails to be intercepted these days and sent from accounts which appear to be the sender you think you are communicating with. If you get to a point of returning the money, ensure they provide the bank details on company headed paper and call your bank first to validate the payment can be made (nationwide offer protection if you get pre-authorisation to make the transfer). Whilst it could well be legit, always be on guard when it comes to transferring money.

I look forward to an update on their reply.

I had the exact same thing happen to me a few months after leaving a company. My first response was "ok, but it's taken you 6 months to discover the problem so you need to give me 6 months to find the money". They weren't too happy with that so I agreed to start making monthly payments. Which I did at a rate of £1 a month. I stopped after a while and was never chased again.