Too much maternity pay

[supermum83]

Help! Upon resigning from my job it transpires that I have been paid enhanced maternity pay. However, I did not ask for the enhanced package so the error is entirely theirs and the HR rep's. And I honestly had no idea. Amount was declining and due to tax etc it is not so clear cut as to spotting it wasn't correct. I have paperwork showing my choice of basic package, and copy of the email in which I have sent the form to them. Where do I stand in relation to the repayment now demanded from me?

you still have to pay it back.
If you were overpaid in your regular salary, you'd have to pay that back too.

Afraid I agree with LadyOrangutan.

You are liable to repay any overpayment. It would be hard not to notice it I would think

Why do you think it would hard not to notice? Pay slips aren't exactly obvious at the best of times, and with a baby and a toddler not exactly a priority.

It matters not whose fault the error was, any overpayments have to be repaid. I think most company's would allow the repayment to be spread though.

Have you spent it? Would it cause you significant hardship to oay it back? You might have a "change of position" defence (plus it takes time and money to sue someone, depending how much money it is). I would talk to your local citizens advice bureau or a solicitor.

I was overpaid during mat leave due to an admin error at work. Painful though it is, you are liable to repay.

You'll need to repay . Presumably it wasn't much over Smp or you'd have realised sooner. It may be an error but the condition was clear from the outset.

I wasn't paying any attention to it whatsoever. You'd think you could trust professionals to do their jobs. We also moved countries when I started my ml so that added to me not overanalysing the payments and I am no longer in the UK. I was simply preoccupied. I'm furious!

Try and negotiate a repayment schedule that gives you time to pay it back at an amount you can handle easily. I know someone who was overpaid salary who agreed a repayment of £30 a week which they could afford without too much trouble. See what you can get them to agree with, assuming you don't want to pay it back in one lump sum.

If you're no longer living in the UK then your ex employer could struggle to take action against you if you fail to repay... Do you plan to return to the UK? Do you value your reputation with your ex employer/wider industry? Will you ever need a reference? Contractually you are obliged to repay. I was overpaid the first month of my mat leave and didn't spot it because wasn't clear with holiday pay etc but accepted I had to repay.

be careful they can take you to court (and they would win) and you would get CCJ against you and if you had assits within the UK they can put charges onto them (unlikely unless you were over paid by 1000s )

My ex friend got over paid by 40K the payroll messed up with the decimal point when paying reducency pay and she had left the country thinking that it was their mistake so she wouldnt have to pay it back and as she wasnt intending to come back to the UK anytime soon but had assits in the uk the court ordered the assits be liquardated to pay the outstanding debt and in the forced the sale of one of flats she was renting out to pay said amount