Previous employer requesting money

[YummieMummyof3]

I left my old job 6 months ago. I have been happy within my new role.

I received a letter through the post, not recorded or registered. It was from them telling me they have overpaid me by around £50. Then tells me the payment options. If I require any further information to log into the company account, as I do not work for them I have no access to the system.

I just think this is so unfair. Could they write to me in future demanding more money?

Have you tried ringing the payroll team to ask for an explaination?

If you owe them money, you owe it. Call them for full breakdown and pay back any monies owing.

If it’s owed, you will have to pay it back, make sure you get a full breakdown though to see where the overpayment came about. Check if the £50 is the gross or net as well - if they’ve overpaid you, they should adjust their payroll records and you should only be paying the actual cash you received, not reimbursing them for tax and NI.

With kindness, the fact you are happy in your new role is irrelevant. It looks like yr old employers have done their year end accounts and spotted this overpayment.

They do not have to send by recorded or registered delivery, that costs a fortune. If they have overpaid you, pay it back. The decent and right thing to do. You may also need a ref from them one day. Particularly, if you ever work in schs or with young people or vulnerable adults. All your previous employments and employment "gaps" will need to be fully substantiated.

Just pay it back, once you have established it. Not worth any adverse references or question marks over your integrity, as your future life progresses.

Thanks everyone. It really caught me out with other expenses this month. I will contact them and ask for a breakdown of costs.

I would be telling them to prove it.

For £50 I doubt they would chase you for it again. Unless it’s a very small business, I would expect them to write that off.

If I was the old employer, I'd be too embarrassed to chase £50 that was due to my mistake.

I'd be expecting since you have left for them to write it off. I'd phone and ask why this had happened, it's essentially there error.

Lol. MN has a weird take on these 'overpayments'

Completely ignore them. They're not going to chase £50. It's pathetic.

I would ignore it for now. Often when companies realise they have made a mistake like this they send a letter to catch the "quick wins". They then do a second sweep (and involve lawyers if necessary) but in my experience would only do this over a certain amount - usually more than £50.

I am a cautious person though so I'd probably also save the £50 somewhere just in case their threshold does happen to be less than £50!

My DD worked for Boots. Big company. They wrote to her and chased her for months because they made a mistake on their payroll.

I would personally recommend you contact them and if you cannot do the £50 all at once, arrange a payment scheme with them.

Some companies will just not let it go and write it off...

Can you check this is a real not scam- make sure when you contact them that you use your old contact number or email or address
& as pp have said request complete breakdown

Yy to many good points above, checking gross or net, and pushing for a payment plan of, say, £1 a week. Pay it back, but you don't need to be in any financial difficulty over this, its their fuck up.

" its their fuck up." as said by @Starface and it is totally right! You dictate the terms.

I would write back to them saying that the final pay was as expected. Tell them if an error had been made then you would need them to provide more information and a breakdown/expanation as you are unable to access the system, before you can look into it further. If it turns out that they have overpaid, inform them that their error will cause you financial hardship, especially given the current climate and suggest that you could repay them at £5 per month?