Paying back overpayment of benefits

soberberg

Hi, does anyone know anything about how over payments are dealt with concerning SW benefits? I was over payed last year for a few weeks as my claim had run out and I was no longer eligible for jobseekers benefit. Was not working or anything or living abroad or anything fraudulent like that but my tax credits had run out and I still got paid for a few weeks. Anyway I cooperated with the SW office and they issued my an appeal also to present any extra evidence or facts. I just explained what happened and how I didn't realize I had run out of tax credits as I was not informed by them. They accepted some responsibility but since it was also part my error the over payment stood.

Anyway I have not heard a thing since getting this letter 2 months ago informing me of the decision of the appeal. All it said was that the over payment remained and that a copy of the letter had been sent to my local office. I have been waiting to hear back from them about how they want me to repay the over payment. It says on the website that they assess your current situation before determining how over payment should be repaid. In other words, depending on whether you are currently employed or are in receipt of any further benefits. I have emailed the appeals office and my local office several time but no word back. Just wan to get this sorted and want to cooperate fully. Does anyone know anything about over payments?

Thanks

cee_jay

Whats your current situation/income?
You can have a weekly deduction from your Social welfare payment, if you are still in receipt from one. You can pay in cash in your local office, or by standing order. Your local office should have the details of how to pay by standing order.

soberberg

cee_jay wrote: »

Whats your current situation/income?
You can have a weekly deduction from your Social welfare payment, if you are still in receipt from one. You can pay in cash in your local office, or by standing order. Your local office should have the details of how to pay by standing order.

My current situation is that I am in college full time and not working. I think that this may be the reason I have not heard anything back yet regarding details of re-payment. My financial situation was made clear at the appeal so perhaps they are waiting until the summer when I should be working to start repayments. I have heard that they are fair in their requests of repayments and do not expect you to re pay above your means. But if I was working full time, would they ask for a large chunk out of each paycheck to cover repayment? I want to fully repay the overpayment asap but when I do start working full time in summer, I still have loan repayments and rent etc. so would prefer to make small repayments if possible.

Trish2007

I was overpayed for a few weeks last year during the switchover from JSB to JSA. It was a mistake by the social welfare office and they havent requested any payback from me.
Im now on a FAS course and I was overpayed from start of Jan when reductions came into effect until last week and they are now deducting money from my cheque for the next 5 weeks for that overpayment.

paddy147

If you say to social wellfare that you will pay back 1-2 euro a week,then they have to accept that off you.;)

soberberg

paddy147 wrote: »

If you say to social wellfare that you will pay back 1-2 euro a week,then they have to accept that off you.;)

Really? I know that if it was a case where I was caught doing something fraudulent such as working while claiming it would be a very different situation where they may even take you to court to reclaim money. But since over payments are not treated like this, it seems they are more relaxed about reclaiming payment.

This is from the website...

'We will suggest a repayment method that we believe you can afford, based on the facts of your case.

If you wish us to recover the overpayment from your weekly social welfare payment, we will not reduce your income below the weekly rate of Supplementary Welfare Allowance appropriate to your family circumstances without your written agreement.

If your circumstances change, we will require you to repay the overpayment at a rate that you can afford'

I'm just curious what they mean by 'can afford'. Also would having an outstanding overpayment have any affect on my ability to go abroad? I plan to try and work abroad when finished college and would they allow you to repay while working abroad? I mean they couldn't stop me travelling could they? Not trying to do a runner or anything as obviously I would always have to face the overpayment when I returned, and I'd never want to end up in any trouble or anything.

cee_jay

Social Welfare Offices across the country are extremely understaffed. It may be some time before they try to recover the overpayment. They won't stop you going abroad - as I said earlier it can be repaid by standing order.
It may be they don't attempt to recover until you go to claim again - so its best you get it repaid while working and can afford it.

Shelli2

I was overpaid by 80 or so euro when I claimed for a month back in 2003, but was totally unaware of this as I was never informed by SW office....that was until I had to sign on again last year, they deducted €5 a week out of my payment until it was fully repayed.

soberberg

Would the amount of overpayment have an affect on how much they require? Like for example if the overpayment was very small like 250 as opposed to 2,000? My overpayment is much closer to the latter of these sums unfortunately.

Balagan

Although you have emailed your local office and the appeals office to check when repayment should start etc., it really would be best to go into your local office and ask directly about what their expectation is. It's the only way to find out what they intend. Take note of the name of whomever you deal with etc. Emails can disappear into the wide blue yonder and if you can't go in to the office (see that you are in college and that may make going to the office difficult) then write a letter to the local office and enclose a copy of the appeal outcome and register the letter.

soberberg

Balagan wrote: »

Although you have emailed your local office and the appeals office to check when repayment should start etc., it really would be best to go into your local office and ask directly about what their expectation is. It's the only way to find out what they intend. Take note of the name of whomever you deal with etc. Emails can disappear into the wide blue yonder and if you can't go in to the office (see that you are in college and that may make going to the office difficult) then write a letter to the local office and enclose a copy of the appeal outcome and register the letter.

Thanks I'll do this. I don't want to get a letter down the line claiming that I was trying to avoid repayment and this is my concern so I'll explain in the letter that I have sent emails and heard nothing back.

yabadabado

they might write off part of the overpayment if its their fault(departmental error).in many cases because the LO are so busy they don't assess the overpayment unless you are recieving a payment from them,often an o/p can stay on the system until/if you make a claim for another scheme.imo I would leave it be until they contact you ,the o/p stays on the system and doesn't increase from the original amount and when the time comes to repay it SW are very fair in the amount they deduct per week.

soberberg

paddy147 wrote: »

If you say to social wellfare that you will pay back 1-2 euro a week,then they have to accept that off you.;)

Hi again, I received a letter today concerning my over payment and enclosed is a form which I need to fill out. The letter does not suggest any given amount per repayment and states that I may submit my own suggestions regarding my situation. It has 3 options: to pay the entire sum at once, make monthly repayments, or weekly repayments. It also states that if repayments stop at any stage then they may oder the entire balance to be paid at once.

I am currently in final year of college and not working. I am looking for a job at the moment and struggling with money. Obviously I want to fully cooperate and pay something each week or month but I honestly could not afford more than 10euro per week at this stage. Since my overpayment sum is quite large I am terrified that they will not accept this and demand that I pay something much bigger which I can not afford. I have to send them a letter along with the forms they sent and explain my situation. Am so worried though they will not have any mercy on me since I was getting social welfare for quite an extended amount of time when I was not actually entitled to it. Obviously when I graduate and get working full time I could afford more but I do have other student loans to pay too so its not like I could just hand over most of my pay check each month. Really hope they will be understanding on this but since times are as tough as they are I fear they will be just anxious to get all of their money back asap.

eastbono

Tbh I read your first post and the system automatically closes a claim when your jsb is exhausted so I cannot understand how there was an overpayment there and you state it was only for a couple of weeks and now you are saying you owe quite a large amount how much is a large amount.... I dont think we are getting the full story here.

yabadabado

agree to make weekly repayments of €10 and on the letter outline the reasons why this is the amount you can afford at the moment.If you make an effort to pay back the monies owed they should be ok.

soberberg

eastbono wrote: »

Tbh I read your first post and the system automatically closes a claim when your jsb is exhausted so I cannot understand how there was an overpayment there and you state it was only for a couple of weeks and now you are saying you owe quite a large amount how much is a large amount.... I dont think we are getting the full story here.

To be honest I think the specific details of how my overpayment arose are between the social welfare and myself. It has been decided by them already that an overpayment has taken place and needs to be repaid, so it doesn't really matter how the overpayment occurred as I assume all overpayments are treated some what similar, from what I gather reading this... http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Publications/sw2/Pages/1WhathappensifIamoverpaid.aspx

Yes I have not been totally up front in my OP. The amount is quite significant and went on for more than 'a few weeks'. However I am only looking for info on overpayments and really not interested in arguing with anybody over the facts of my case. I did however (believe it or not) not intentionally try to claim anything I did not think I was entitled to at the time & I fully want to cooperate with the SW and pay back every cent that was paid to me.

yabadabado wrote: »

agree to make weekly repayments of €10 and on the letter outline the reasons why this is the amount you can afford at the moment.If you make an effort to pay back the monies owed they should be ok.

Thanks. Yeah I will explain everything and hopefully they will agree until I can finish college and start working, and then pay more.

eastbono

Tried to post a reply with a quote but not working for some reason. Anyway it was and is not my intention to argue with you... I dont know where you got that idea from and your overpayment is your business... but I was reading through the thread and 2 + 2 did not = 4. Anyway contact sw and let them know you are in college and not working and sw cannot get blood out of a stone... tell them when you are finished college and hopefully get employment you can offer them €10-€20 a week from your earnings. If you have to sign on after college more than likely sw will want €10 from your sw payment. Hope this is of some help.

soberberg

eastbono wrote: »

Tried to post a reply with a quote but not working for some reason. Anyway it was and is not my intention to argue with you... I dont know where you got that idea from and your overpayment is your business... but I was reading through the thread and 2 + 2 did not = 4. Anyway contact sw and let them know you are in college and not working and sw cannot get blood out of a stone... tell them when you are finished college and hopefully get employment you can offer them €10-€20 a week from your earnings. If you have to sign on after college more than likely sw will want €10 from your sw payment. Hope this is of some help.

Hey, sorry I know that sort of came out wrong. I didn't think you were trying to argue, its just I posted my situation before when it happened and got some people replying with arguments over what happened. I just didn't want to include too much detail as I thought it might attract this kind of debate again and I know social welfare benefits can be a touchy subject for some people. Anyway thanks for the helpful reply, I appreciate it!!

koptart

Hiya, I had an overpayment just before Christmas of €500. I got a letter and wrote back explaining what happened. I got a call from them and they said I could pay what I could afford each month. No set amount.

eastbono

Depends on the situation and a persons circumstances.