My earlier thread: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?376743-UK-employer-overpaid-now-in-US - quick summary: employer overpaid in UK, tried to set up an agreement after dispute over amount owed, debt sold to UK debt collector before negotiations complete, wrote to debt collector declining to deal with them, heard no more. Three years later and we have a new letter from a US debt collector for this money owed (note: I agree we might owe something but I'm not at all convinced of the amount, and it seems neither are they given the wildly varying figures they came up with each time). It appears to be a standard "this is what you owe, send us a check [cheque]". It came directly to our current address, the latter of which is different from previous communications. The letter makes no mention that it is a UK debt, and the "date of debt" field is blank. The amount owed roughly converts to the last figure the employer quoted. It says we should notify within 30 days of the validity of the debt. Some questions: when is the date of debt calculated? Either this debt collector doesn't know, or is trying to hide the fact the statute of limitations in this US state expires in ~6 months depending when it's calculated. Is the demand valid given the lack of a date? I read recently that the rules on overseas debts have changed in the last few years. Can US debt collectors chase UK debts yet? Firstly I will write to the debt collector indicating that I dispute the validity of the debt. After that... not sure. I appreciate this is a UK forum and some questions are specifically US but any help appreciated.

Progress: I eventually wrote to the CEO of the hospital. A few weeks later she (or her office) replied with a 2 page letter plus new spreadsheet. Assuming she is correct, the figures were roughly correct in the spreadsheet but mislabelled, including for May when it appeared she hadn't been "paid" but in fact it had been included in the figures, as had the annual leave. Minor corrections for car parking and a rather small compensation for the hassle deducted from what we owe. She still maintained that the difference from £9.5k to £3.5k was simply due to tax/NI/pension adjustments etc which I still struggle to believe. What's more, she has offered a payment plan over 3 years which is far more manageable. Thanks for the help everyone.

If I understand correctly, if they tried a CCJ, it would be sent to our old address. My mum deals with mail redirected from there (only for a few more months though) so I guess she would see some sort of notification. How we get that set aside is a topic for more Googling. Thanks for the advice - hopefully it won't get to that point.

It looks familiar - maybe it was that thread or maybe I read similar facts elsewhere. But thanks. I've given them 5 weeks to get a reply to me (as indicated in the letter), postmarked by that date. This is to prevent the 2+ month lag in between letters that they have previously done. I have told them that they need to apologise to my wife, to correct the payroll figures, to include the holiday and notice period figures, and if they don't respond by that date then I will have no more to do with them. Remember, this will be their fourth attempt to get the numbers right so I think it's fair to give them an ultimatum now. Now, if they still insist we owe money and start letting the hounds loose, they might try to sell the debt to a US debt collector. Allegedly such a collector can be turned away at the door with a simple "I don't recognise that debt" and they have to leave - allegedly. They can send threatening letters - they can be ignored, or kept in a safe place. But if they tried to do things "correctly" and tried to sue in a Californian court then your link comes into play - and given that the £3k figure is receding by the minute, I doubt it's financially worth their while to even try that route. And they can't get a UK CCJ with the knowledge that we're non-resident. I think we're covered - unless I've missed something? Just hope she doesn't have to work for the NHS again...

Technically she's not a union member anymore - but she did contact them a while ago and they pretty much said that she probably owed the money if that was what they said. I think I'm reasonably confident I can deal with anything that comes up now, thanks to this and other forums. They can't sell the debt across international waters without a court order in the US, though it doesn't stop them trying, and there are laws here to tell debt collectors to burger off (it's not all like you see on TV!), plus they have failed on three occasions to get the figures correct. Oh, and the original letter claimed they didn't know she was on maternity leave, yet the latest says that she was paid maternity allowance, so one of those statements is a lie. Frankly, if I was a judge, I'd start awarding damages to my wife for harassment and **** poor treatment by the NHS, though obviously I have a bias here!

Thanks. I just finalised a letter to them yesterday and we discovered that they'd made a number of mistakes in the pay breakdown they gave us (monthly totals not consistent with actual pay for several months - some months fine, others not). In addition, they didn't pay her for the notice period she gave (30 days, as required), nor have they accounted for holiday accrual during the maternity leave which we estimate to be around 2 weeks. So, from their original £9k figure down to £3k and now I'm actually wondering if they owe US money instead!

Further to earlier, here are some phrases from the letter. 1. "You did not return to work following your maternity so it could be argued that you were at fault and could be regarded as fraud as you were receiving occupational maternity pay when you were not entitled to it". She signed a form at the start of maternity leave which had three options - returning to work, not returning to work, and not sure. She picked "returning" as that was her intention at the time. 2. "This was your second pregnancy at XXX [...] you will have been familiar with our policies". That was 4 years ago and I doubt the Ts&Cs are identical in that time. 3. "The amount is £4k which is significantly less than originally quoted [nearly £10k]. We are able to adjust tax, NI, and pension from the overpayment hence the difference in figures". Really? So tax, NI, and pension make up nearly 60% of the payment? And no, her pension contributions were small, as were the employer contributions.

Can the actions of the person who sent the letters be regarded as harassment given that they've pooh-poohed our ability to repay it all immediately, and rejected our offers so far, and threatened to pass it to their debt recovery team (if that could be considered a threat)? Just trying to delay it a little so I can get some money together. Sorry to ask again but I'm keen to know the answer - if there is one - to "The latest letter hinted that they would demand a change in repayment if my wife became employed - is that reasonable?" Many thanks.

They know our address in the US and are sending mail directly to that address.

Not entirely, as they've come up with 2 wildly different figures, and I think the first two were different as well. But they're most likely right in that something is owed. The breakdown they sent through did have a whole bunch of numbers and abbreviations on so in fairness they probably have analysed it properly this time. If you think it would help! I thought it explained the situation quite succinctly but maybe a different choice of words would help. I didn't think CCJs could even be issued for non-residents of the UK? Currency charges would be up to them to sort out. After all, they discovered they made a mistake after notice had been handed in and we were already abroad. I'm tempted to send them US cheques even though we still have UK accounts as we would suffer currency charges if we were to transfer the amount to the UK and then issue a UK cheque. My estate agent, who undercharged me, accepted a US cheque for the difference so I know it'll work. Thanks everybody. I think I have a better understanding of what I can do now.

My wife was on maternity leave with the NHS for about 6 months before we moved to the US. It turns out, due to a cock-up their end, my wife was overpaid for those 6 months. Anybody who is a nurse/doctor would appreciate that payslips for shiftwork can be confusing and variable, so it wasn't obvious that she was being overpaid. It was only when she sent her notice in that they found the error and demanded nearly £10k immediately - this was in May. Words cannot describe the feeling. My first response was to ask for proof of the overpayment and to offer £10 per week for a year. Rather cheeky but it's expensive moving to another country, especially on one wage. For whatever reason they didn't get the letter so they wrote again - I just sent the same letter again. Then a couple of months later they again demanded nearly £10k/ I'm pretty sure the figure was slightly different from last time. No breakdown of figures was received. Quite frankly the tone of the letter was nasty and they ignored the offer I made. I wrote back again, repeating the same offer, but noting that my wife was unemployed and we were short of money so - if anything - they would have to accept a lower figure the longer they drew it out. Finally, today - six months after the initial letter - they wrote back again. They provided a breakdown of the overpayments and guess what? It was "only" £3.5k. They rejected the offer and said that if agreement could not be reached then they would pass the matter on to their debt recovery team (note: I think that's internal, not a debt collection agency). Again, the tone of the letter was condescending and accusatory. However, the problem I have is that we don't have that sort of money. My wife is still unemployed and I'm self employed, and we are eating away at the little equity I have left from selling the house in the UK - and that will run out at some point. She would be employed but it's taken months and months for the local nursing board to get their backsides into gear with her qualifications and NCLEX (exam). I doubt she'll be employed for a couple more months yet, and even then only if she passes the exam which is pretty tough. I'm not saying we won't pay this debt - I have made an offer twice which they have rejected, albeit for a lower figure. I really can't afford to offer them any more than what we already did, though of course I could pay it off over several years. The latest letter hinted that they would demand a change in repayment if my wife became employed - is that reasonable? My other concern is whether the NHS would try to sell the debt (is it a debt when it's an overpayment, compared to like a credit card or loan?) to the US. They know where we live unfortunately. I did think whether there might be an Ombudsman for the NHS who could mediate if we reach a stalemate. Personally I feel like writing to the local Trust and higher for the nasty tones of the letters, how long it's taken so far, and how they could cock up the amount owed by 3x the value - twice. Any ideas/tips much appreciated!