Help - I've been overpaid for 18 months!!!

[Vindicated]

Ah i see, so it was the Payroll thingy i mis-read. My apologies.

 

Well cankster details some very valid points, however i understand you would rather have it sorted asap instead of the stress of a tribunal etc; i know how that feels as im about to take my Ex employer to court so im a tad stressed lol

 

Just one thing though :

 

The purpose of the investigation was to determine whether or not i deliberately withheld the money. I was advised that i could be disciplined pending the results of the investigation. I was advised by my manager that the witness statements have been reviewed and no further action will be taken against me. I don't have this in writing but I believe that this finding backs up the fact that i wasn't aware that i was being overpaid although i did not dispute that i had been overpaid.

 

That itself is an extremely positive comment, there investigations seem to point that you were not deliberately witholding the money; therefore in law THEY should have done more to check payments/changes to your salary and are held 100% accountable.

 

So if you wanted to argue the case, this would be quite a strong point for you, and i'd imagine a tribunal would rule in your favour as the employer has deemed itself liable for the error and that you were in no wrong doing.

[Harrison04]

Good luck with your case Vindicated!! I can't imagine how stressful your situation is - I'm currently sat at home with my second bout of IBS following the misleading events of last week!!

 

Thanks for your support, I truly appreciate it.

[Harrison04]

Still waiting to here HR's response to my proposal of a 50:50 split.

 

Assuming they accepted this proposal and agreed to take back my 50% over 18 months - does anybody know how the overpayment is collected if I left the company? Not sure that I want to continue with a 2.5 hour daily commute costing appx £200 a month to work this company any more.

[Vindicated]

Hmm..I'd imagine they would just expect you to pay a set amount into a nominated bank account.

 

If you leave prior to an arrangement...technically speaking you can argue the points raised by cankster as nothing is in writing at the moment

[Harrison04]

I've now had an offer from HR regarding repayment of the overpayment.

 

HR have agreed:

 

> overpayment is £14K gross

> they will write off £8K gross leaving me with £6K gross to pay

> subject to my written approval they will deduct £260 gross on a monthly basis for 24 months.

 

In principle I am happy with this outcome however, before i have seen a lot of advice to check the position for tax/N.I. and make sure that it is included in the company's offer - should I sign the letter as it is subject to a discussion about the tax/N.I or should i get further clarification from them before signing?

[The GodMother]

if u are worried about anything especially the tax and ni i would advise u speak to HR and have that written into the agreement.

[Harrison04]

Hi Godmother, thanks for your comments - I contacted HR about the tax/N.I. stuff and their response is posted here.... http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/employment-problems/206408-overpayment-tax-n-i.html

 

would appreciate your input!

[ch114275]

I'm not sure how this ended for Harrison04 but my step-father has just been through a similar experience of being overpaid every month for almost 5 years by an amount totalling over £21,000.

 

Briefly, he's a doctor and should normally get paid for 10 sessions every week. However, from 2005 - 2010 he was paid for an extra 2 sessions through no fault of his own. He had claimed the extra sessions back in 2005 but was promoted at the same time and as they'd been on his payslip for so long assumed that they were a legitimate part of this promotion. He was sent a letter informing him of the overpayment along with a demand to "discuss repayment" from HR and panicked.

 

After reading this thread and we contacted the BMA who advised him that he was legally obliged to repay the money. His departmental head had also told him that it looked inevitable that he would have to repay the £21,000 and that he had been told this by HR. However, I advised him to dispute the overpayment after seeing the excellent advice posted here and helped him draft a firm letter to HR disputing the alleged overpayment, stating that he had sought legal advice and requesting a detailed financial breakdown of the gross and net amounts that they claimed were overpaid. I also worded a section about him having received the payments in good faith and felt in no way responsible and that he wasn't aware of the fact. I also mentioned the stress and worry that it had caused him and that it had meant he couldn't concentrate on his job (putting patients to sleep).

 

Although this is NHS money that has been overpaid here I firmly believe that the law is right in this instance. His manager submitted a claim form that he hadn't even signed which was agreed by HR, signed off by Finance and actioned by Payroll so there's 4 people who should have spotted it but didn't and if you include my step-dad then it's 5. So my argument would have been to split it 5 ways but he got a letter from HR in the new year saying that the overpayment had been written off as it was through no fault of his own but still had an accompanying letter for him to sign to agree to this being the end of the matter!

[Sidewinder]

Good news for your stepfather. No doubt the issue was looked at in detail and it was decided that it was best to leave well alone. One can imagine the unwarranted publicity alone that this was likely to create meant that it was a can of worms they did not particularly want opened.

[Mash It Up Harry]

Good news for your stepfather. No doubt the issue was looked at in detail and it was decided that it was best to leave well alone. One can imagine the unwarranted publicity alone that this was likely to create meant that it was a can of worms they did not particularly want opened.

 

Unbelievable. No wonder the NHS is shot to pieces. I mean, we all know Doctors are underpaid (!) but I don't believe for one minute that your step father had no idea at all that at some point he was being overpaid.

 

Well done you! Another victory for righteous! I mean it is so easy to miss an extra £4000 a year isn't it?