Previous employer claiming back overpaid wages

[LB888]

Hi all,

Grateful for any help on the following matter, I've spoken with Citizens Advice but still feeling a bit scared and unsure!

I worked for my previous employer for 6 years, leaving the company at the end of October. I always had a good relationship with them and had several promotions, but they were relocating most of the staff to another part of the country and I needed job security.

I received a full wage at the end of October, and again at the end of November. I assumed this was my final pay, a month in lieu, and hadn't received anything from HR advising me what I was owed etc. I had emailed my resignation to my line manager and head of department in line with company policy.

I didn't receive any further pay from the company in December (which I didn't expect to receive), or a copy of my P45. I thought there was a delay in sending me this due to them having to wait until my last payment was made in November, so I contacted the company at the end of December to chase. I received a response at the beginning of January advising I had been overpaid for part of October and all of November, and now owed the company over £2,700.

I stupidly didn't respond to the initial email and subsequent chaser, which I know was bad, but I was so shocked I didn't know what to do. I did reply after the third chaser to explain that I believed the money was my wages that I was due and that I had spent the money. The company were demanding repayment within 7 days of the full amount.

Since then we have had several emails back and forth. I advised that I have £500 in a savings account from an inheritance that I could pay, however they refused this and requested the money repaid over 6 months. This amounts to over £450 a month which I just don't have.

As well as being extremely threatening in their emails, refusing to issue my p45 until I have repaid the amount and making continued threats to take me to Court they also advised that they identified the error mid December, but chose not to notify me until the beginning of January so as not to 'ruin my Christmas'. During this time I spent a lot of money on presents that I wouldn't have done if I had known about the issue. I'm so angry they delayed telling me for this period of time.

I then received another £400 at the end of January which I advised them of, believing it was another error on their part. They said they were aware it was being sent, however didn't tell me about it, and it was overpaid tax which they were unable to stop being processed. I explained that i could return this, with the original £500 I had offered, which they accepted and said I then needed to repay the remaining amount over a maximum of 12 months. This is still over £150 a month which I don't have, I'm re-mortgaging to purchase an additional share of my shared-ownership flat and it's using every penny I have.

I think we're now in the position where they are taking further action and taking me to Court, which I'm so upset about. I received what I believed was money owed to me, I replied upon this in good faith and spent it on items that I would not have usually purchased (including a holiday, repaying debt, helping family and purchasing Christmas presents), the company failed to notify me when the issue was identified and since then have failed to attempt to agree reasonable repayments. I'm absolutely petrified of this going to Court though and it potentially derailing my re-mortgaging.

If anyone has any advice I would be so grateful!

[dc32]

Don't pay back anything, even the £900 you have, until you have had advice. If they're going to cause you trouble anyway, you might as well keep the money you have. What you might want to do, before anything else, is request a full accounting of all money you have been paid since the beginning of your employment, and what that money was for, so that you can be sure they have really overpaid you. It is not legal for them to withhold your P45, so you can make a complaint to the HMRC about that. The mistake was theirs, not yours. They are probably threatening you because they think they can intimidate you into giving them money without having to take you to court. They would probably spend more than £2700 to take you to court so they might end up writing it off anyway.I think that they should at least have to show you that they actually overpaid you, since they themselves apparently didn't realise it until several weeks afterward. For instance, one question is if you worked until the end of October, then how were you overpaid for that month? You should have received a full salary for that month. It just seems to me as though someone there doesn't know what they're doing. Don't let them convince you that you are the one in the wrong. If a mistake was made, it wasn't your fault, and you should not have to suffer for it.