Salary Overpayment

[krisdevlin83]

Hi there, looking for some advice regarding a salary over payment I received from my previous employer.

I left my previous employer in the 10th January 2022. They paid me a full months wages at the end of January and when i received it I was shocked at the amount but didn't think anything of it at the time. There was a mix up with HR as i had to chase them for my P45 to give to my new employer and was told on the phone they weren't aware that i was leaving even though i handed my notice in a month before i left.

Anyway, i received a letter the other day saying that they had overpaid me and wanted the money back. I told them i couldn't afford to pay it all back at once and questioned why they were chasing me for it as it was an error on their part not mine. They offered me a 6 month payment plan to pay them back which again i told them i couldn't afford but did offer to pay back £50 a month. They told me this amount was unreasonable and that the 6 month deal was their final offer and if I declined they would be passing it on to the next stage of debt collections by issuing legal proceedings for the full amount.

I would just like some advice on where and how to proceed from here.

Thanks in advance

[ULA]

Your previous employer is legally entitled to recover any salary overpayment from you even if it was their error. That said your ex-employer does need to show flexibility in terms of seeking a repayment plan from you.

You have not said how much is owed but will the offer of £50 a month extend the 6 month payment period request by a substantial period?

[krisdevlin83]

Thanks for your reply. The amount owed is £1700 roughly so yes the payment period would be 30+ months. They want almost £300 a month and i cannot afford that

[ULA]

I guess the first thing to ask is, if you where shocked at what you had been paid, when you were chasing up your P45, did you ask about what had actually been paid which I assume you thought was more than you were entitled to?

I can appreciate that £300 is a lot over a 6 month period, however can you consider a compromise between that and 30+ months?

The only thing you may be able to argue is something called "estoppel which is where there was a genuine believe that you were legitimately entitled to the money and as such you have subsequently spent it. However given that you were expecting one month's salary and you were paid £1,700 more then this may be hard to argue.

[krisdevlin83]

Was just a normal months wages but they are saying because my final day was 10th of January i shouldn't have received a full months pay. i was surprised to receive a normal months wage. So wasn't £1700 over what i would normally earn. If there is no argument and the money has to be paid then thats fine i will just have to come to some agreement of what i can genuinely afford. I have an email trail between myself and the company trainee solicitor if it would help you to understand better??

[ULA]

Hi krisdevlin83 I think from what you have said it may be best to try and come to some compromise in terms of the repayment schedule.

More than happy if you want to PM me the email trail to have a look at if you think it would be useful.

I am going offline now but will be back on over the weekend.

[ULA]

Thank you for the email trail.

As I have set out they are, even given it was your ex-employers error, entitled to ask for the repayment and if it is not forthcoming start legal proceedings.

They have clearly moved from their stance of 3 months to 6 for repayment and in such situations, given the amount owing, they have to be seen to be reasonable in coming to a repayment plan and that in some measure has to go both ways.

I would suggest that you consider the affordability of repaying the amount owed over a 12 month period and if you can do this, then respond accordingly.