Overpayment of wages

[J9324]

A previous employer has contacted me stating I owe money having been overpaid.
This overpayment apparently happened in December 2016 after I had left. They first tried to contact me in December 2021 and have apparently made numerous attempts since via phone and letter. However, none of these communications reached me despite my email address and phone number never changing and due to them chasing via old addresses - it was only by chance that one was eventually forwarded onto my new address.

Despite the delay in me becoming aware of the debt, I understand that given they did attempt communication within the last 6 years the limitation period here does not apply. However, would it be reasonable to argue they did not make sufficient or reasonable attempts to contact me? Particularly given I still work within another department of the Civil Service.

I'm most concerned about it not being possible to prepare my defence. Whilst I did retain my previous employment contract and pay stubs for a period of up to 5 years, I have since disposed of them. From what I recall, I believe that upon me moving jobs my new department didn't pay me as I hadn't been transferred to their payroll so it was arranged for my old department to pay me instead. I have no way of proving this, but is the burden on me or them to investigate? And what then happens if my old department also have no records? There would have been emails dealing with my issue on my old work account which I no longer have access to, so this will be incredibly difficult to prove.

Any advice on how to deal with this would be greatly appreciated.

[atticus]

Pay stubs - are you in the US?

If you are in the UK it appears that this employer has a limitation problem, the overpayment having been made over 7 years ago (the limitation period being 6 years).

[J9324]

I'm in the UK! I don't think that the limitation period here applies thought as the cause of action is within six years - i.e. they did attempt to contact me, were just hopeless about it!

[atticus]

The cause of action is the facts that give rise to a claim, in this case the over payment in 2016. Court action must be commenced before the expiry of the limitation period.

[J9324]

Interesting, this seems to be a point around which there is a real lack of charity. I have found guidance on gov.uk which states:

"The time limit is applicable from the date the overpayment decision was made. For overpayments caused by a mistake or error, including fraudulent overpayments, the time limit is applicable from the date the mistake or error was discovered by."

So apparently, even though they only discovered it in 2021 having made the payment in 2016, it is not timed out now until 2027!

[atticus]

What is the source of your quotation? Is it reliable? The internet contains dodgy stuff as well. I would qualify that by saying from the date by which the mistake should have been identified.

Why don't you just tell them a claim is time-barred, and leave them to decide whether to pursue it?

[J9324]

It's from official gov.uk guidance relating to managing public money, so is 100% reliable! I have tried stating it is out of time already but they are still pursuing in the aforementioned grounds above...

[atticus]

It's from official gov.uk guidance relating to managing public money, so is 100% reliable! .

Ha ha ha!

You know my views. Have they actually issued a court claim?

[PallasAthena]

Interesting, this seems to be a point around which there is a real lack of charity. I have found guidance on gov.uk which states:

"The time limit is applicable from the date the overpayment decision was made. For overpayments caused by a mistake or error, including fraudulent overpayments, the time limit is applicable from the date the mistake or error was discovered by."

So apparently, even though they only discovered it in 2021 having made the payment in 2016, it is not timed out now until 2027!

Your quotation is from the DWP guidance to Local Authorities on recovering overpaid Housing Benefit, nothing to do with a private company seeking to recover overpaid wages. Part 7: Courts and civil proceedings - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

I would do as Atticus suggests. Just write and tell them it is statute barred. Let them explain why they think it isn't. There's a template here you can adapt to your situation. Statute Barred Debt Letter - LegalBeagles Forum Send by post and get proof of posting.

It's important that in that letter you tell them your current address to stop them getting a default judgement against you by serving court papers on your old address.

It'll be interesting to hear their explanation of why the earliest date they could reasonably have been expected to identify a 2016 overpayment was 2021!