Help! Centrelink has overpaid me.

[Iseveryonehappy]

centrelink ? oh yes conflicting information .Well after much confusion and conflicting responses from centrelinks call centres and or face to face staff,I realize it all comes down to:-
1.the lack of proper training of staff
2.the total unaccountability of centrelink
3.the time of day(after 12 noon its well know that public servants loose their concentration abilities
4 the mood of the person with whom your talking to.

By all means apply to get your "Freedom of information" files from centrelink,no fee if on health card.

[Danny_b]

Just ring them up and ask for a letter stating that debt of $x amount was repaid in full at x date.

Keep that in case anything happens in the future as their computers have a habit of 'computer glitches'.

[Mauso]

I paid via BPay and I have a printed copy of the receipt from Netbank. How do I get a "signed, stamped, reciept numbered copy of the reciept" from Centrelink?

[mada_3083]

mauso, no there is no risk to your criminal record, or even your credit rating by explaining the overpayment.

however get a signed, stamped, reciept numbered copy of the reciept of the repayment, and get a similar document from centrelink stating that the debt is repayed. hold onto these like they were your own children, because centrelink has a habit of "misplacing" files...

[Ganges 12]

I do believe that you can also get a copy of what has been placed on your file at the time with all relevant details thereon.

i.e. time entered, who entered it etc.

[h2o]

Quite right Tangles, they don't keep paper records but they do scan your letter so it can be reviewed at a later date.

[Tangles]

I omitted to say get everything in writing.

H2o I doubt if they keep paper records anymore. I think, from personal experience, once its been sighted the details are transferred to their database and the papers destroyed. Otherwise they would be neck-deep in paperwork surely?

[Tangles]

I agree with Tdierikx about going to their office OR if phoning ALWAYS get a receipt number and the first name of the staff member you spoke with.

When you attend their office you should ask to speak with a Senior Practitioner. They know more of Social Security laws, or more at least than the counter staff who in the main are barely "only trained in the basics and thrown in the deep end" (CENTRELINK's description) and probably explains why CENTRELINK regularly advertises to replace disgruntled staff.

This example possibly doesnt apply now as I think they have toughened up, but many years ago I ran up a debt of over $4000 with over-payments, because they had lost a list of my investments. After being given a month to repay it, which I dragged my feet with, they then offered me a 50% discount if I paid in an additional fortnight. Guess who found the money real quick?

[h2o]

As T said, go there and speak to a supervisor, also give them a written letter with everything on it. They will file this and then later deny that you ever told them.

Ask them to pull out your letter of XX date and to read it. Put everything in writing, when you have a meeting with them go home and write everything down and them send Centrelink a letter telling them what you discussed, who with and the agreed outcomes.

Get your version on file and ask them to write to you if they disagree with your understanding of the meeting.

[tdierikx]

I would actually take the time to go into my local Centrelink office and ask to talk to the supervisor about this situation, and don't leave until you have something in writing indicating that it has all been sorted and approved...

... but that's just me... *grin*

T.

[Mauso]

I'm changing this from 'Comment' to 'Complaint', simply because I got two conflicting responses, and if I hadn't gone to the effort of checking up on the first Centrelink employee I spoke to, I would have ended up with much more than a few hundred dollars worth of debt. (The $600 I currently owe is my fault. Anything beyond that would have been Centrelink's fault because the employee told me the wrong information.)

I'd rather pay up now than deal with lawyers later.

[Thing]

Just keep calling back until you get the answer you want (make sure they record that one)

[Cas98]

If you call again, someone else might say you do not exist on their system. That is the way their systems work.. They don't!

[Mauso]

I just called Centrelink and the man I spoke to this morning was wrong. I *do* owe money after all.

Oh well. At least the debt isn't accumulating anymore.

[Mauso]

I went to Centrelink this morning. According to the man I spoke to, I have *not* been overpaid because I am classified as "independent", and therefore my parents' income has no affect on my payments.

Be that as it may, the last time I move back home with my parents (a year ago), my payments were reduced from the "18 and over, away from home" rate, to the "18 and over, at home" rate.

When I log into Centrelink's online services, my address has been changed to "Home", but it still says I am to be paid $355.40 (which is the Away-From-Home rate). If this is incorrect, I need to contact Centrelink again (sigh). But if I am being paid the correct amount, on account of my "independent" status, then that means I was UNDER-paid in the past, to the tune of $1000.

I know Centrelink chases down debts from years ago. Do they cough up when they've made the mistake?