'N While I'm There, I'll just nip Out and Buy A Property

[bushies.girl]

Well why not? lol

[the_great_she_elephant]

I've just been reading a post on FB by someone who did that (paid the money back) twice in a row,notifying Centrelink each time - and a few months later when Centrelink finally completed their investigation they got billed for the  amount they had payed back as overpayment. I guess you were just very lucky.

[bushies.girl]

Given the high volume of people who deal with Centetrlink, I guess mistakes are bound to happen   ..... Funny thing is, you never seem to read about the times where Centerlink got it right lol

[davidc4430]

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@domino-710 wrote:

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@lyndal1838 wrote:

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@domino-710 wrote:

Begs the question though ;

Everyone knows what they receive per fortnight or whatever - surely if overpaid - pay it back immediately.

Not a good idea to spend it - get caught - then have to pay back.

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It is not necessarily as simple as that.

Have you read about the recent debarcle with Centrelink payments?

And you can't just "pay it back" if you know Centrelink has made a mistake in your payment.   You have to notify them and let them "investigate".  These investigations can take weeks during which time your debt is increasing all the time.  They have to be the ones to tell you there has been a mistake and make you feel like a criminal for their mistake.

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I humbly beg to differ.

I was caught in these circumstances.

Noticed the overpayment - went to the bank - got a Bank Cheque - made out to Centrelink - then insisted they take it.

They had no other choice - no way was my so called ' debt ' going to increase.

Please keep in mind - those that are employed by Centrelink - are your employees.

And they do take complaints very seriously - as they have to.

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so tell me, what if you hadn't noticed this overpayment?

what if the error was there from the start, not huge but there every fortnight. year after year, growing and growing.

thats the kind of errors that cause the turmoil we are seeing, not some welfare cheats, a simple error made when filling out the large numbers of documents when applying for the payment.

or perhaps a mistake by someone at centerlink HQ when entering the information into the system.

what may have been a small amount at the begining can add up to a huge amount after years of not being noticed.

suddenly you get a letter in the post saying you owe thousands in overpayments or because incorrect information was supplied.

some people filling out these complicated documents dont have any idea about how acurate things need to be.

yep, smart people do notice things, but a lot of unemployed, pensioners and others on benifits are not smart, i know i'm not.

[domino-710]

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@the_great_she_elephant wrote:

I've just been reading a post on FB by someone who did that (paid the money back) twice in a row,notifying Centrelink each time - and a few months later when Centrelink finally completed their investigation they got billed for the  amount they had payed back as overpayment. I guess you were just very lucky.

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She - deal with Centrelink - or for that matter any other gov. body.

Remember - you are the client - they the emloyee.

Had one bad instant at my local - very hot day - as usual the line.

And the little hitler organising the line.

Told me to rid myself of the water bottle - no drinks - food etc etc.

Told her - no way.

Young woman behind me - very young little person in a stroller - had come by public transport.

Hitler says - you may as well all go - hello - this is 4pm.

She was so insistant - I said to the young woman - where have you travelled from.

Dropped her and the young child home.

Arrived home - got online - put in the best complaint I have ever done - telling them I would never set foot again in the local office.

Received a phone call - 2 days later - from the Manager of the local - telling me I didn't have to wait in line - just let her know I was there and she would handle it.

Thanked her - never put a foot in their door again.

[domino-710]

Oh dear goodness David,

You cannot always plead ignorance - in fact you can never pead ignorance..

Keep on top of your finances - nobody else will.

We are all expected to be adults - in charge of our existance.

How could that possibly go on for years.

[davidc4430]

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@domino-710 wrote:

Oh dear goodness David,

You cannot always plead ignorance - in fact you can never pead ignorance..

Keep on top of your finances - nobody else will.

We are all expected to be adults - in charge of our existance.

How could that possibly go on for years.

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you must live in that other world, the one where everyone is highly intelligent, well educated ect ect

i live in the real world,

take a trip to your local centerlink office, spend a few hours observing the clientelle.

then come back and tell me you saw no one who couldnt look after their finances without help.

or do people like 'that' not count?

[the_great_she_elephant]

Are there any documented cases where Centrelink have discovered - or had it pointed out to them - that  they have been underpaying someone over a period of time and Centrelink have then backpayed the client?

[domino-710]

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@davidc4430 wrote:

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@domino-710 wrote:

Oh dear goodness David,

You cannot always plead ignorance - in fact you can never pead ignorance..

Keep on top of your finances - nobody else will.

We are all expected to be adults - in charge of our existance.

How could that possibly go on for years.

---

you must live in that other world, the one where everyone is highly intelligent, well educated ect ect

i live in the real world,

take a trip to your local centerlink office, spend a few hours observing the clientelle.

then come back and tell me you saw no one who couldnt look after their finances without help.

or do people like 'that' not count?

---

I give up.

The fact that I have been to Centrelink - states I live in your world.

[go-tazz]

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@the_great_she_elephant wrote:

Are there any documented cases where Centrelink have discovered - or had it pointed out to them - that  they have been underpaying someone over a period of time and Centrelink have then backpayed the client?

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Yes,I know of at least three instances of that happening,

[myoclon1cjerk]

I can she-ele. Someone I know was working as a contractor and used an ABN to bill his clients. He informed Centrelink at the beginning of the financial year,who told him that he had to submit an estimate for his entire earnings for that year. Knowing all the jobs he been promised,he gave a fairly accurate figure. They immediately docked his payments even though the first job was not to commence for another 6 weeks. He also had to complete that job before he got paid,a total of over 2 months.
He struggled until sometime in December when he was supposed to start the jobs that accounted for 75% of his estimate. As luck would have it,these jobs fell through in late December or January. He went to Centrelink and informed them and submitted a profit and loss statement,thinking they would put him back on full benefits. No such luck. In fact they doubled the amount he actually earned and said that was the rules.
Finding it impossible to survive on about $250 per fortnight he had to borrow from friends. Later, just before the EOFY he phoned Centre link to sort it out. The person on the phone stated that Centrelink staff should not have insisted on him giving an earnings estimate and got his local office to submit a request for a review.
Here's the nasty part. Some weeks later he received a lot of paperwork from Centrelink. He showed me the contents which informed him that due to the fact that he did not tell them of his change in circumstances within 13 weeks, they were not liable to pay him backpay. The poor guy was underpayed to the tune of $6500,a substantial amount when you are on Newstart. Even though he can get more of this work,he flat out refuses to do it again. Once bitten.