4.12 - Overpayments

Overpayments refer to any assistance or benefits which have been paid to or on behalf of clients to which they were not entitled. Overpayments may occur as a result of administrative error, fraud (see legal action), or failure to report. The total amount of the overpayment will be applied to the client who is designated as being the Head of Household at the time the overpayment is identified.

NB Case will calculate an overpayment when the case manager enters information indicating the client is not eligible for assistance received. NB Case will consider all payments made to clients and/or on behalf of clients when calculating this overpayment, including:

• assistance,
• special benefits, (also see Security Deposits below)

NOTE:

Information/calculations regarding Health Services payments other than prescriptions, must be obtained from the Health Services unit. Information/calculations regarding prescriptions must be obtained from the Prescription Drug Program.

If an administrative error by SD or its' employees results in an overpayment, this will still be automatically set up by NB Case.

A client may contact their case manager or a screener within thirty days, if they wish to request a review of a decision with respect to financial assistance pursuant to Section 15 of the Regulations under the Family Income Security Act.

A client may also request a reduction to the amount that is deducted to repay an overpayment.

Security deposits paid during a period for which ineligibility has been determined will be included in the overpayment calculation. The case manager must contact the Rentalsman - if the deposit has not been claimed by the landlord, the case manager will request it be returned to SD. Upon verification that it has been returned to SD, the amount of the overpayment must be adjusted to lower it by the amount paid for the security deposit. See the Overpayment Repayment procedure for more details.

This refers to deductions which are made from a unit's assistance cheque and used to repay an overpayment. A deduction will be made if an overpayment exists on any case member. If more than one case member has an overpayment, the deduction will first be made against the overpayment of the Head of Household until he/she no longer has an overpayment balance. Then the deduction will be made against another member of the unit. NB Case will calculate these deductions at the rate of 5% of the case's Basic Household Rate.SD requires mandatory source deductions for all open cases.

See Legal Action.

• Administrative Support Staff may adjust overpayment balances using the Overpayment Repayment Procedure.  Payments must be made in cash, or by money order or certified cheque payable to the Minister of Finance.
• Accounting Services will use the Adjust Overpayment Total Procedure.
• Case Managers and Managers may request the manual adjustment of an overpayment by using either the Request a Manual Adjustment to Overpayment Balance or the Administrative Error-Overpayment procedures.

SD has an important responsibility in the prevention of overpayments to:

• counsel clients as to what causes overpayments
• ensure clients understand that deliberate failure to report changes in their circumstances could result in an overpayment and could constitute fraud, for which SD could take legal action

Receipts are issued manually from the official receipt book. See Policy # 406 - Remission of Revenue in the Administration Services Manual.

The restitution agreement form is used to indicate a client's agreement to repay an overpayment. As deductions at source will be automatically initiated for all open cases (other than cases pending legal action), the Restitution Agreement is necessary only for closed cases. Whenever a Restitution Agreement is signed, an affidavit form must also be completed; this is a legal document confirming the authenticity of the signatures on the Restitution Agreement. If the client is not receiving assistance and is not making payments, court action may be initiated to enforce the agreement. Court action may be taken at anytime up to three years from the date of the breach of the agreement. However, SD may proceed with court action at any time.