Granted DSP and also been given a debt

[fyfan]

I applied for DSP in October last year while receiving jobseeker payements as I waited for an outcome.

Earlier this week I had my DSP application approved and I was also given a substantial amount of money in backpay. But when I checked the Centrelink app last night, under the “money you owe” section it said that I owe Centrelink over $3000, listing it as “Internal transfer adjustment (auto)”.

I haven’t been given a debt notice by Centrelink, or an outcome letter for my DSP, these things just show in the app. However I did receive a letter from Centrelink that said my jobseeker payment has been retroactively cancelled the date I submitted my DSP claim. I’ve called Centrelink and asked for a formal review but am very confused by all this.

In the money you owe section it now says the details for my debt is “Due to changes in your circumstances, your new amount of payment is less than the amount of payments already made to you.”

This is bizarre as the DSP base rate is more money than the job seeker payment.

[genx]

First - don't worry. The debt is in error. What appears to have happened is that your Jobseeker benefit was cancelled, and your DSP benefits not applied. You should be getting a nice for the period in which your DSP application date the approval of your DSP. Just sort it out with Centrelink calmly.

[fyfan]

Thanks for replying!

I requested a statement of debt for the period from Centrelink and they said “ Period provided does not contain any debts. No document will be sent.”

Definitely seems like an error!

[mspurple]

I was on jobseeker while I was waiting for my DSP claim which took a while and a trip to the tribunal before being granted. As DSP was to be backpaid to the date I claimed I then owed them all the jobseeker payments back as I should have rightfully been on DSP not jobseeker- they told me I owed a certain amount but that it would be automatically adjusted from the huge backpay sum I was getting for the missed DSP payments.

You will possibly find it is to do with the altering of your payment title- DSP gets paid more than jobseeker so they should have accounted for that when they deposited the back payment. 

[fyfan]

Mar 1, 2024 12:00:35 GMT 7 mspurple said:

I was on jobseeker while I was waiting for my DSP claim which took a while and a trip to the tribunal before being granted. As DSP was to be backpaid to the date I claimed I then owed them all the jobseeker payments back as I should have rightfully been on DSP not jobseeker- they told me I owed a certain amount but that it would be automatically adjusted from the huge backpay sum I was getting for the missed DSP payments.

You will possibly find it is to do with the altering of your payment title- DSP gets paid more than jobseeker so they should have accounted for that when they deposited the back payment. 

That’s interesting! I think the backpay amount I got for dsp is around the same amount as the debt I owe for the jobseeker payments.

[bear]

Mar 1, 2024 11:44:17 GMT 7 fyfan said:

Thanks for replying!

I requested a statement of debt for the period from Centrelink and they said “ Period provided does not contain any debts. No document will be sent.”

Definitely seems like an error!

    to the forum fyfan.  This has been an ongoing error since 2000 when I was granted DSP.  Good advice given by our members. Cheers 🐻

[fyfan]

I got a Centrelink ‘overpayment’ letter under the mygov inbox.

The letter states again: “We have checked your JobSeeker Payment. Based on the information we have, you were paid too much.
For the period OCT 2023 to FEB 2024 you were still being paid JobSeeker Payment. The total amount of your new payment that you are entitled to for this period is less than the amount of the payments you have already received”.

This seems absurd as the DSP is obviously worth more than the jobseeker rate, and I’m paid the full single amount for either payment. I’ll call SSRV tomorrow but hope that I have a chance at challenging the debt.

[bear]

If SSRV can't sort you out fyfan, calling your Federal Representative can also be useful.

It's part of their remit to advocate for constituents with government departments; irrespective of their political flavour. Cheers 🐻

[fyfan]

A small update - the ARO spoke to me and said the calculations of the debt were wrong - but I still was slightly overpaid in my DSP backpay sum. So my debt was reduced to just under $500. I spoke to SSRV and they said that was a good outcome - and warned that if I appealed to the AAT that I could have the original debt amount reinstated and recommended I just pay off the new amount which I’ve done.

[tasjo]

if you need to, dont forget that you can make a payment arrangement with Centrelink to repay the debt in small amounts fortnightly.