Child support overpayments and other payee debt 277-04260000

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Letters

UQ14.00 - Overpayment removal cooling off – Payer

UQ14.03 - Removal of overpayment - Residency – payee (payer no longer a resident)

UQ14.04 - Removal of overpayment – Residency - payer no longer a resident

Macros

Overpayments – talking to payers

Collection and debt

Automated Message – Election to have the liability no longer enforced

Using Services Australia Workspace, select CSP_DischargeArrears English

When selected from the Services Australia workspace, customers will be played the automated message:

'You’ve asked us not to enforce the recovery of a debt owed to you. This means you understand:

we will vary the child support account to remove this unpaid amount
this amount cannot be reclaimed or used to offset any monies you may owe, now or in the future
we will confirm your election in writing, and you will have a limited time to withdraw the instruction not to recover the amount if you change your mind
after this time, you will no longer be able to ask Services Australia to recover this amount'

Overpayment non-agency payment (NAP) examples

Table 1

Item	Description
1	Explanation of NAPs Child support payers can meet an enforceable maintenance liability by: cash payments to the Registrar, or via NAPs (s71, s71A or s71B of the CSRC Act) A NAP has the effect of reducing the amount payable to the Registrar, it is not a payment paid to the payee pursuant to s76 of the CSRC Act. As NAPs reduce the amount payable to the Registrar, the NAP amount is credited against the liability before the cash is credited. Crediting amounts in this order ensures that any cash that is paid above the amount the payer was required to pay to the Registrar, is treated as excess to the liability. A NAP cannot create an overpayment, pursuant to s69B, as a NAP credit is not an amount due to the Registrar or payable under s76. Therefore, a NAP overpayment is not considered a debt to the Commonwealth and is not recoverable by the Registrar. When a retrospective variation reduces a liability: which was met by a NAP credit, that credit will be applied to any child support debt amount that remains owing creating an overpayment, the agency must determine if the overpayment is a: 69B (cash) overpayment, and/or excess NAP credit As NAPs reduce the amount payable to the Registrar when a liability is retrospectively reduced and the amount paid (by NAPs, cash or a combination of both) is excess to that liability, cash payments must be uncredited first. The cash payment represents an amount the payer paid to the Registrar above the amount the payer was liable to pay to the Registrar.
2	Retrospective variation creates an overpayment A child support liability of $10,000 was met by: $5,000 of NAPs, and $5,000 of cash payments A retrospective variation reduced the liability to $5,000. There is a $5,000 overpayment. The NAPs reduce the amount payable by the payer to the Registrar to $5,000 Therefore, the amount payable to the Registrar, after the variation, is $0 The payer has paid $5,000 to the Registrar, which was paid to the payee under s76 As the amount the payee was entitled to under s76 is reduced to $0, they have been overpaid (s69B) by the $5,000 they received from the Registrar
3	All payments made by NAPs The payer has paid $100 NAPs each month to cover the ongoing liability, no other types of payments have been used to repay the Child Support. A subsequent variation resulted in a decrease and overpayment of $170. As no money has been collected or passed onto the payee through Child Support this overpayment/excess NAP cannot be collected and must be converted to a NAP credit. If the case: is active and agency collect, the NAP credit will be used against future ongoing liability in the same case has ended or is private collect the NAP credit will be removed
4	Payments made to Child Support and by NAPs – payment to Child Support is less than the overpayment The payer has paid $2,000 in NAPs and $400 to Child Support. A variation resulted in a decrease and overpayment of $1,700. As the amount of cash passed onto the payee through Child Support is less than the total overpayment, $1,300 of the overpayment must be converted from an overpayment to a NAP credit. If the case: is active and is agency collect, the NAP credit will be used against future ongoing liability in the same case has ended or is private collect the NAP credit will be removed
5	Payments made to Child Support and by NAPs – payment to Child Support is equal or more than the overpayment The payer has paid $1,900 in NAPs and $500 to Child Support. A subsequent variation resulted in a decrease and overpayment of $500. As the amount of cash passed onto the payee through Child Support in equal to or more than the total overpayment, the full overpayment is collectable. No changes need to be made to the NAPs. Complete normal overpayment collection process.

Examples relating to overpayments

Table 2