Overpayment from Ontario work 

Moderator

Moderator

Posts: 4137

Examples of valid reasons for suspending overpayment recovery include situations where:

• the overpayment balance on an active case is $2.50 or less and the overpayment has not yet been recommended for write off (for more information, please see the Recovery of overpayments section)
• recovery of the overpayment would result in undue hardship (for more information, please see the Overpayments on active cases section)
• the recipient’s only income is the personal needs allowance, or where recovery would result in the recipient’s monthly income from all sources to fall below the amount of the personal needs allowance (for more information, please see the Overpayments on active cases section)
• financial assistance is being deducted and applied to a Support Deduction Notice (SDN) and the amount deducted for the SDN exceeds 10% of the recipient’s budgetary requirements (for more information, please see the Overpayments on active cases section)
• the overpayment is on an inactive Temporary Care Assistance (TCA) case and the adult caregiver is a member of an active social assistance benefit unit (for more information, please see the Temporary Care Assistance overpayments section)
• the overpayment is on an inactive “dependent of dependent” case and the dependent parent is a member of an active social assistance benefit unit (for more information, please see the “Dependent of dependent” overpayments section)
• the overpayment is pending the outcome of bankruptcy proceedings, unless the court has granted permission for recovery to continue (for more information, please see the Bankruptcy section)
• the case is under criminal investigation/court proceedings for fraud and protocol with local authority requires that overpayment recovery be suspended until the outcome of the investigation/court proceedings is known (for more information, please see the Cases of alleged fraud section)
• the overpayment is pending the outcome of a Consumer Proposal (for more information, please see the Negotiated settlements to defer collection activity on inactive cases section)
• the overpayment is under internal review
• the overpayment is under appeal and the Social Benefits Tribunal (SBT) has ordered Interim Assistance to be paid to the recipient

Caseworkers should set a reasonable review date (e.g., one month, three months, etc.) for these overpayments on a case-by-case basis according to the circumstances. At the review, a decision should be made on the appropriate status of the overpayment (e.g., begin collection, maintain as temporarily uncollectible, recommend for write off per the write off criteria in this directive, etc.), and should provide written notice of the decision to the recipient (and spouse, if applicable).