Overpayment - can they deduct from future payments

[Langkawi]

Hi,

Following on from a my previous post "Sack or sue an incompetent pimp" I've made some headway with the muppets at the agency.

They've made payment to cover the outstanding monies and things are moving the right direction.

However, true to form they have just made another balls up as follows:

I submitted an invoice, lets call it invoice A - for one weeks work.

On the same payslip they have paid me twice i.e two payments for 35 hours but at different rates for invoice A. Not a big difference, but I'm ahead thru receiving nearly twice what was due to me.

Given all the hassle the agency has caused me I'm not in a hurry to point out the mistake. When I get round to it (and it won't be for a while) I'll send them as vague letter about a discrepancy and ask them to get in touch. Will basically count on their incompetence as a factor in my favour for once. I will of course charge them £100 admin fee for issueing the cheque to repay these monies should they ever get round to asking for them. (as you can probably tell I'm not best pleased with this pimp and intend sticking it to them at any given opportunity).

Anyway my question is this.

If I issue invoice B for say 40 hours. Can they legally deduct the overpayment from invoice A and pay me the balance?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Cheers,
Alan

[ratewhore]

I personally would discuss credit/debit notes with the pimp as there could be VAT issues...

[MrRobin]

I personally would discuss credit/debit notes with the pimp as there could be VAT issues...

Hmm.. how? Sorry to hijack this thread, but if it is relevant to the OP...

I had an invoice underpaid at first, I told the agency over several phonecalls the payment was £x short of what was on the invoice, and they then paid £x + VAT. It was about £20 overpaid, and after all the palava of dealing with idiotic pimps, I couldn't be arsed to tell them yet again they got it wrong. My accountant obv. only saw the original invoice, not this cock up, so I just paid Hector the 13% of the original.

[Langkawi]

Hi,

I'll need to speak to my accountant anyway. Agency were underpaying me for ages but have now reversed the trend. Not in a hurry to pay them back as it's now their problem.

Anyone able to tackle the question about whether they can just deduct from future payments? Or can I insist they request back and then hit them with an 'admin charge'?

Cheers,
Alan

[ratewhore]

Hmm.. how? Sorry to hijack this thread, but if it is relevant to the OP...

I had an invoice underpaid at first, I told the agency over several phonecalls the payment was £x short of what was on the invoice, and they then paid £x + VAT. It was about £20 overpaid, and after all the palava of dealing with idiotic pimps, I couldn't be arsed to tell them yet again they got it wrong. My accountant obv. only saw the original invoice, not this noddy up, so I just paid Hector the 13% of the original.

So you owe the VAT on the overpayment then. Maybe not a problem with a small overpayment but if you are talking thousands of pound, Hector may take a different view. Bear in mind your VAT quarters too.

I'm sure they are all small issues but it's always best to get a qualified opinion.

[Bluebird]

I thought I read somewhere that knowingly holding on to payments incorrectly made to you can be treated as theft.

This is usually when a bank inadvertantly credits your account with £1,000,000 - but I guess the same applies to agents.

You cannot knowingly hold on to money which is not yours - the agents would be within their rights to underpay a subsequent invoice but your best bet is to keep quiet and stash it in a Savings A/c.

You can put in through your books as un-invoiced income and just leave it there - problem comes at year end when it needs to appear on your balance sheet - but your accountants can sort that out - it's a bit like un paid debts but in reverse.

By the way IANAA.

[DodgyAgent]

Hi,

Following on from a my previous post "Sack or sue an incompetent pimp" I've made some headway with the muppets at the agency.

They've made payment to cover the outstanding monies and things are moving the right direction.

However, true to form they have just made another balls up as follows:

I submitted an invoice, lets call it invoice A - for one weeks work.

On the same payslip they have paid me twice i.e two payments for 35 hours but at different rates for invoice A. Not a big difference, but I'm ahead thru receiving nearly twice what was due to me.

Given all the hassle the agency has caused me I'm not in a hurry to point out the mistake. When I get round to it (and it won't be for a while) I'll send them as vague letter about a discrepancy and ask them to get in touch. Will basically count on their incompetence as a factor in my favour for once. I will of course charge them £100 admin fee for issueing the cheque to repay these monies should they ever get round to asking for them. (as you can probably tell I'm not best pleased with this pimp and intend sticking it to them at any given opportunity).

Anyway my question is this.

If I issue invoice B for say 40 hours. Can they legally deduct the overpayment from invoice A and pay me the balance?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Cheers,
Alan

You've got 6 years stay schtum, keep your head down and the money is then yours to keep

[vetran]

Yes contact them and advise them, email the pimp he probably won't pass it on to accounts. You could show the overpayment as a credit on the next invoice or not depends on your accounting system. It sucks as they have wasted loads of your time but anything else is fraud.

If you weren't invoicing them again then you might accdidentally forget it,do pay the tax on it!