02 June 2013

Centrelink calls in debt collectors to chase 99-year-old

CENTRELINK has called in debt collectors to chase a 99-year-old who had been overpaid $7700 in the aged pension, the Auditor-General has discovered. 
 
The debt collectors were unleashed before Christmas, just six weeks after the pensioner managed to pay back $2085.

The nonagenarian had been receiving overseas pension payments, on top of the Australian pension.

The Auditor-General also revealed yesterday that Centrelink had spent 22 years trying to recover $9400 it overpaid in unemployment benefits.

The debtor paid back $2638 last April but was referred to debt collectors in November.

The Auditor-General's report, tabled in Federal Parliament yesterday, reveals that debt collection agencies Dun & Bradstreet and Recoveries Corporation chased 152,682 Australians for debts totalling $368 million in the six months to February this year.

Centrelink's biggest outstanding debt was $197,485, paid to an aged pensioner who lived overseas for 15 years.

The agencies collected $114 million last financial year - just 16 per cent of the value of debts referred to them by Centrelink.

The report shows 7015 people still owe Centrelink more than $10,000 - with the average debt $20,000.

National Welfare Rights Network president Maree O'Halloran yesterday questioned why debt collectors had been sent after a 99-year-old.

"You wonder about the efficacy of it, and the human part of someone being hassled and harassed at 99 years of age," she said.

Ms O'Halloran said the debts were rarely deliberate.

"It's almost always someone's made a mistake - either Centrelink or the person (receiving the payment)," she said.

The report shows Centrelink "over-recovered" debts from 7021 Australians, who ended up paying back $6.3 million more than they were supposed to.

People on welfare benefits are able to pay back their debts gradually, usually through a 15 per cent reduction in their payments.

But those who find a job are referred to debt collectors if they fail to pay back the debt within 42 days.

The debt collection agencies are paid a commission - estimated at $8 million this financial year - based on how much cash they recover.

The report shows that nearly one million Australians owe Centrelink money - including 279,103 families overpaid the family tax benefit and 286,121 unemployed people paid too much in Newstart allowance.
Nearly half the debts are more than two years old.

One in eight people used a credit card to pay back the money.

news.com.au 31 May 2013

Debt collection in Australia is illegal.

Corpau has obtained information from legal sources that urged to maintain strict anonymity with regards to the matter.

This is literally a legal secret kept from the masses, as "revealing the mysteries of government*" is not on the agenda.
 
* - See corpau article:
  
Political Economy of the Mass Media - Stupid Man 

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