They typically claim damages based on overpayment for a product less valuable than that advertised, meaning the sums of money involved in individual suits are not particularly large.
It has been accompanied by threats of jail for those who do not pay, a joint police-Centrelink campaign targeting geographic areas, the imposition of a 10% debt recovery fee and plans to charge interest on welfare debts and remove the six-year statutory limit on retrieving overpayments.
It's interest on reserves!
Interest on Short-Term Debt.
Interest on Long-Term Debt.
The official statistics on overpayments do not factor in repayments to DWP, which amounted to about £500m in 2009-10, or a sixth of total gross losses – so actual losses to fraud and error were more like £2.6bn.
It says more than £600m a year is being spent on overpayments to people who no longer qualify for the level of benefits they are receiving.
Revenue, setting forth everything in detail, and received the following reply... "when your tax return is audited, your request for a credit of $72 on your '47 tax for overpayment on your '46 tax will almost certainly be disallowed".
But, in fact, nearly one million people fail to itemize mortgage interest, resulting in an overpayment of $473 million, according to a 2002 GAO Report.
Nearly half of those people who have never overpaid on their mortgage still put money into savings each month, and given the average interest rate on these people's savings accounts, in the long-term they may be better off using this money to make mortgage overpayments instead".
Congress and the Clinton administration directed the agency to spend a disproportionate share of its dwindling resources on monitoring overpayment of tax credits to low-paid workers.
