Every now and then an employee’s benefit claim gets overpaid by the plan carrier. So what happens after that?
In those rare cases where a worker is overpaid on the claim, it’s usually legal for the plan sponsor or insurer to try and get that money back — and doing so could help stop your premiums from going up the following year.
Here are eight legal methods in which overpayments can be recouped (in increasing order of difficulty):
- Negotiating a monthly repayment plan with the employee (normally through a wage deduction)
- Sending billing statements from the carrier to the employee
- Deducting from future benefits until the overpayment is satisfied
- Referral to a private collection agency or state revenue department
- Intervening in workers’ comp or unemployment benefit claims
- Filing for court-ordered wage garnishments
- Contesting state income or property tax refunds, and/or
- Filing liens on property.
