NotMyDebt Stories
We are collecting stories on the site because we think it's important to have a way to people to add their voice to this issue by sharing their story. It's puts a human voice to the issues with using technology and automating systems and providing a blanket solution without providing staff and people that can right wrongs and help people when there is an error.
Please share your story with us if you have a Centrelink debt story that you believe has been issued in error or due to a fault in the system.
As frustrating as it is, persist with the appeals process, and know others are behind you.
Stories are 100% anonymous
My partner in 2013 overestimated his income so Centrelink said I have been overpaid. How do I get payslips from back in 2013 from someone I'm not with any more & the company he worked for no longer exists?????
I was slammed with a $2,700 debt from the 2012-2013 tax year that DID NOT exist. After having to talk it out with Centrelink over the phone (after trying to go in person to an office, waiting on the phone forever and a day)... it came back as $800.
throughout this ordeal everyone around me has suffered, not just me. Teary, anxious, often a huge sense of futility overcame me, and the worst part- the waiting. The lost DAYS on the phone, which amount to 8-9 days in full, 5 hour wait times, being passed from department to department.
Feeling extremely anxious as Centrelink debt notices sent to my previous address just before Christmas. I never received the initial letter as I have moved house. The did not know what the very first text message was about because I am no longer on Centrelink, so I assumed Centrelink had mistakenly sent me a notice to update my income details.
My son doesnt understand how this could even be an issue.They are saying he has to repay this money because he wasn't s student at the time and didnt attend the course. This is completely false as he had to have psssed these subject to complete his bachelor of IT which he did sucessfully.
I was shocked, being a single mum and a carer for my youngest son has put a huge strain on my life. I have no choice to pay it as the company I used to work for no longer exists. So nor able to get any payslips and the ones I did have were in my email account which was wiped when they were taken over by outlook.
Well, that fact that it was over Christmas while everything was closed and I found the letter on my last hour of work for the year - I was hysterical.
They sent me a letter demanding that I owe money from 5 years ago, I need to provide proof that I haven't work for 2 month when I was on the newstart allowance. Even though when I apply for newstart , i have to provide all the proof that I was not working.
I am furious because i did The Right Thing and proudly went off the Parenting Payment Single benefit for a few magic weeks when i could garner enough Casual shifts to do so. All-night shifts, early morning...
I am already struggling with anxiety and depression and this is compounding that. I worry about how I will pay bills and have enough for food if the debt is not revoked. I am on a partial capacity to work due to a chronic back condition and if I do get work now, I would need to earn enough to preempt a debt for This financial year also.
This debt was confusing right from the start. I was expected to look back 6 years ago to my casual work that I was doing while studying? I can't remember 6 month ago let alone 6 years.
I panicked, cried, and feared that every year I had ever used Centrelink benefits for a short time that i would now have to pay it back. Had the rules changed? Why didn't they tell me when I applied for benefits at the time? I answered the yes or no question on the website, and found my tax return for that year.
I have been on Disability Support Pension with high anxiety, high depression, high insomnia and lessened comprehension skills due to Post Concussive Syndrome from an Acquired Brain Injury
Received letter June 2015 that Centrelink owed me $354 family tax benefit after tax return lodged for 14/15 year. Then, in June 2016 I get a letter saying I owe $1,657 for 14/15 year.
Silly me, I didn't question the accuracy of the Government and dutifully paid it assuming they were right.
I have been on the disability pension for many years. I've been extremely unwell, spent a lot of time in hospital and it has taken a lot of hard work to get to the point where I'm well enough to finally get a part time job, from home.
I am one of the many people who have been caught up in this situation due to a change of address. I was unaware of the letter which was sent out, and by the time I finally received a text and was able to go online to check what was going on, I had been given a debt of $2056.
Hi received this letter before xmas i was devistated i have always worked and reported my income which was not much. I have supplied the income they wanted that was not good enough not all the pay slips from that year but nothing has happened. Im over it. Im already paying an apparent debt on a ftb payment. Total is over 17k.
Wasted copious amounts of my time (8 hours so far, and counting - I have only just begun the review process). Hours on the phone to Centrelink, handballed between departments. I am already trying to get my private debt under control, and have been hit with this. Immensely stressful, and very annoying.
I went back to uni in 2012 after finishing a degree three years prior. I applied for Austudy as I received Youth Allowance for a year or two while undertaking my first degree. I notified Centrelink that I was unemployed for the duration of my new studies, and sent them transcripts from my first four year course.
My wife received a letter informing her she had been overpaid. The details were that there was a discrepancy that occurred in 2012. At that time I strictly adhered to the stringent and continually changing reporting requirements so it should have been impossible to make such an error.
Although the amount may seem small by comparison to others it was still a shock .
I did my tax return 2016. the amount I was apparently overpaid was instantly deducted .
i received no letter or payment options.this is what is the hardest to deal with.
my estimate was right for the first half of the year.
I have been diagnosed with depression and an anxiety disorder. Most of the time this is manageable, but sometimes it becomes incapacitating, to the point where I have been hospitalised. Any stressful situation doesn't help my symptoms, but my recent dealings with Centrelink have sent my stress levels through the roof.
me due I am a single parent with no other income i havent worked in some time due to raising my children yet according centrelink my last years tax return is in review as well as my whole 2015/2016 is in review and i am in 7500 debt as i have been over paid for the whole financial year and i am now havin to make $90 payments fortnightly and i ca
I'm trying to finish my uni course and look for work at the same time. This is already a stressful time, so to start repaying a debt (still waiting for a reassessment..) just before Christmas was horrible. And it was up to me to first notify the Centrelink staff (who were very helpful) about where the issue came from.