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Expected to Work/Barriers to Full Employment Policy & Procedures

Published Date: May 12, 2020
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14 Overpayment, Debt and Recovery

Repayment Agreements

AUTHORITY

Income and Employment Support Act (IESA), section 16
Income Support, Training & Health Benefits Regulation, section 99

POLICY

A repayment agreement is a signed agreement in which the client agrees to repay a known amount or value of assistance owing to the Government. A client may be required to sign a repayment agreement as a condition of eligibility for an amount or value of assistance. Or a client may choose to sign a repayment agreement to voluntarily repay an amount or value of assistance.

Note
Common Service Delivery (CSD) is administering financial benefits for some Barriers to Full Employment clients and does not have the capacity to see clients in the office to sign an agreement.  Client’s whose financial benefits are administered at CSD, will provide verbal agreement to repay the benefit which will be recorded and stored on the “Witness” Contact Store system.  These recordings have the same effect as a signed agreement.

Signing the Repayment Agreement

By signing a repayment agreement the client indicates an agreement to repay. If the client refuses to sign the repayment agreement, program staff do not issue the benefit.

Before signing a repayment agreement, clients must be informed of the following:

  • the client is required to repay the benefit, and that the client has the right to appeal the requirement to repay; and
  • if the client does not sign the repayment agreement and wishes to appeal, the benefit will not be issued until after the appeal is resolved, at which time eligibility for the benefit will be assessed.

Anticipated Payments from another Source

Provided they meet all other eligibility requirements, clients in need of Income Support while awaiting funds from another source must agree to repay any duplicate Income Support benefits once payment from the other source is received.

If information is received (e.g., from the client or a lawyer) that a client may receive funds from another source for the same period they are receiving Income Support benefits, and if the amount of duplicate payment that will result from the lump sum payment is known, an EMP 0976B Repayment Agreement must be signed before any additional Income Support benefits are issued.

If the client refuses to sign the EMP 0976B Repayment Agreement the worker does not issue benefits to the member of the household unit who is awaiting income from another source and who has refused to sign the EMP 0976B Repayment Agreement under IESA, section 16(2). This may include the entire household unit or one member of the household unit.

Household Members under 18 Years Old

When a household member younger than 18 years of age is awaiting income from another source:

    • If the parent is also a claimant, the parent must complete a separate EMP 0976B Repayment Agreement.
    • If the child is younger than 18 years of age, but older than 12 years of age, the child and legal guardian must complete the EMP 0976B Repayment Agreement together.
    • If the child is younger than 12 years of age, only the legal guardian is required to complete the EMP 0976B Repayment Agreement.

Unknown Amount: Anticipated Payments From Another Source

There may be situations when a client anticipates a potential lump sum from another program or source, but the details of the settlement are not known with reasonable certainty. For example, this may occur when lump sums from the following sources are expected;

    • Insurance settlements,
    • Legal claims,
    • Canada Pension Plan (CPP) benefits,
    • Old Age Security (OAS) benefits, or
    • Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) benefits/settlements.

The amount of the lump sum payment and the amount of anticipated duplicate payments that result from the lump sum payment may not be known until funds are received by the client. For example, this commonly occurs if the anticipated payment will be from an insurance settlement or legal dispute. In these cases, there is insufficient information to determine the amount that will be required to be repaid, so a repayment agreement cannot be used.

However, clients are required to repay any duplicate assistance provided by the Income Support program once they receive the lump sum payment. Once the client has received the lump sum payment, the Overpayments As A Result of Retroactive Payments policy applies.

If the client received Income Support benefits for a period for which the department was unaware the client was awaiting income from another source, the client could choose to voluntarily repay the lesser of the benefits received from the other source or the duplicate payments from Income Support [IESA, section 16(1].

Employment Insurance and Assignment of Benefits

INS 3113 Assignment of Benefit

An INS 3113 Assignment of Benefit form is completed when Income Support benefits are issued to a client awaiting Employment Insurance benefits.

 

Note
Assignment of Benefit forms are required in the agreement with the federal government and verbal recordings on "Witness" are not acceptable.  An Assignment of Benefit form must have the client's signature.
COVID-19After May 12, 2020, a temporary measure for EI recipients to provide verbal authorization on the Assignment of Benefits (INSR 3113) form is in place in the Assignment of Benefits-Procedures policy.

PROCEDURE

Client Has Not Yet Received Income Support Benefits

If the client is expecting income from another source, and the amount is known, and has not yet begun receiving Income Support Benefits, the worker:

  1. Advises the client they must complete an EMP 0976B Repayment Agreement agreeing to repay duplicate benefits that may occur as a result of the other funds before Income Support benefits are issued.

    Note
    The worker may contact Employment and Financial Services, Income Support, to discuss the client’s unique circumstances.

     

  2. Requests the name of the client's legal counsel and a copy of the client’s Statement of Claim to verify who in the household unit is making a claim.

    Note
    All persons identified on the Statement of Claim must sign a separated EMP 0976B Repayment Agreement.

     

  3. Has the client complete the EMP 0976B Repayment Agreement or provide verbal agreement on "Witness" and enters an Effective Date for the beginning of the next Period of Assistance (POA) to be issued.

     

  4. If known, enters the amount or value of assistance on the EMP 0976B Repayment Agreement.


Client Already in Receipt of Income Support Benefits

If the client has already been receiving Income Support benefits and Community and Social Services becomes aware the client is awaiting income from another source and the amount is known (i.e., Community and Social Services receives new information), the worker:

  1. Advises the client:
    • They must complete an EMP 0976B Repayment Agreement agreeing to repay duplicate benefits that may occur as a result of the other funds before further Income Support benefits are issued, and
    • They may also voluntarily repay the Income Support benefits they received prior to the receipt of the new information.
     
    Note

    The worker should contact Employment and Financial Services, Income Support, to discuss the client’s unique circumstances.

     

  2. Requests the name of the client's legal counsel (if any) and a copy of the client’s Statement of Claim to verify who in the household unit is making a claim.

    Note
    All persons identified on the Statement of Claim must sign a separate EMP 0976B Repayment Agreement.

     

  3. Places further income support benefits on hold until the client signs the EMP 0976B Repayment Agreement.

    Note
    A reasonable amount of time can be given for the client to review their circumstances with their counsel or representative if appropriate.

     

  4. Has the client complete the EMP 0976B Repayment Agreement or provide verbal agreement on "Witness" and enters an Effective Date for the beginning of the next POA to be issued.

     

  5. If known, enters the amount or value of assistance on the EMP 0976B Repayment Agreement(s).

     

  6. If the client chooses to repay all duplicate benefits they may receive, has the client complete two EMP 0976B Repayment Agreements, one for the period they are voluntarily agreeing to repay and one for the period since the department became aware of the other income source.

    Note
    Community and Social Services cannot terminate a client's benefits simply for refusing to voluntarily agree to repay amounts from the past. However, there may be consequences if the person knowingly did not disclose a source of income.


Once Repayment Agreement(s) is Signed or Agreement is Recorded on "Witness"

  1. Enters a Task in Mobius for follow up in a reasonable amount of time (e.g., six months).

     

  2. If the amount in the repayment agreement is known (i.e., home repairs, utility arrears), then details are entered into the Recoveries System (unless otherwise stated) along with Internal Comments (i.e., starting POA, legal counsel, etc.).

     

  3. If the amount in the repayment agreement is not known (i.e., insurance settlements), then details are not entered into the Recoveries System, at this time.

    Note
    Procedures for entering the debt when the amount was not known at the time the Repayment Agreement was signed are detailed under Recovery of Debt.

     

  4. Files the EMP 0976B Repayment Agreement on Section 1 of the client's income support file.
  5. If appropriate (i.e., if the client has a lawyer), mails the EMP 3972 Repayment Agreement Introduction letter along with a copy of the EMP 0976B Repayment Agreement to the client’s legal counsel advising the legal counsel to contact the Collections Unit once a settlement has been reached.
  6. Issues benefits until the settlement or retroactive payments are received.


    Note
    Verification procedures must be in place to authenticate that the person whose agreement is being recorded on "Witness" is the client. 

When The Amount of Duplicate Payment From A Pending Lump Sum Payment Is Not Known

  1. The worker advises the client that they are required to repay any duplicate assistance provided by the Income Support program, once they receive their lump sum payment;
  2. Enters a task in Mobius for follow up in a reasonable amount of time (e.g., three months); and
  3. Continues to issue Income Support benefits to the client.
  4. When the client has received the lump-sum payment, the Worker applies the Overpayments as a Result of Retroactive Payments policy.