Do you have to pay the money back if you have been overpaid?

I have been overpaid in work (NHS) by £2000 through no fault of my own. Do I have to pay this back?

• I was overpaid in work (nhs) last december by 3000 pound after I asked them to look into my wage. They agreed I hadn't been paid right and therefore back paid me. 2 months later they said they had made a mistake. They now want it back. Initially 500 a month for 6 months. I have been protesting since but they have again confirmed I need to pay this back as it is public money. However I am in a debt management plan at the moment to pay back debts of more than £20000, so this is causing great distress as all my money is accounted for. My rep is now involved, I have offered to pay back £5 a month for now but they say this is unacceptable. The 3000 has reduced to 2000 already as the rep made them check my wage again and they realized they wanted to take 1000 pound more back than they needed to. Does anyone know what legally is the smallest amount I am able to pay back? Should I be paying this back? Any help I would be grateful for.

• Answer:

  You have to pay a "reasonable" amount over a "reasonable" time scale and they can only take a "reasonable" amount over a "reasonable" time scale. Without knowing what you take home each month I can't tell you what might be considered "reasonable". All I can say is that £5 a month over 33 years certainly isn't. Your union rep will be able to offer you better advice that anyone here.