Overpayments

To receive important letters about overpayment recovery waivers, please ensure your mailing address is updated in your IDES account. 

An overpayment may occur when a claimant is paid unemployment insurance benefits and is later found to not be eligible for those benefits.

Common reasons for an overpayment include but are not limited to:

• A claimant does not report, or underreports, wages or pension benefits when filing a weekly claim, and later information is received with the corrected wages or pension benefits.
• As the result of an eligibility issue, such as an employer successfully challenging that an employee was fired for misconduct, and IDES finds that the employee was ineligible for benefits.
• An adjustment is made to a claim that changes the amount of benefits due to the claimant for specific weeks.

Unless you are eligible for a waiver of overpayment, you are required to pay back any overpayments.

Equity and Good Conscience: As defined in the Administrative Rules, recovery of the overpayment will be considered to be against equity and good conscience if: (1) It would cause financial hardship to the person from whom it is sought; (2) Regardless of the recipient's financial circumstances, the recipient can show that, based on the overpayment or notice that a benefit payment would be made, the recipient has: (A) relinquished a valuable right; or (B) changed positions for the worse; or (3) Recovery would be unconscionable under the circumstances.

Overpayment: Benefits received for which an individual is found to have been ineligible.

Overpayment Amount: The sum of the overpayment.

Overpayment Balance: Balance of an overpayment remaining to be repaid or recouped.