Digest of Benefit Entitlement Principles Chapter 20 - Section 3

20.3.0 Application

Whenever there is a decision that has a retroactive effect and which will result in an overpayment of EI benefits, the following questions should be asked:

• Did the overpayment result from an error, or a false statement or representation made by the claimant (Digest 20.3.0)? If yes, the overpayment is not written off, and no further consideration is required.
• Which section of the regulations applies (EI Regulations 56(1)(e); 56(2); Digest 20.6.0)?
• What portion of the overpayment, if any, may be written off (Digest 20.5.0)?

Care must be taken to ensure that the decision to write off, or not, is made at the same time the decision causing the overpayment is made. There is no legal authority to reimburse a debtor who has repaid a portion of an overpayment, if it is later discovered that the write-off provisions would have applied. There may be instances where consideration of write-off was not done at the time the overpayment was established. In these cases, the claimant may still request write-off, and the Commission will review and make a decision on this request.

[February 2019]