No obligation for a family to reimburse excess payment made in error
A family in Berlin-Brandenburg has been granted a reprieve from repaying overpaid Citizen's Income benefits (Bürgergeld), following a ruling by the Higher Social Court. The decision highlights the importance of clear and accurate communication from job centers regarding income calculations.
The case in question revolves around a significant error made by the job center in calculating the family's income. The error was in valuing the husband's gross salary instead of his net salary, leading to an overpayment of benefits. The wife, who handled the correspondence with the authorities, did not notice the error in the salary figures due to her inability to confidently distinguish between gross and net salaries.
Initially, the Berlin Social Court ruled in favour of the job center, demanding the repayment of overpaid benefits. However, the Higher Social Court Berlin-Brandenburg overturned this ruling, indicating that errors in official notices can lead to misunderstandings and potential overpayments.
The ruling does not specify the exact amount of overpaid benefits in question. The job center has the option to appeal to the Federal Social Court, and the ruling is not yet final.
Under German social and administrative law, families may be exempt from repaying overpaid benefits if they can demonstrate that the error was solely the job center's fault and they acted in good faith without negligence. If repayment would cause undue financial hardship, the repayment may be waived or reduced.
In this case, the wife's trust in the correctness of the notice, stemming from her inability to distinguish between gross and net salaries, was considered a factor in the Higher Social Court's decision. The family's potential hardship due to the overpayment was also a significant factor in the ruling.
The Bürgergeld system, which replaced Arbeitslosengeld II (Hartz IV) in early 2023, requires recipients to repay benefits that were mistakenly overpaid. However, the government has shown some flexibility in benefit reforms to avoid undue punishment of claimants.
For families facing similar situations, it is advisable to consult local job center guidelines or seek social legal advice to pursue a waiver or challenge repayment demands. The case serves as a reminder to job centers to ensure clear and accurate communication regarding income calculations to avoid such errors and potential hardships for claimants.
The error in the job center's income calculation for the family, involving the misvaluation of the husband's net salary, led to an overpayment of Citizen's Income benefits (Bürgergeld). The wife's failure to identify this error was due to her inability to confidently distinguish between gross and net salaries, highlighting the importance of clear business and finance communication from job centers.
