Fixing past payment errors
We've found errors in some people's past payments which means we may owe you money.
Who's affected by these errors
You may be affected if you got:
- declined for your Training Incentive Allowance if you:
- applied for for study above level 3 of the New Zealand Qualifications Framework, and
- were declined Training Incentive Allowance between July 2014 and January 2020.
- Accommodation Supplement payments - if you:
- got this payment before December 2014, and
- moved between renting, boarding and living in your own home
- Accommodation Supplement payments - if you:
- got this payment before April 2018, and
- were paid incorrectly for the area you were living in
- Special Benefit payments - if you:
- got Special Benefit after 1 April 2006, and
- would have been paid more if you'd moved to Temporary Additional Support payments
- a Warrant to arrest - if:
- you had an arrest warrant before July 2016, and
- your payments were stopped or reduced because of this
- a financial means assessment for a Residential Care Subsidy - before:
- 3 December 2019
- and you can ask your assessment to be reviewed
- final work payments, such as holiday pay when you finished work and you:
- had a new benefit which started on or after 23 March 2020 and before 8 June 2020, and
- your final work payments affected the start date of your benefit payments from us.
- a Youth Service payment card between 20 August 2012 and 15 November 2021, and you may have money left on this card
- an incorrect reassessment of your Income Related Rent (if you were investigated for fraud between 14 April 2014 and 21 December 2016).
Find out more about these payment errors
Training Incentive Allowance issue
Accommodation Supplement (type of accommodation) payment error
Accommodation Supplement (area you live in) payment error
Warrant to Arrest payment error
Residential Care Subsidy assessment
Transferring payment card balances to former Youth Service clients
Income Related Rent reassessment issue
Check if we owe you money
We've repaid all our current clients.
If you're a former client and think you've been affected by these issues, you can use our payment errors enquiry form to check if we owe you, or someone else, money.
Your payment error enquiry will tell you if you're owed any money, but won't tell you how much you're owed. We'll write to tell you that.
Information you need for your enquiry
When making a payment error enquiry, you'll need either your:
- Work and Income client number, if you know it, or
- Inland Revenue (IRD) number
If you aren't a current client, you'll also need to tell us your:
- bank account number
- current phone number, in case we have to contact you
- current postal address
- email address, if you have one (it makes contacting you easier).
Information you need to enquire for someone else
If you're making a payment error enquiry for someone else, you need to:
- have a valid Enduring Power of Attorney
- have a valid Court Order made under the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988, or
- be the person's agent with appropriate authority.
You'll also need the person's:
- either:
- Work and Income client number, if you know it, or
- Inland Revenue (IRD) number
- current phone number, in case we need to contact them
- email address, if they have one (this is the easiest way for us to contact them).
We'll need your:
- organisation, if you're part of one
- phone number, so we can contact you
- email address, if you have one
- postal address.
We'll also need either:
- the person's bank account number, or
- your bank account number.
Information you need to enquire for someone who has died
If you're making a payment error enquiry for someone who has died, you need to:
- be the executor or administrator of their estate, or
- have been the person's partner or dependant, or a beneficiary of their estate.
You also need either the person's:
- Work and Income client number, if you know it, or
- Inland Revenue (IRD) number.
We'll need your:
- organisation, if you're enquiring on behalf of an organisation managing the estate
- phone number, so we can contact you
- email address, if you have one, to make contacting you easier
- postal address
- bank account number.
What happens next
If we owe you money, the payment errors enquiry form will give you an option to submit your enquiry for processing. Once it's submitted, we'll match the information you've told us with our records.
Within 7 working days we'll either:
- send you a letter and pay the money into your bank account, or
- contact you for more information if:
- your details don't match our records
- we need to clarify anything with you
- your enquiry is for someone else or someone who has died (to make sure we're paying the money to the right person).
If you live overseas, payments may take a little longer.