How we recover overpayments

Last updated:

13 December 2023

This page provides information on how and why the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) recovers overpayments of your pension.

Changes in circumstances

You are obliged to tell us about changes that will affect your pension or payments and the date on which the change occurred. It will always be better if you notify us immediately.

For some types of payments, you need to keep us informed about your situation so that we can pay you the right amount. This applies if you receive either:

Service Pension
Income Support Supplement
Social Security Age Pension
Veteran Payment

If you get one of these payments, how much you should receive depends on all of the following:

income and assets
living arrangements
relationship status

When things change, you need to let us know within 14 days (or 28 days if you live overseas or receive Remote Area Allowance). If you don’t tell us in time when your circumstances change, we could end up paying you the wrong amount.

If the change results in a reduction to your pension or payment, prompt notification might mean there is no overpayment, or that any overpayment is as small as possible. If the change results in an increase to your pension, the earliest the increase can be made is generally from the date you notify us.

Overpayments of pension

Sometimes even when you do tell us about changes on time, we may not be able to process the change before your next pay. We do our best to make sure this doesn’t happen. We will update your details as soon as we can. If we pay you too much in the meantime, you will still need to pay it back.

There can be other reasons why we paid you too much. We will explain these reasons in writing. If you need more information about how the overpayment happened, you can contact us.

To provide you with your exact entitlement, we are obliged to recover overpayments of pension or payment if they occur.

Overpayment recovery

If your pension or payment is overpaid we will write to you and let you know about the repayment arrangements. In most cases an overpayment would be recovered by making fortnightly pension deductions until the full amount is recovered.

Other common methods of recovery might include repaying the overpayment in a lump sum, or offsetting the overpayment against, for example, any arrears of Disability Compensation Payment that may be owing to you. Any recovery action is subject to your capacity to repay. If the level of repayment causes extreme financial hardship we will discuss the options for repayment with you.

How to pay us back

If you still receive payments from us	If you no longer receive payments from us
When we write to you explaining how the overpayment happened, we will let you know:	When we write to you explaining how the overpayment happened, we will let you know:
how much you need to pay back whether we will recover the amount from you by deductions from your ongoing pension payments the amount of the deduction applied and from what date how to pay back the debt in a lump sum what to do if you need more time to pay it back	how much you need to pay back how to pay back the debt in a lump sum how to arrange regular payments if you can’t pay it back all at once

If you still receive payments from us

If you no longer receive payments from us

When we write to you explaining how the overpayment happened, we will let you know:

how much you need to pay back
whether we will recover the amount from you by deductions from your ongoing pension payments
the amount of the deduction applied and from what date
how to pay back the debt in a lump sum
what to do if you need more time to pay it back

how much you need to pay back
how to pay back the debt in a lump sum
how to arrange regular payments if you can’t pay it back all at once

If you choose to pay a lump sum, your payment is due within 28 days from the date of the letter we sent you. Use your DVA File Number or Unique Identification Number (UIN) as a reference.

If we have sent you a treatment or concession card, your DVA File Number is on the card. You can also find it near the top of any letters we have sent you, along with your UIN.

If you are unable to pay within this timeframe please contact us on 1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372) to discuss your options.

Fortnightly pension deductions

Some general rules to determine how much will be recovered every fortnight apply:

amounts up to $26 will generally be recovered by making one deduction from the fortnightly pension or payment
amounts between $26 and $500 will generally be recovered over a 6 month period
amounts between $500 and $5,200 will generally be recovered over a 12 month period
amounts over $5,200 may be subject to other recovery arrangements, about which DVA would contact you.

DVA takes into account your capacity to repay, by looking at things like your income and the size of the overpayment, before agreeing on the amount that should be repaid each fortnight.

Making a lump sum repayment

To make a lump sum repayment, you can either:

log in to your internet banking and use ‘Pay Anyone’ to transfer the funds
contact your bank to arrange a direct deposit
post a cheque

To pay by internet banking or bank deposit, you will need the following details:

Bank: Reserve Bank – Canberra
BSB: 092009
Account number: 112076
Account name: DVA Admin Head A/C
Reference: [Your DVA file number]

To pay by cheque:

make the cheque out to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs
mark it ‘not negotiable’
write your name and DVA File Number on the back
post it to the following address:

Department of Veterans’ Affairs
Attention: Agency Banking
GPO Box 9998
BRISBANE QLD 4001

How to make sure we received your repayment

Paying through internet banking is fast, reliable and avoids extra bank fees. Your payment will take longer to process if you send a cheque. If you want to confirm we have received your payment, you can contact us.

What to do if paying us back will be difficult

If paying us back will put you in financial hardship, contact us straight away to talk about your options.

How to avoid being overpaid again

If you know what to tell us and when, you can avoid being paid too much next time. See What you need to tell us about for details on the kinds of changes we need to know about.

To let us know when your circumstances change, you can either:

log in to MyService
call us on 1800 VETERAN (1800 838 372)
contact us another way

Sometimes gradual changes over time can add up enough that you need to give us an update on your finances. This can happen if you save more than you spend. It may help to set a reminder to contact us every 6 months.

You can also nominate someone to contact us on your behalf. If you have a Power of Attorney, they can let us know when things change. If you don’t have a Power of Attorney, you can still authorise someone to keep us up to date. See What is a representative? for further information.

What to do if you disagree

If you believe there has been a mistake, please contact us to talk about what happened. If you decide to request a review, you have 3 months from the date of the letter we sent you. See Request a review for income support decisions for details.