When i got my letter it was like a kick in the guts. I have cushing's Disease. This makes my flight fight response work at high level 24 hrs a day 7 days a week. Any amount of stress and my body shuts down and I become ill. The last 4 yrs have been hell. In 2013 / 2014 for 5 months I was not working so I applied for sickness benefits. I had my pituitary gland removed to try to stabilize my cortisol levels. I did my best to only claim sickness benefits for the shortest amount of time possible. I was trying to be the best i could be under difficult circumstances. When i contacted Centrelink to tell them i no longer required sickness benefits I was informed that one payment was already in the system and that I would most likely have to pay that back ( yes thats fine no worries ). I waited for a letter from them so i could repay that last $440, but a letter never came. I eventually forgot about that $440. Then this year, the week before christmas i get a letter telling me i owe $5500!! I almost died !!! It made me very unwell and I missed some work ( they should be paying me for missed wages, the way they have gone about this is appalling). Once i settled my body i googled and saw many others had letters too. I was told i could fill out my details online. No where could i give detailed answers. They were all yes/ no responses. I wanted to explain that I had only received benefits for part of the year. I couldnt. It took a while to find the back page ( after talking to others ) where you could add details. Im sorry centerlink its just not good enough. You don't even make it easy to navigate. There should have been a link to this back page in the email they sent out, but no.... thats making it too easy for people to appeal. If people dont know what to do maybe they will just pay and not appeal !!! I wish i could help others who are still getting these letters. I wish the government would step in and stop this process. Its just not fair
I have since had my $5500 debt reduced to $800. So my $440 has doubled. Im out of pocket as I was sick as a result of getting that letter ( I have no sick leave entitlements ). They should be paying me !!!! Yet here I am paying that $800 back and deciding whether i should appeal the second decision or not :(
I can understand centerlink wanting to ensure people getting benefits are getting what they are supposed to. Yes I am a tax payer. But the way they are going about it is so wrong !!. They think it's ok to send out thousands of letters to people who have done the right thing. Have no reason to receive a letter saying they owe thousands of dollars. Yet here they are having panic attacks, chest pain and becoming physically ill when they receive such letters. Yet centerlink still think its ok to continue sending out these letters. They say its ok as it gives people a chance to provide further information. NOT IF THEY ARE DEAD IT DOESNT !!!!! And not if people dont understand the process it doesnt. They need to stop this NOW, re-evaluate and fix the system so its not giving people heart attacks !!!