Overpayment of final salary

[mrs_overall]

A friend of mine retired on ill health grounds from a job with the local county council. To cut a long story short, she was overpaid by £1200 which she agreed to pay back at £20 a month.She has made every payment on time and the debt is now down to £500. Yesterday she received a letter from the county council which said-

"at this current level of repayment it will take in excess of 2 years to clear this debt which is unacceptable to the Authority."

They are now demanding that she pay the whole £500 within 4 weeks.
She cannot afford to do this as she is very ill and exists on benefits.
Can anyone tell me what her rights are please, as she is out of her head with worry.

[thugulike]

pink kittens, she probably didn't know she had been overpaid. I have recently been overpaid £5K and I didn't know and I work in HR!

[mrs_overall]

Just to clarify - she DID query what she suspected was an overpayment when she received it and received a WRITTEN reply from the council stating it was NOT an overpayment.
It was a full three months later when the council decided they had made a mistake. I hardly think she can be criticized for spending it in view of the facts.
For the record - she didn't exactly fritter it away. She is a widow, has young children and has cancer - the money went on essentials for her family.

[thugulike]

It was the same for me. I had written confirmation of when I would go onto half pay and I relied upon that. My situation was extremely complex but the mistake was not mine. I have repaid most of the debt through accrued holiday pay.

[pink-kittens]

I can't see where anyone said she had frittered away the money
Being a widow with children doesn't make her anymore exempt from the law
However, with a letter direct form the council stating it was not an over payment, I would have considered fighting tooth and nail before paying it back - did she consult a solicitor?

[vivandorron]

pink-kittens.....It is my opinion that your comments are worthy of 'best answer'; Unfortunately, as I did not pose the question, I am not in a position to click it as such.

Ron.