Overpayment of Benefits

Overpayment of VA Benefits

Veterans, members of the Armed Forces, and family members who incur debts as a result of their participation in most VA compensation, pension, and education programs receive letters from the Department of Veterans Affairs, Debt Management Center (DMC), notifying them of their rights as well as their obligation to reimburse the DVA. If you have a debt with them, you may have questions concerning payment plans, amounts offset from your benefit payments and what to do if payment of the debt would cause hardship.

Repayment of benefits may be necessary under the following conditions:

• Drop/withdrawal below required credit load;
• Receipt of benefits for courses not applicable to current program;
• Receipt of grade for which no credit is earned, such as "F", "I", "NP";
• Failure to notify the KPC VA Certifying Official in a timely manner, when you drop/withdraw/stop attending courses reported to the DVA.

Mitigating circumstances

If you have documentable circumstances beyond your control that prevent you from continuing in school, the DVA will consider an appeal, waiver, or compromise offer. Some examples of reasonable mitigating circumstances may include, but are not limited to: documented illness or injury, death in the immediate family, or an unavoidable change in employment.

Actions for overpayments:

• Add interest charges and collection fees;
• Withhold future benefits to be applied to debt;
• Debt turned over for collection;
• Federal lawsuit for collection of debt;
• Withhold approval of VA home loan guarantee;
• Garnish federal income tax return or other federal funds, such as VA disability payments.