WHAT YOU CAN DO
DO
DO think how you would feel if you found out you owed someone a sum of money which was difficult to repay. This should be foremost in your mind when making a payments decision.
DO have calculations checked, particularly when complex determinations are involved.
DO be sure you understand how incapacity is calculated, to ensure you have missed nothing.
DO familiarise yourself with how overpayments occur by reading and understanding the Overpayments & Recovery Volume of the Operations Manual, so you can work on avoiding overpayments, where possible. It's actually not that hard to understand!
DO acknowledge that, while others may also be responsible for the occurrence of overpayments, you are the person making the payments decision and must bear the repercussions of incorrect determinations.
DON'T
DON'T assume that waiver and write off are soft options and an easy means of “getting rid” of overpayments. They aren't!
DON'T misunderstand or underestimate the importance of the work you do, particularly when you are determining fortnightly incapacity payments for someone.
DON'T expect that overpayments will go away if you ignore them. They usually get worse.