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Definition
If we pay you unemployment benefits that you were not eligible to receive, that is an overpayment. You must repay those benefits even if you were not at fault for the overpayment.
Examples of what can cause an overpayment:
- You failed to report earnings or reported an incorrect earnings amount when you requested benefit payment(s)
- You provided false information about your job separation or work search
- You committed fraud by giving false information when you applied for benefits or when you requested payment
- The wage history we used to establish your claim included errors and correction of the wage errors resulted in a lower benefit amount than initially determined
- Your eligibility for benefits was reversed due to an appeals hearing after receiving benefits
Notification of Overpayment
If you have received an overpayment, we will mail you a Decision on Payment of Unemployment Benefits letter explaining the reason for your overpayment, what weeks were overpaid and the amount of money you must repay. You have the right to appeal that decision. For more information, go to Introduction to Unemployment Benefits Appeals.
Repayment
How to Repay Your Overpayment
If You are Requesting Benefits
If you are still requesting unemployment benefits, continue to submit biweekly payment requests. We will apply each eligible payment toward reducing your overpayment. You must repay all of your overpayment before we can pay you any further benefits. Additional payments should be mailed to the TWC address provided below.
If You are No Longer Requesting Benefits
You can repay your overpayment by mailing a check or money order payable to TWC to the following address. Include your Social Security number with the payment.
TWC Revenue & Trust Management
PO Box 149352
Austin, TX 78714-9352
If you cannot repay the entire amount at once, call TWC at 512-936-3338 to ask if you can set up a repayment plan.
Why You Must Repay Your Overpayment
It is important for you to promptly repay an overpayment because:
- The overpayment stays on your claim record until it is repaid in full.
- TWC will keep any future benefits until your overpayment is repaid.
- TWC can take legal action against you to recover the money, including suing you in a civil court.
- The Texas State Comptroller can take action to recover your overpayment by withholding certain payments to you. That payment hold means that the state cannot pay you lottery winnings, unemployment benefits, or state job-related expenses, except for wages, until repayment is made in full. For example:
- If you win money from the Texas Lottery and try to collect it, the Comptroller will send all or part of your lottery winnings to TWC to pay down your overpayment.
- If you get a Texas state government job and turn in travel expenses, the Comptroller will send your travel reimbursement payment(s) to TWC to pay down your overpayment.
Other States
If you have an overpayment in another state, the other state can ask us to send your benefits to them until the overpayment is paid. If you have an overpayment in Texas and receive benefits from another state, we can ask that state to recover the money for us.