Indiana has waived $412, collected $6 million in overpayments in last 3 months

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — In the last three months, Indiana has only waived $412 in overpayments while the state has collected over $6 million in overpayments.

I-Team 8 has found surrounding states have waived the following in overpayments between the months of April and June:

• Ohio: $4,343,743

• Michigan: $204,407

• Illinois: $0

• Kentucky began its waiver program in July. In the last 30 days, the state have approved 249 unemployment waiver applications totaling $408,233.

In a press conference a little over two weeks ago, Department of Workforce Development Commissioner Fred Payne told I-Team 8 anyone being asked to repay an overpayment in pandemic unemployment benefits was not eligible in the first place.

“If there’s an individual who received an overpayment and they provided us with a waiver or their appeal … we’ve stopped any type of attempts,” Payne said. “We only want to go after overpayments that people did not legitimately receive. We’re not in the business of trying to be overly burdensome to individuals.”

In the past few weeks, I-Team 8 has collected complaints from nearly 1,000 people showing they were eligible, had submitted all their documents correctly and on time, and are still being asked to repay tens of thousands of dollars.