Request for Waiver of Debt Resulting From Erroneous Payments of Separate Rations While Using Government Mess

A former Naval petty officer requested reconsideration of a prior GAO denial of his application for waiver of his debt to the United States from erroneous payments of separate rations made to him incident to his service in the Navy. The claimant contended in his original request for waiver that he did not know or suspect that he was being overpaid, due to a promotion and a Navy-wide pay raise which legitimately raised his pay coincident with the beginning of the erroneous payments. Further, he claimed that the error was not due to error on his part, and payment would result in extreme financial hardship. In his appeal he also pointed out that he had not applied for separate rations and that payment should be waived on the basis of administrative error. Applicable statutes preclude waiver of debts of this nature if there exists, in connection with the claim, an indication of fault on the part of the member. Since the claimant's legitimate pay raise would have been only $21 per month and the separate rations' payments amounted to over $75 per month, it was determined that the claimant should reasonably have been expected to recognize the overpayment and was thus at fault for not reporting it. The fact that overpayments are made through administrative error does not relieve an individual of responsibility to determine the true state of affairs in connection with overpayments. Accordingly, the denial of waiver was sustained.