Request for Waiver of Debt

A retired military officer requested reconsideration of a denial by the Claims Division of his application for waiver of his debt. The debt arose from erroneous payments of the officer's pay. The overpayment was due to a lack of recoupment of medical continuation pay, through an administrative error. An original request for waiver by the officer contended that he did not know of, or suspect, the overpayment, and that it was due to administrative error. This request was denied on the basis that he failed to question large unexplained increases in his pay, and failed to retain the amounts until he received reasonable answers to his questions. The officer contends that he did attempt to question his pay, and was given no satisfactory answer about the payments. GAO denied the waiver of debt because a fault existed on the part of the officer. It was determined that the officer should have known that an error existed, and taken action to correct it. He should have set aside the excessive amount and requested an explanation of his entitlement. The fact that the overpayments were made through administrative error does not relieve him of his responsibility. The action of the Claims Division denying the waiver of collection was sustained.