KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Some claimants in Kansas woke up to negative bank accounts and overdraft fees Friday morning.
Claimants tell 41 Action News they received an email this week from the department stating it sent out duplicate payments in error and would be reversing those payments.
Valley Center resident Greg Derieg said he was expecting to get his regular weekly payment Thursday but instead had a withdrawal of $810 from the department, and he has yet to receive his weekly payment.
"It's just not right, and the whole process has been frustrating," Derieg said.
Shawn Young provided a screenshot of his bank withdrawal to 41 Action News, which showed $908 withdrawn. Young said he did not receive a duplicate payment and must now pay overdraft fees.
Lawrence resident Ronda Miller said she did receive a duplicate payment and realized it was an error but does not agree with the way the money was taken back out.
"We thought they would ask us to mail them a check or something," Miller said.
Miller said she has yet to receive this week's payment as well.
"I think their hands are tied as much as ours are with a system that's so just outdated, but there's no continuity. It's like we don't have any trust at this point," Miller said.
Derieg said he doesn't believe the department should have the capability to take money out of bank accounts even for overpayments.
"There are people that are depending on this money to pay their bills," Derieg said. "If they wanted to request that money be sent back to them or at tax time say we overpaid you so we're going to put that on your income tax, great, put it on there but don't take it out the same day that someone is expecting that money."
One claimant sent 41 Action News a screenshot of a frequently asked question on the department's website that said money could not be taken out of accounts if an overpayment happens. When 41 Action News checked the website, that question was no longer there.
Asked specifically about the error and whether the department has the ability to take money from accounts, the KDOL issued the following statement to 41 Action News: "The Kansas Department of Labor apologizes for the system issues involving duplicate payments and the attempts to reverse those duplicate payments. We are working to resolve the problem and ask individuals that have been impacted, to contact our office at: KDOL.DuplicateConcerns@ks.gov."
