Régie des rentes du Québec - Repayment of a debt: excessive cut in benefits

The child assistance payment and the supplement for handicapped children were withheld for a full month from a citizen whose conjugal status had changed from single parent to de facto spouse.

The citizen, the mother of two children, one of whom is handicapped, was registered with the Régie as a single parent with one child. A few months after the birth of her second child and the beginning of her de facto union with the child’s father, the citizen informed the Régie of the change in her situation.

The citizen’s complaint concerned:

• the withholding of 100% of her benefits in order to repay a debt further to her declaring her change of status.

The Québec Ombudsman’s investigation revealed that:

• the citizen declared her change in status several months after it occurred, which led to a substantial overpayment.
• the citizen was not properly informed of the consequences of a delayed declaration.
• monthly payments are generated two weeks before the date of issuance. Once they have been generated, they can only be cancelled, not changed.
• the change was declared late because of the payment processing cycle.
• the amount that the Régie had to withhold as a result of this change was equivalent to nearly two full monthly payments.
• when a beneficiary’s annual income is less than $35,000, the amount withheld by the Régie may not exceed 50% of the payment.
• the Régie made an error in withholding a full payment.

The Québec Ombudsman therefore asked the Régie des rentes du Québec to:

• inform all citizens who receive child assistance payments of the importance of notifying the Régie promptly when their situation changes.

The Régie agreed to act on the Québec Ombudsman’s request and a note has been added to the notice of payment sent to the parents concerned.

As soon as the Régie was apprised of the person’s situation by the Québec Ombudsman, the agency corrected its error and complied with its own debt repayment rules (the amount may not exceed 50% of the payment and repayment must be spread over the number of months required).