Their claim is for restitution

(money paid under a mistake)

20 years ago or so the House of Lirds recognised "change of position" as an equitable defence to a claim for restitution. So if you didn't know they were overpaying, and if you have changed your position by spending the money so that it would be unfair to make you pay it back, the claim fails. Case was Lipkin Gorman v Karpnale I think.

Messy, and they'd probably sack you in the meantime

Worth raising in your negotiations though

Posted By: Old Git, Feb 20, 10:04:42