Page 209

EAP Policy Manual FFY23 Chapter 10 Incidents and Appeals Page 9 Overpayment Documentation

Service Providers must document overpayments when recovering EAP funds paid to a household, energy vendor or contractor. The documentation must include: • List of households for which an overpayment was made. • Date the household, Service Provider, energy vendor or contractor was notified of the overpayment. • Description of the incident and when it occurred. • How and when the incident was discovered. • The disposition made, e.g., amount to recover. • Date and/or amount of any recovery or the amount of un-collectible funds. • Corrective action to prevent similar occurrences. All overpayments must be refunded to Commerce and should be made payable to Department of Commerce. An attached note should include: • Household number. • Reason for the overpayment. • Indicate primary heat, crisis or ERR benefit. • Service Provider ID. • Service Provider Name. If the recipient chooses to pay in monthly installments, the Service Provider must send the payments to Commerce as they are received. If the repayment requires a repayment plan in excess of one year, full payment is expected to be made as soon as possible. Costs and Responsibility Except in the case of Service Provider fraud, Service Provider recovery costs (legal action, fees, investigations, etc.) are allowable administrative expenses. Disasters and Emergencies Disasters and emergencies can affect the delivery of the EAP program. At both the state and local levels, the program must be able to adjust and respond to disastrous conditions. Planning before a disaster or emergency occurs is essential to address the needs of households and local agencies. The state directs Service Provider use of EAP resources in the event of a disaster or emergency.