NC Division of Employment Security

RALEIGH — The Division of Employment Security has added another option to collect money owed to the agency — online payments. Individuals who owe the division money due to an overpayment now have the option to pay online with a credit or debit card.

One year ago, individuals owing money to the Division of Employment Security were given the option to pay that debt with a credit or debit card over the phone. Since that time, the division has recovered $1.7 million using that method.

“The option of making a payment to DES by providing credit card information over the telephone has been very successful for us and more convenient for those who owe us money. A couple of months ago, we added the option of making a payment online with a credit card,” said division Assistant Secretary Dale Folwell. “Since that time, we have recovered over $125,000 with the online method. This also gives individuals a way of setting up payment arrangements that can be automatically debited on a recurring schedule, something we weren’t able to offer in the past.”

People owe money to the division for a variety of reasons including overpayments to claimants. Overpayments are created when individuals receive unemployment insurance benefits that they were not entitled to receive. This could be through fraudulent means (misleading, misrepresenting, or not disclosing facts) or non-fraudulent means (unintentional errors on the part of claimants, employers, and/or the division).

The Division of Employment Security still accepts certified checks, bank checks and money orders. In addition, the division also recovers overpayments through the garnishing of both state and federal tax returns.

Regardless of the class of overpayment, it is the goal of the division to recover all overpayment debt, using all possible resources available. Proceeds go toward the now $300 million in debt owed to the federal government.

“We continue to improve our efficiency in lowering the debt. I’m extremely proud of our benefits integrity staff, along with other governmental agencies, and the efforts on their part to put this process in place.” said Folwell.

To make online payments, individuals can go to www.desncc.com and click on the link “Do you have an overpayment?”