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Tax credit help please (really, really long epic)
Crepe_Suzette
Posts: 4 Newbie
I tried to post this earlier, a long message and the system chucked me off so (had a feeling this would happen so I copied it but when I couldn’t log in again, I stupidly copied my username from my registration email (thus overriding the copied text) and I lost the message. After today this was the final straw and I started blubbing, my daughter couldn’t understand why. Anyway, I really hope someone can help or advise.
I receive Income Support for myself and was in receipt of Tax Credits for my little girl who is 4. In August last year, I can’t remember exactly how, I became aware that I had to send an Annual Declaration form to the Tax Credit office by September 30th for my tax credit payments to continue. I telephoned to ask for this on 06/08 and was told it would be sent to me. I waited and waited but it never arrived. On September 3rd I called again and was told again that it would be sent out to me. I do not remember when it arrived but it would seem that I posted it out on September 30th. I’m sure I remember asking and being reassured that, since I didn’t receive it after asking the first time, the deadline would be extended.
I continued to receive my tax credits as usual and heard nothing from them until January of this year. Then I received a notification dated 21/01 that I did not have a qualifying child (?) for tax credits and that I would receive nothing from them. I telephoned on 24/1 and was told that the claim had been stopped because I had “told them my circumstances had changed” (which they hadn’t. Looking at my copy of the for, I hadn’t ticked the box that indicated “my circumstances were complete and correct”). I was told I would need to call again in a week to make sure that the claim had been reinstated. I called again on 01/02 and was told that the award was not up yet because someone had written my phone number’s area code down incorrectly so they had been unable to contact me. (The person I spoke to did not understand how that area code could match up with the (well known) area I live in). I was told to phone again in a week to find out if the claim had been reinstated. On 06/02 (Monday) I telephoned again to be told that the referral had not been sent, this person was doing it immediately on her computer and it would be sent right away. Again I was told to ring in a few days to check it had gone through.
I was due a payment on Monday which, if you are on benefits, you know is essential.
Yesterday I called the Tax Credit Helpline again and was told that it takes 2-3 weeks to be processed. I was given a number for the “Complaints Line” as I was unhappy with the way I had been dealt with and how they seemed to be incompetent. After enquiring, I was told this number is available until 5pm. I rang twice at 4.40 and 4.50, each time it rang for 6 minutes then cut off. Thinking I’d been given the wrong number or heard it incorrectly I contacted the helpline again and confirmed it was the correct number for "Complaints" but that they are so busy (:eek: ) that it rings off after the 6 minutes.
After worrying about the money, I decided to call back the helpline to find out if anyone could help me. On asking to speak to a manager, I was told that one would call back within 48 hours but when trying to arrange a time for the following morning, I was informed her manager arrives after 4pm. I asked then if I could speak to him/her and was told I would receive a call later that evening. When he called he was very unhelpful. All he could do was apologise for the delay in the referral being sent and the error of the phone number. He was very condescending to me and did not seem to want to give advice.
Today, after an hour of trying to call the “Complaints Line” I finally got through on the 9th attempt (among all the other times where the line was engaged). I was told that it was the Director’s Hotline (not Complaints Line) and that they try to help people. After he read through the notes and I explained the situation, I was put on hold for about 5 minutes while he sought advice. He insisted that it would be 2-3 weeks for the Restore Section to make a DECISION (not payment). He was about to put me on hold again but I asked him not to since this is a national rate call for me (living on the other side of the country from Liverpool). He called back about 10 minutes later and then started blaming me for not getting my AD form to them by the deadline. He said he could see no evidence of the phone call I made in August asking for an AD form. I asked if I should send my phone bill as proof and he said I should. He kept repeating this as the reason for the delay despite me telling him about their mistake with the phone number and the fact that the the referral was not sent the 2 times I called (24/01 & 01/02). He said he could appreciate the £150 shortfall that I have for this month and yet he could not help neither could anyone else; I just have to wait 2-3 weeks for the Restore Section to make their decision. After both of us repeating ourselves again he just hung up on me! I was flabbergasted. By this time I was shaking with anger and frustration and very near to tears.
I can’t believe that they are all so unhelpful. What has happened? Tax Credit staff used to be so helpful and friendly. I don’t understand why they appear to be so obtuse. Is this normal? I feel like I have to beg for the money. I don’t know if I can cancel the tax credits and have the Income Support increased to cover my little girl aswell (my friend had this until she started working 2 months ago). Does anyone have any help or advice (or even some sympathy (need crying smiley) please)?
I receive Income Support for myself and was in receipt of Tax Credits for my little girl who is 4. In August last year, I can’t remember exactly how, I became aware that I had to send an Annual Declaration form to the Tax Credit office by September 30th for my tax credit payments to continue. I telephoned to ask for this on 06/08 and was told it would be sent to me. I waited and waited but it never arrived. On September 3rd I called again and was told again that it would be sent out to me. I do not remember when it arrived but it would seem that I posted it out on September 30th. I’m sure I remember asking and being reassured that, since I didn’t receive it after asking the first time, the deadline would be extended.
I continued to receive my tax credits as usual and heard nothing from them until January of this year. Then I received a notification dated 21/01 that I did not have a qualifying child (?) for tax credits and that I would receive nothing from them. I telephoned on 24/1 and was told that the claim had been stopped because I had “told them my circumstances had changed” (which they hadn’t. Looking at my copy of the for, I hadn’t ticked the box that indicated “my circumstances were complete and correct”). I was told I would need to call again in a week to make sure that the claim had been reinstated. I called again on 01/02 and was told that the award was not up yet because someone had written my phone number’s area code down incorrectly so they had been unable to contact me. (The person I spoke to did not understand how that area code could match up with the (well known) area I live in). I was told to phone again in a week to find out if the claim had been reinstated. On 06/02 (Monday) I telephoned again to be told that the referral had not been sent, this person was doing it immediately on her computer and it would be sent right away. Again I was told to ring in a few days to check it had gone through.
I was due a payment on Monday which, if you are on benefits, you know is essential.
Yesterday I called the Tax Credit Helpline again and was told that it takes 2-3 weeks to be processed. I was given a number for the “Complaints Line” as I was unhappy with the way I had been dealt with and how they seemed to be incompetent. After enquiring, I was told this number is available until 5pm. I rang twice at 4.40 and 4.50, each time it rang for 6 minutes then cut off. Thinking I’d been given the wrong number or heard it incorrectly I contacted the helpline again and confirmed it was the correct number for "Complaints" but that they are so busy (:eek: ) that it rings off after the 6 minutes.
After worrying about the money, I decided to call back the helpline to find out if anyone could help me. On asking to speak to a manager, I was told that one would call back within 48 hours but when trying to arrange a time for the following morning, I was informed her manager arrives after 4pm. I asked then if I could speak to him/her and was told I would receive a call later that evening. When he called he was very unhelpful. All he could do was apologise for the delay in the referral being sent and the error of the phone number. He was very condescending to me and did not seem to want to give advice.
Today, after an hour of trying to call the “Complaints Line” I finally got through on the 9th attempt (among all the other times where the line was engaged). I was told that it was the Director’s Hotline (not Complaints Line) and that they try to help people. After he read through the notes and I explained the situation, I was put on hold for about 5 minutes while he sought advice. He insisted that it would be 2-3 weeks for the Restore Section to make a DECISION (not payment). He was about to put me on hold again but I asked him not to since this is a national rate call for me (living on the other side of the country from Liverpool). He called back about 10 minutes later and then started blaming me for not getting my AD form to them by the deadline. He said he could see no evidence of the phone call I made in August asking for an AD form. I asked if I should send my phone bill as proof and he said I should. He kept repeating this as the reason for the delay despite me telling him about their mistake with the phone number and the fact that the the referral was not sent the 2 times I called (24/01 & 01/02). He said he could appreciate the £150 shortfall that I have for this month and yet he could not help neither could anyone else; I just have to wait 2-3 weeks for the Restore Section to make their decision. After both of us repeating ourselves again he just hung up on me! I was flabbergasted. By this time I was shaking with anger and frustration and very near to tears.
I can’t believe that they are all so unhelpful. What has happened? Tax Credit staff used to be so helpful and friendly. I don’t understand why they appear to be so obtuse. Is this normal? I feel like I have to beg for the money. I don’t know if I can cancel the tax credits and have the Income Support increased to cover my little girl aswell (my friend had this until she started working 2 months ago). Does anyone have any help or advice (or even some sympathy (need crying smiley) please)?
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Comments
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Hi Crepe
No advice I'm sorry but you have my sympathy. I have got 22 Tax Credit award notices from 04/05. They just couldnt get my details correct and them half way though the year they dropped my payments by £198 per month which left me recieving only £13 per month - eventually it was reinstated but it took ages (sorry - dont mean to put you on a downer). They have no idea how much people rely on that money, I need it to pay towards my child care for 2 little ones, so when I didnt recieve it for 3 months, it meant I had to find £600 from nowhere. (If I just had £600 sitting around I wouldnt need tax credits?!?!?!?!?)
Keep your chin up, I managed to get through it, it was a struggle (in fact I got a 0% interst credit card and was very very strict in the fact that I didnt spend anything other than the money I was due back) - thankfully this worked out for me, but it was a lot of stress and worry for a few months!!0 -
Hi Crepe,
You are not alone!
Don't cancel your claim for Tax Credits. Child Tax Credit is paid instead of the old child element of Income Support, so (even if it is possible) you wouldn't get anything for your child or even maybe have IS claim shut down too until you shouted for that to be sorted out.
You could try Citizens Advice Bureau or other Welfare Benefits advisor who can negotiate on your behalf - they would have a clearer head about it than you must have by now. They often get answers quicker and better than a normal "customer" and they would be able to advise of any other avenues open to you and the best thing to do about your situation.
Good luck.Torgwen..........
...........0 -
Unfortunately it appears that once the helpline refers it to the tax credit office there is nothing further they are permitted to do, it is not that they are being unhelpful, more that they are not able to do anything further and going to either the CAB or the benefits advisor is unlikely to help either as they will only be able to speak to the same people you can. Have you considered speaking to your local MP who may be able to follow alternative routes?Nice to save.0
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Going to the CAB can help, not only can they check your benefit entitlement but they can negotiate with people and write letters on your behalf or help you to write a letter. Also they do Social Policy work, which means that you would be added to the (long) list of other people who have had Tax Credit problems, this goes to head office and they try to affect policy locally & nationally. See Citizens Advice Website for more info.
Contacting your MP is a good idea though.Torgwen.......... ...........0 -
Please try a local CAB or advice centre. Advisers often have a special phone line to contact various agencies and may be able to help you resolve this quicker. If you are in financial hardship and you meet the criteria, you may also be entitled to a Crisis Loan from the Social Fund - again the advice centre can help you with this.
Good Luck - why a benefit like this was given to the Inland Revenue to administer, I don't know!0 -
i had this problem 5 months ago when i split up from my husband, took 2 months to sort out my claim and had to cancel direct debits, negotiate with the mortgage etc........ finally after nearly crying down the phone they told me i could get an emergency payment from my local tax office. Think it depends on who you see though, i got a sympathetic man who told me in a whisper i could have an emergency payment but a lady who was seeing a frosty faced female colleague of his behind told her in no terms could she get a payment and she doesn't no why the helpline keeps telling people this. Thank god i didn't get her and this seemed to speed my claim up, i got my emergency payment the next day and wouldn't you know it my claim was sorted out that same week!!
hope you get it sortedThey call me Mr Pig!0 -
Crepe suzette, i am sorry to hear of your problems. They never appreciate how much some people need those credits.
I still get an allowance for my children within my income support entitlement. i have remained on benefits for about 6 years now and they have ''encouraged'' me to apply for CTC but as i will be no better off i have refused as i don't want to fill in loads of new forms. Is this right then that i still get income support for my children?
I did get a letter in january 2005 saying that they intended to transfer all people getting income support with children onto the new tax credits system by april 2005, however due to the workload they will not start doing this until at least 2006 (!).0 -
Freaksaver, Fran, Zeryx, Eml and Hids,
Firstly I would like to say a huge thank you to you for replying. I am really touched that you all have given me advice, shared your experiences and given me support especially after reading through such a long post. I felt so alone and helpless yesterday when I thought no one cared but seeing all your replies I realise that some people do want to help.
I tried to get advice from my local CAB this morning but they have closed up (2 years since I last went there so I didn't know). The next nearest is open on Monday so I will go along on Monday morning to find out if they can help speed things up or maybe advise going to the local IR centre for an emergency payment.
You are right that they have no idea how much this money is needed. I wondered if they were behaving like this because I am on benefits (Income Support/DWP people are often very condescending too) but others who are working have also had problems. I feel stigmatised being on benefits anyway but having to go through all this trouble for this money is appalling. I really feel I am begging for it. Is it normal that they are so rude and unhelpful? I still can't believe that the man put the phone down on me.
Tran, my friend received the child element of Income Support until December when she started working. The reason I have received Tax Credit instead of the child element of IS for the past 2 years is that I filled in the IR form whilst I was still working. When I stopped working I telephoned them to say I would be receiving IS and instead of cancelling the claim, they calculated how much Tax Credit I would be awarded and DWP reduced the IS. I don't know if it was WFTC at that time or Child Tax Credit. It is very complicated.
I must be daft because I quite often don't understand what DWP and IR write in their letters to me - the dates they quoted that they are still going to pay the IS, that my circumstances have changed but the amount of IS hasn't, I don't have a qualifying child, I have been overpaid etc. Anyone else find this? Do they even know what they're doing, what with the amount of people being told they were overpaid and judging how busy the "Complaints Line"/Director's Hotline is?
Thanks again for your support and advice everyone. I'll post again when I have (hopefully good) news. 0 -
dont know if this is anyhelp? we had real bad trouble with tax credits after our daughter was born and we wanted to add her to our exsisting claim, 7 1/2 months and what seems like 100's of phine calls later we were advised to ask our mp for help and we did and it was sorted within 2 weeks, all money backdated. Get in touch with your local mp as i was told that the inland revenue take this matter very seriously and everything is dealt with by hand straight away! hth Vicki x 0
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cherrypie556 wrote:dont know if this is anyhelp? we had real bad trouble with tax credits after our daughter was born and we wanted to add her to our exsisting claim, 7 1/2 months and what seems like 100's of phine calls later we were advised to ask our mp for help and we did and it was sorted within 2 weeks, all money backdated. Get in touch with your local mp as i was told that the inland revenue take this matter very seriously and everything is dealt with by hand straight away! hth Vicki x
I also had problems (with benefits not tax credits) but we went to the MP. We had argued for just under 2 years and got nowhere. Our MP got it sorted within 2 weeks. Definitely recommend going to your MP if you are pushed from pillar to post.0
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