Help! CTC Chaos - Don't know where to turn

Christie_L

Hi all,

Back in May I received an overpayment of child tax credits as HMRC had incorrectly recorded me as receiving income-based jobseekers-allowance. This happened because in early May I called them to inform them I was receiving contribution-based JSA, and for some reason this was mis-recorded.

I have one child who is now 12 months old, and my husband works full-time earning around £27,000.

I sent HMRC a cheque for around £605 to cover an overpayment, and was allowed to keep around £550 of the overpayment which covers my entitlement to Apr '09.

I thought everything was done and dusted, and that all records were now correct.

On 2rd July I received a payment from Work & Child Tax credits to the tune of £2092. Gobsmaked I called them to enquire and was told it was because I receive income-based JSA. I told them this isn't the case and they advised they would change their records and re-issue an award notice.

I received this revised notice today which states they intend to pay me around £330 per month in CTC & WTC (I have never qualified for WTC before) which totals around £6300 to Apr '09. The award notice still states I receive IB-JSA, and also acknowledges my husbands salary of £27,000.

I honestly don't know where to turn next. On checking my phone bills I have made a total of 8 calls to CTC on each occasion stating I have never received, and have never claimed to receive IB-JSA.

I have put the £2092 into my ISA which is now earning a nice amount of interest, and will put the £330 they intend to pay me each month in there as well. I am 100% certain that they have got it wrong and I am not entitled to this money, but if 8 calls to question/notify them can't sort it, what am I supposed to do?

Someone else out there needs/is entitled to this money and I honestly don't know where to turn next. I can't even find a telephone no. for a local tax office so I can sit down with someone and sort it out face-to-face.

Help please :huh:

[Deleted User]

Have you recently completed your annual renewal or made any other changes? Notify TCO of the error straight away.
You will have a local HMRC enquiry centre. Find this is your local phone book and phone up to make an appointment if you prefer this to just calling TCO,

[Deleted User]

Use this link to find your local enquiry centre as it is easier than the phone book
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/enq/main.htm

mitchaa

You should not be receiving any more than the basic award of CTC at £545pa with a salary of £27k (and no childcare costs)

How on earth you have qualified for WTC is beyond me. £300pm:rolleyes:

Sometimes i wonder if the DWP would be better training up a few chimps.

I would phone up, state you have been on the HMRC do i qualify website and ask them why there is such a massive difference in awards.

Insist you speak to someone who knows what they are talking about and ask why income based hasn't been changed to contributions based.

[Deleted User]

mitchaa wrote: »

You should not be receiving any more than the basic award of CTC at £545pa with a salary of £27k (and no childcare costs)

How on earth you have qualified for WTC is beyond me. £300pm:rolleyes:

Sometimes i wonder if the DWP would be better training up a few chimps.

I would phone up, state you have been on the HMRC do i qualify website and ask them why there is such a massive difference in awards.

Insist you speak to someone who knows what they are talking about and ask why income based hasn't been changed to contributions based.

I would be grateful if you could stick to helping the OP rather than resorting to slagging off TCO advisers.

There are idiots in every workplace who make mistakes but they are not all idiots and on occasion it is, believe it or not, not their fault when things go wrong!

I am not saying the OP has made a mistake on this incidence but there have been occasions were the APPLICANT (heaven forbid!) has been the one who has made the mistake by stating it was IB rather than CB JSA that was being claimed.

Insisting on speaking to someone who knows what they are talking about wont actually get you anywhere as advisers taking calls should know what they are talking about and if not find it out.

Another point - TCO are part of HMRC not DWP.

clair2305

Christie

I would write to be honest, nothing like a good old fashioned letter and include details (dates, times, etc) of your phonecalls.

We had an overpayment issue running for over a year (their fault obviously) and TCO have finally admitted that is it is their fault and we do not have to pay it back.....I may frame the letter.

I will never speak with TCO again, all my contact now is in writing, it may seem time consuming, but it's better than sitting on the phone for ages on numerous occasions, I can write a letter and then just wait for their response.

Just write detailing who you spoke to and when and that they keep putting the information in wrong. As you have the money in an ISA, as you know the information given to you is wrong, then it's not an issue, they will make the amendments and you will send them the money, look at the interest it may earn as payment for doing their job

JessicaF_2

Under the new COP 26 I actually think you will be able to keep the money they have paid you if you told them about the error within 1 month of the award notice being issued.

When the error is finally corrected, there will be an overpayment. You can dispute the overpayment using their COP 26 guidance. COP 26 states that if the claimant has met their responsibilities and HMRC has not then the overpayment will be remitted.

The claimants responsibility is to check the award notice and inform HMRC within 1 month that something is wrong. This changed from the old COP 26 where people had to keep ringing up. Now if you have told them once, within that time limit that the award notice is wrong and they have not corrected it, they have failed in their responsibilities. Therefore overpayment should be written off and you keep the money.

I am not sure this was an intended result of the new test, but it is clear in the text.

Jess

astralbee

I have taken a renewed interest in Tax Credits since I became entitled to them last week (first baby!). I worked for the Tax Credit Office several years ago.

You said you called the helpline 8 times and the message isnt getting through. I can visualise in my head exactly what is happening.

Annoying as it may be, I suggest you put what you want to say in writing to the office. Put your name and national insurance number in large clear letters at the top of the page, also your address. State what you need to say in plain English (ie "You have said I am receiving JSA. I have never received JSA. Please look at my case again."), and dont confuse matters by complaining ("I called you 8 times blah blah blah") as it only makes them speed-read and miss the point. Sign and date the letter.

As I have mentioned before, the people answering the phones and those assessing the claims are seperate offices and the relationship between them is poor. If you are lucky, the helpdesk staff will write down what you said on a message pad and send it to the assessment section, where it gets no more priority than your mail. In fact, as the helpdesk tend to send a lot of complaints on these messages, the decision makers have a tendancy to ignore them. Your letter has a better chance of getting through.

Hope this helps.

Darrell :j