Family Tax Credits query for a friend

Misty_Blue

Hi all,

I don't have kids so am totally clueless about this stuff. A friend of mine was getting Family Tax Credits until a couple of years ago, when she was contacted and told she had been overpaid (by several thousand! :eek: ) despite having provided the right information. Instead of asking for it straight back, they just stopped the Credits in lieu of payment, but as her youngest child is now 17 and has just left home to start college, my friend has now been told she still owes £1,000 and has to pay it back.

Is this right, even though she says she gave all the info she was asked for, and was totally honest? Also, she's thinking of applying for Working Tax Credits but wonders if there's any point as anything she might gain may be cancelled out.

Any help gratefully received.

SuziQ

Even if she was awarded wtc and it was taken to clear the debt surely that's a better option than having to clear the debt from nothing?

Did she ever dispute the overpayment,as it's a little late once you've been paying it off for a while-almost like accepting it.

I am disputing a repayment at the moment,having done so twice before that and again last week they have tried to open a new o/p case against me-I always supply all the info,check the notices,return forms,ring up to confirm an unusual payment etc-mistakes still occur and these days they demand 100% repayment.

Did she ever ask them to detail the overpayment so she could check it? Hopefully one of the ctc advisors can advise you whether she is able to act on this at this late stage.

Misty_Blue

Thanks for the reply. I'm not sure if she officially disputed it - ie by filling in the forms, but they are saying she didn't inform them of an increase in her working hours. She did inform them by letter (which they say they never received) and by telephone. They admit they have a record of her call, but say that "the system was down" so thay can't retrieve anything other than the fact that she did call them.

jax66

hi just looking for a bit of advice. I phoned wtc to tell them i had changed jobs. I finished one job on Friday 08/08 and started new job monday 11/08 . They said that was fine, then my next payment didnt go in. when i called to enquire it turns out the person i spoke to didnt "fill the gap " as it was a weekend. I have now been told theyll have to sort it out but they have no idea how long it will take and i have to do without till they sort their mistake. They can only "offer their apologies".Can they do this or is there a way to get the payments?

SuziQ

Misty_Blue wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. I'm not sure if she officially disputed it - ie by filling in the forms, but they are saying she didn't inform them of an increase in her working hours. She did inform them by letter (which they say they never received) and by telephone. They admit they have a record of her call, but say that "the system was down" so thay can't retrieve anything other than the fact that she did call them.

Did they say the system was down when she called them to tell them or when she phoned back this time?

She can ask for a cd of the calls which will prove if she told them and then prove it's their error,not hers. However if she recieved and signed off an award notice which contained incorrect information-ie she didn't notice they hadn't increased her working hours in their calculations then they will say it is her error not theirs. With CTC and WTC the responsibility is always on the claimant to ensure they are using the correct information for their claculations-as I have found to my cost!

They currently have a 100% recovery of overpayment policy,which doesn't bode well as many mistakes are made,and if their advisors have trouble knowing the correct award how I are we supposed to know? The only thing you can do is check and recheck every award notice you recieve and always send the notices back signed for-or better still check they have recieved it (although I would think this would really clog their system. I have had 4 instances now where they claim not to have recieved paperwork from me,so I feel I have no choice but to phone and check in future!)

[Deleted User]

Misty_Blue wrote: »

Hi all,

I don't have kids so am totally clueless about this stuff. A friend of mine was getting Family Tax Credits until a couple of years ago, when she was contacted and told she had been overpaid (by several thousand! :eek: ) despite having provided the right information. Instead of asking for it straight back, they just stopped the Credits in lieu of payment, but as her youngest child is now 17 and has just left home to start college, my friend has now been told she still owes £1,000 and has to pay it back.

Is this right, even though she says she gave all the info she was asked for, and was totally honest? Also, she's thinking of applying for Working Tax Credits but wonders if there's any point as anything she might gain may be cancelled out.

Any help gratefully received.

If her child is continuing in full time non-advanced education she should have told TCO. They would have continued to award the tax credits - which would have been clearing off the overpayment.

She needs to call them before 1st September (so tomorrow) to let them know that the child is staying in full time non-advanced education.

Full time non-advanced education would be anthing up to NVQ level 3 and equivalent - this would include AS & A-levels.

Misty_Blue

Thanks for all the info. Much appreciated and I'll pass it on.

SuziQ wrote: »

Did they say the system was down when she called them to tell them or when she phoned back this time?

As I understood it, the "system was down" when she called telling them about her new working hours, hence they couldn't retrieve the details of that call when she tried talking to them the next time around.