Child tax credits suspended?!!

BABYQ333

This has happened to me before. They state that it takes a max of 2 weeks to resolve. I would suggest that because it is a fault on their part, if you incur any bank charges, write to Tax Credit along with a copy of your bank statement / letter showing these charges and request that they pay / reimburse you for this. They paid mine last year as I had incured 2 charges on my account due to their incompetence.

System

BABYQ333 wrote: »

This has happened to me before. They state that it takes a max of 2 weeks to resolve. I would suggest that because it is a fault on their part, if you incur any bank charges, write to Tax Credit along with a copy of your bank statement / letter showing these charges and request that they pay / reimburse you for this. They paid mine last year as I had incured 2 charges on my account due to their incompetence.

Thanks for this, I wish they could have just given me some indication on the phone, that was the stressful part,. I didn't know if it would be 24hours, 24 days or longer! It was the fact they couldn't even guess which was hard, I wasn't going to hold them to it just wanted a rough idea to help me budget!!! I have had to borrow money off family which was embarassing but having been into the bank I found out it could cost £30 a transaction/week if I went overdrawn :eek:

[Deleted User]

Can I please re-iterate, this problem is not down to the incompetence of an individual person/adviser. This is a technical problem caused by a system which is not fit for purpose.

Rachelja, as I have said - advisers cannot give ANY timescale. Even if they are not held to it, it is factually incorrect. We are told not to give a timescale.

I personally think it is a pain in the *ahem* that there is no timescale that can be given. We would prefer to say it should be sorted by "X" and if not there is a backup plan which is "Y".

Unfortunately as the government want everything done by phone these days you cannot simply go in to an office to have the problem sorted.

System

Well got another letter through today saying they were going to be suspended (bit late for that after missing last two weeks payments). Anyway spoke to a very nice man on the phone who estimated 3 weeks and if no payment to call back then. At least I have a rough idea where I am and the guy was quite understanding.

Tink82

This happened to me once RachelJa. keep calling. I had my payments put into my ISA then changed them to my bank account, all went well until around a year later my payments stopped. I called and was told they have sent the payment to my bank, but my bank said nothing of that amount had been sent to them.. after weeks and weeks and weeks of calling, I eventually got through to a lovely lady who took one look and could see that, for no apparent reason, they had started to put my money into my ISA again!!! luckily the ISA was still open so I could colect my money staright away.

My advice would be to call everyday, I know its so stressful and very upsetting but one day you may get through to someone who knows what they are doing.

Chin up, you'll get there I promise

Tink82

subsoniccoyote wrote: »

Can I please re-iterate, this problem is not down to the incompetence of an individual person/adviser. This is a technical problem caused by a system which is not fit for purpose.

Rachelja, as I have said - advisers cannot give ANY timescale. Even if they are not held to it, it is factually incorrect. We are told not to give a timescale.

I personally think it is a pain in the *ahem* that there is no timescale that can be given. We would prefer to say it should be sorted by "X" and if not there is a backup plan which is "Y".

Unfortunately as the government want everything done by phone these days you cannot simply go in to an office to have the problem sorted.

I presume from your reply that you work for them?? I can understand were she is coming from though. I claimed as a single parent in Oct last year and my payments didn't start until MARCH!! i was calling daily, going hungry to feed my child, getting into debt with my childcare provider (who luckily, was very understanding as had problems herself) i called everyday, it got to the point were it made me physically ill. One day I got through to a man who took one look at my account, could see they were waiting for one peice of info, corrected it there and then and my payments started within that week.

My main issue was that almost every person I spoke to had absolutly no empathy whatsoever, it was like talking to robots every day. It is the person at the end of the phone that will take the blame everytime as that is the only point of contact, however if they could just show a little heart now and again, it would be nice and help a little more when your in such a hurrendous situation

[Deleted User]

My advice to anyone in your situation Tink82, would be to complain by phone to a team leader, in writing to the TCO "head office" and to your MP.

Tink82

subsoniccoyote wrote: »

My advice to anyone in your situation Tink82, would be to complain by phone to a team leader, in writing to the TCO "head office" and to your MP.

I did demand a team leader and evertime was told one was not available to speak to me, I wrote a letter, recieved one back saying it was sent to the wrong place and that they have forwarded my letter on to the correct dept, by the time I had rec a letter back my issue was fixed and that is basically what the letter said!! my 'situation' had been resolved!!