Tax credits overpayment

sallee55

I need help regarding an alleged overpayment of Child Tax Credit
amounting to over £8000+ (or £7000+ or other amounts depending on what
the letter writer decides to put). The overpayment relates to an amount
received in 2004 but they did not contact me about this until August
2007 so it was too late to reclaim in time. They say the overpayment is
because I did not return a renewal form but although I did and I keep
telling them this, have appealed/disputed, they do not believe me.
Since last year I have been harassed with demands for payments and
letters. This overpayment goes back to when I was married to an
abusive, violent man and they have also sent letters to him, so he has
not been happy as it was myself who sent the forms each year. CTC was
my only income for myself and my children as he used money to control
me and expected me to live on CTC only. We were entitled to CTC, there
were no changes in circumstance or his wages and I did not work (and still do not work as my children are young). I have
continued to claim CTC for many years.
CTC have stated that they stopped payments and sent me a letter to say
this but I received no letter and my payments didn't stop so I had no
reason to think anything was wrong.
This is also being dealt with by two offices...one in Preston, one in
Gloucester, and they do not seem to be communicating. I was told by
the Gloucester office that the overpayment would be suspended until
they had dealt with it but the Preston office are still making demands
and basically saying I'm lying and that letters do not go missing in
theirs or the postal system. I have written numourous letters (I don't
phone as I have a restriction on my phone for outgoing and find it
makes people more confused) I have been to the CAB who tried to help
but couldn't do very much.
This has all been very distressing and worrying and I have been
distraught because they don't seem to listen and expect me to pay back
a huge sum of money that I was actually entitled to...it is just red
tape and illogical thinking that says there is an overpayment. I have
asked that as they are the tax office, they look at their records of my
ex-husbands wages at the time and this will prove he earned the same
and was on a low wage, and that I did not work at all. Also I have had
to deal with my ex-husband and hope he doesn't take his anger out on
me.
I've sent 3 disputes (two of which seem to have gone missing) and just written to my MP.
Although I may not have to pay due to hardship at the moment I don't want this hanging over me for years so that when I am able to work they will demand payments.
This is so unfair. Is there anything else I can do?

[Deleted User]

TBH I think youve done the best thing in writing to your MP as this sounds like it could go round in circles forever,would now suggest you go along to your mp`s surgery if you can get to it,the local library will have details of where and when,hopefully he/she will be able to cut thru some of the red tape
good luck

alison999

Why not ask for a breakdown, in that i mean, how theyve worked out that you owe what they say you owe?

System

Make an appointment for your local HMRC enquiry Centre - ask for a long appointment, at least 30 minutes. The staff there can look at the overpayment and go through each year to try to decypher how the overpayment has occurred. They can then determine if any correction needs to be made or on what grounds a further appeal/review can be made.

They can't fix this but they can go through the awards onscreen with you and help you word any further appeal.

SuziQ

Gosh your case is almost identical to mine,going back to Oct 2006. I sent back forms as required,was on the phone several times at the same time and was never told the forms were outstanding and my payments continued so had no reaon to think they hadn't recieved the forms. I am in the same position also with 2 seperate non-communicating offices not communicating,one telling me no final decision has been reached on te appeal,the other threatening court action.

I got my MP involved over a year ago,and all that did was generate a letter full of gobledegook from them-ie I would have had to have told the advisor I had failed to send the form back or they hadn't recieved it,they don't pre-empt the question,they never demand repayment prior to reaching a decision (despite my MP including the copies of all the threats I had recieved!) and also the statement 'we are not saying Mrs B didn't return the form, we are saying we didn't recieve it'!

I have queried their policy in place at the time of both mine-and incidentally your-case. Which was, if there is no actuall loss to the public purse-ie you didn't give false information,therefore were entitled to the money-they would not persue repayment. They have since changed to a '100% reclaim' policy.

I have heard nothing since April and dread the decision letter as I am pretty sure they will demand repayment-whether they are holding out until I get re-employed I don't know as I am fully on benefit at the moment,so I would think any court action would demand only a small weekly repayment,whereas if I get back to work they will probably deand the £3,500 all in once go!

I wish you luck. There is a support group that people link to on here which may be worth you contacting. I'll see if I can find and post a link,and please keep us posted,as I will!

SuziQ

Have just read on a post on another thread,they can write an opverpayment off in severe hardship cases such as yours-so don't give up,even if they still decide you are at fault they do have the power to write the amount off.

Heres the web addy

http://www.taxcc.org/index.html

sallee55

Many thanks for your replies! The latest in the mess I had a letter from them saying the payments they were collecting couldn't be changed, so I phoned, found out they are not collecting payments(and can't because its a previous claim) and also that there are TWO overpayments, so that amounts to nearly £16000!!
I hope you're right and they can't make me repay or it'll be for years and years. I did hear overpayments are written off after 6 years so perhaps I can keep arguing for another 3 years!
My MP has sent a letter draft but maybe I'll try and see him myself.

Thanks for that link, I'll have a good look now.

System

sallee55 wrote: »

Many thanks for your replies! The latest in the mess I had a letter from them saying the payments they were collecting couldn't be changed, so I phoned, found out they are not collecting payments(and can't because its a previous claim) and also that there are TWO overpayments, so that amounts to nearly £16000!!
I hope you're right and they can't make me repay or it'll be for years and years. I did hear overpayments are written off after 6 years so perhaps I can keep arguing for another 3 years!
My MP has sent a letter draft but maybe I'll try and see him myself.

Thanks for that link, I'll have a good look now.

sallee you really need to find out how these overpayments are supposed to have arisen. TCO are not going to write off an overpayment after 6 years. You have to prove "Good Cause" or Tax credit office error if you want the overpayment remitted.

If you can't get to your local HMRC enquiry centre then send a letter to TCO, Preston, PR1 0SB and ask for a written explanation of all overpayments. Send the letter recorded delivery. TCO currently have a backlog of explanations, disputes and reviews to process so it could be a couple of months before you hear anything.

Any overpayment relating to an earlier claim with your ex can't be collected from your current claim as they are 2 separate matters.

kei_2

I'll try too explain as best as possible, not really sure you'll be able to get your head around it though.

By the sounds of it they wanted to finalise your old claim which means basically they wanted too make sure the amount of money they paid too you and your ex partner when you were together was the correct amount.

It's not unfamiliar for TCO too send you 2 pieces of paperwork (renewal form) that are exactly the same - one to finalise your new single claim and one to finalise your old joint claim.

When TCO say they would have sent you a letter to say your payments had stopped they would have been in reference to your old claim. Your new single claim would be paid out as normal hence why you probably feel that your payments continued.

As for overpayments being written off, when i worked in a HMRC office i've never encountered a overpayment being written off on the grounds of hardship and i've seen overpayments over £20000 numerous times.

From what i dealt with, when it came to claimants word against the system - the system would win practically all the time on the assumption the claimant has no proof of their actions even when a MP gets involved.

But i wish you good luck nonetheless as the correspondence they send out is pretty ridiculous considering some of the people the system is supporting are amongst the most vulnerable people in our society.