specialist team for tax credits renewal (merged)

kerry13238

so what is it actually for i imagined it would be to check that you have given the correct info but if they tell you then how does it work just a customer service exercise to make sure they have not made errors?

whathappen

kerry13238 wrote: »

so what is it actually for i imagined it would be to check that you have given the correct info but if they tell you then how does it work just a customer service exercise to make sure they have not made errors?

i asked her to tell me some of my info so i was sure it was legit, u then just do ur renewal through them. Some people say its to lift the burden of the number of calls to the main helpline and other people say its to make sure ur payments are correct......i think its a bit of both to be honest.
She was able to tell me the info i had recently updated over weekend and only ppl with up to date info can tell me that.

I would call through on the main number and do ur renewal then call them and say that u are checking everything is in order and its been finalised

cybermum

I just came off the phone from tax credits and they tell me it is above board.
There is a note on my renewal file that a letter was sent out march 22nd.I was told it could have crossed in the post around the time I notified of new address.

Basically the lady told me that due to very high volume of calls that the main office gets they are taking longer to get everyones renewal dealt with and this is why HMRC have started to pilot this new dept to help speed up the renewals process.

She said I can still renew through the main number if I want but it would still go through the new department if I was unsure to call through the number on the letter.
She couldn't comment on the layout of the letter as she hadn't seen one in person but did say if concerned at all to call the usual number and they would process it through the new department anyway.

And that nobody was being picked for any particular reason ,just random computer selection.

Pinkpigg

So if they have all the information why don't they just do the renewal automatically - it would seem so much easier plus ease the high volume of calls from people trying to renew.

I am finding all this very confusing, I tried phoning the number on my letter to no avail, it just rung and rung and rung not once answered. In the end I rung the main number, the gentleman I spoke with didn't know anything about this new "team of specialists", I gave him all the info off my letter he checked my file and told me there is no note on my file and has advised me to phone the main number to renew. To renew between Monday-Friday 8am and 5pm is not convenient for me as I work full time and am unable to do this at work 1) due to lack of privacy 2) nature of my job. It just seems to be another case of trying to justify people's jobs!!!

Pinkpigg

I can't make my mind up whether this is all genuine or whether this is a sneaky way of investigating people - mind you there seems to be a lot of people who have received these letters which wold cast doubt on this and I would expect the tax credits office(s) in the event of having suspisions about someone's claim that they would contact them in a different way and most certainly not leave it until renewal time especially with number of renewals they must handle. I am going to phone the main helpline number, apart from anything I am unable to phone between 8am and 5pm - if they need to pass my renewal over to another department I will let them tell me at that time. I am not even going to mention my letter again when I phone, I have no reason to disbelieve the gentleman I spoke with last week who told me there is no note on my file about any letter having been sent to me (though after my phone call I am sure there is now!!!!!) - on the whole people seem to be able to renew via the normal way and number so I will wait and see. At first I thought I had been singled out because my eldest child leaves further education this year.

langold

what are peoples circumstances? maybe only a certain group is recieveing them?

Pinkpigg

Single with 3 kids and paying childcare via school kids club before and after school for one of my kids.

joel10873

Aery interesting reading this one, my circumstance is i claim working and child tax credit with a disbility element (for my son) hubby is self employed and i do tend to overestimate his income as i would rather they owed me money than the other way around!!! i figured they didnt like giving me rebates so were checking up on me!

my letter is the same as a couple of other posters on here (sorry should have quoted) from the preston office tel 0845 6005304, addressed to me and hubby but with just his NI number on ans nor ref number. other than the slightly cheap quality of paper i had no concerns with grammar etc or quality of letter, also the envelope it arrived in looked like the usual HMRC envelope

am slightly concerned by this though as like a lot of people i rely on my tax credits and the last thing i need is for it to take weeks to sort itself out!!!!!

did anyone ever get a reply back from paul gerrard??
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kaitlinsmummy

TBH I think alot of scare mongering is going on here, I will worry when I dont get my usual weekly payment. We also had a letter on friday then we received our renewal pack this morning so I rang the normal TC line and renewed over the phone not once did the man I was speaking to mention a letter and you would think if a signal had been flagged on peoples accounts who have had these letters the normal TC line would also have access to these signals. If you have nothing to hide you shouldnt have anything to worry about and Im not saying anyone has anything to hide here

Pinkpigg

Kaitlinsmummy - let me know if on another day you are told that your claim has not actually gone through. Tend to agree - lots of scaremongering though that does not stop people worrying when they receive something that they then take as being singled out when coming to renew awards. I can't imagine that this many people are being targetted for investigation, and would have thought if this was the case it would have been handled totally differently - not that I would know personally, but I do know people that have been investigated for whatever reason and it normally starts with a letter stopping your payments and then inviting you in for an interview!! Doesn't help either when the Tax Credits staff beit from this specialist team or beit the normal help line officers are not forthcoming with information and appear to be with-holding information.