specialist team for tax credits renewal (merged)

lorelai34

kurjam wrote: »

i agree when i had my baby i informed tax credits and they said they automatically update the child benefit computers for me !!.. so all on the same system...

Are you getting child benefit for your baby? The only reason I ask is because tax credit staff do not automatically update the child benefit system. When someone moves address or changes bank details we can send the information electronically to child benefit for them to update their systems. However when you tell tax credits you have had a baby we cannot do anything (we can issue you a child ben app pack) but we cannot tell child benefit you have had a baby.

newmummy123_2

Hi
OK here is my story. I never received any sort of letter from the specialist team whatsoever. I got my renewal pack a few weeks ago and did it through the main helpline. Thought everything was fine so left it at that. Never received any final award which thought was strange but put it down to being busy. Yesterday i come home to a provisional tax credits award for this year. Also said on back of letter that they still needed my signed declaration which i thought was strange as had been done by phone. I have a low income this year as I was on maternity leave for first 9 months of the tax year. Anyhow, I phoned the helpline and asked the man why i had been sent this letter. He said oh we have received your declaration but there is a signal on your file and you need to speak to one of our officers. Now straight away I thought oh my god im in trouble. I play everything by the book and I spent an hour in a panic thinking I had done something wrong or an overpayment had been built up. He gave me the number ending in 5044. Managed to get through to a really sweet girl who told me that I wasnt in any trouble and it was just a new pilot scheme this year. She asked me questions i.e who was my childcare provider , what were my costs for the previous year and your other usual questions. I have quite a high childcare element as I have 3 kids and 2 are under 3. Ive been reading these posts and getting a bit worried as people are being asked to provide receipts. I do not have any receipts. I didnt have any childcare for 9 months in the previous year anyway. Sorry for long post but just wanted to fill you in on my experience. Any how, the girl on phone from specialist team said thats fine and your new award will be issued in the next few days . Im hoping thats the end of it and they dont ask me for more info as I said i dont keep receipts but If i had to prove anything it can all be checked through my provider. She would be willing to help them with anything , i just cant provide the paperwork.
How is everyone else getting on?

Telfordstar

Hi all, this is my first post. I have been watching this forum for a while as I too have got a letter to phone the specialist number. I am currently waiting for my p60 to arrive but im very nervous as this hasnt happened to me at all before. I do not claim ant childcare but about a year ago I phoned the helpline to let them know my son was now getting disability allowance for both care and mobility, they said ok thats fine we will update your award but not once asked for any proof of this even though i asked do they want his ref number to check they said no its fine. I also had an overpayment of nearly 2.5k a few years ago and appealed many a time againt it and eventually got a letter to say ok it was our fault you dont need to pay it back. I am dreading calling up as god knows have they changed their mind about overpayment or not, hopefully my p60 will be here soon so i can get it over and done with. This has been on my mind stressing me out for weeks!!1

newmummy123_2

Telfordstar. I dont think it will be anything to do with your previous overpayment. As you can see from all the posts there are lots of us getting renewed through the specialist helpline. I was told by the girl that i spoke to that there were thousands like me and it was a random selection. I thought maybe it was due to my high childcare element but after re reading some posts it seems that people from all categories are being selected. Some who are dont even have childcare. As long as you have done everything correctly then I wouldnt worry too much. I have renewed through this line and im waiting to see what the outcome is.
I will keep everyone posted.

Telfordstar

newmummy123 wrote: »

Telfordstar. I dont think it will be anything to do with your previous overpayment. As you can see from all the posts there are lots of us getting renewed through the specialist helpline. I was told by the girl that i spoke to that there were thousands like me and it was a random selection. I thought maybe it was due to my high childcare element but after re reading some posts it seems that people from all categories are being selected. Some who are dont even have childcare. As long as you have done everything correctly then I wouldnt worry too much. I have renewed through this line and im waiting to see what the outcome is.
I will keep everyone posted.

Thanks. Do they just go through the same questions and process as the normal helpline?

newmummy123_2

Telfordstar wrote: »

Thanks. Do they just go through the same questions and process as the normal helpline?

Hi
They just asked me the same questions i got asked in previous years. Although they did ask me to confirm all my childrens names and dates of birth. Asked what my previous childcare costs were before I went on maternity. Asked what they are now. Discussed my income for last year due to it being low but this is normal for me because of maternity. Basically that was it. She was very nice and said my new award would be out soon.

Telfordstar

newmummy123 wrote: »

Hi
They just asked me the same questions i got asked in previous years. Although they did ask me to confirm all my childrens names and dates of birth. Asked what my previous childcare costs were before I went on maternity. Asked what they are now. Discussed my income for last year due to it being low but this is normal for me because of maternity. Basically that was it. She was very nice and said my new award would be out soon.

Thanks newmummy123 im hoping it will be straight forward for me, its just the worry and stress of it all.

TaxCreditHelp

joanne_d wrote: »

Taxcredithelp - some people received letters from tax credits asking them to give them a ring to ensure they were gettin the correct amount of money .

This letter as far as i am aware is not the same as the specialist renewal team is that right ?

The reason i ask is that i got a letter like this a few months ago , it was just asking me "are you receiving the right amount of tax credits? , give us a call to make sure we hold the correct details as incorrect details could lead to an over/underpayment".

No the number which was on this letter . when i rung it , it just rang and rang . After tryin for a few days i got no answer and just stopped trying!

What was this letter all about ? It stated "paul gerard customer compliance" at the bottom ?

Surely customer compliance means fraud?

I have since went on to renew and receive my new payments but this thread had reminded me about this letter

Sorry if I've been off here for a little while and I'm just back on...

This exercise is different from the one you mention. Claimant compliance is not fraud so there was no need to worry. The team was set up for a little while to complete additional checks to make sure the details we hold are correct and try to stop unnecessary overpayments. Tax Credits are moving from a "pay now, check later" approach to "check now, pay later". This is how it should really have been done from the start.

Part of this involves going over current awards and just checking we have all the correct details and the current Specialist Renewal Team exercise is part of that.

TaxCreditHelp

Nay_nay wrote: »

To taxcreditshelp, I take it for those people who have renewed over the main help line as normal without recieving a letter from the specialist team will recieve a phone call or letter from the specailist team regardless asking for more info! Is that what you are saying! If this is the case, should hmrc of conducted the renewal process in one simple way which would apply to everyone regardless of the size of award or circumstance it would of been alot more fairer and people would of taken it alot more better knowing that everyone else is being treated the same. I bet most of the clamates you sent specialist letters felt they were personally being targeted. Please could you confirm that?

Not everyone will be asked to renew via the Specialist Renewal Team. There are only about 400,000 customers who have been asked to do this.

I agree a lot of those who have received the letter did take it the wrong way but that is quite often the way with written communication. Unfortunately Tax Credit Office doesn't have the resource to personally phone every customer and check all their details, and there certainly isn't the resource to complete the Specialist Renewals exercise for every Tax Credits customer.

TaxCreditHelp

Witter wrote: »

Very true, if you work most claims are over 8k so these letters would only apply to the ones who work. So basicaly if you claim dss you wont have any problems but if you work you get all this worry. Everyone that claims taxcredit should be treated the same no matter how small or large the claim is. Not singled out like whats happened here

It's not the case that those that work have the highest Tax Credits award. You have to take into account the number of children, any childcare costs, and any disability or severe disability.

No one was singled out with this exercise. Tax Credit Office simply focussed on their potentially more vulnerable customer with the higher awards. They simply wish to check all details are correct and hopefully avoid them getting any unnecessary overpayments.