Tax Credits - Infuriating - Help Needed

Reg1981

Has anybody ever had difficulty getting through the security questions? I have been trying for the past week and after waiting about 10mins on hold i can't get through the security questions (name and middle names, NI number and date of birth). Now i am positive that i know all these things (being 28 years old i should do by now!)

I even got my renewal forms through today and tried again as this information was on my letter. I said it exactly as it is written down on my letter and failed again. I tried to explain that these details were all on the letter they sent me so they must have the correct information. When i asked each time how this can be rectified they just said they can't help me any further as i hadn't got through security and i just needed to try again.

Has anybody who has suffered anything similar got any suggestions how i can get this sorted. Is there a way to do it online as it would be good to never have to speak to these imbeciles. They are so infuriating that i would imagine when they meet new people they probably have to lie about their job so as not to be constantly attacked in the street!!

Apologies rant over

themonkeybutler

I cant understand why you fail the security questions if the answers you give are what is written on your award notices. The only thing i can suggest is that you are a "mismatch" cases, which means someone else shares your national insurance number through a DWP mistake. This means that the default details that come up when your NINO is inputted by the CCC are the other persons.

The best thing is to take your award notice down to your local IREC and ask them to have a look - if they see two people with the same nino, problem sorted. If not, at least they can tell you whats going on and why youre failing the questions. TAKE VALID I.D WITH YOU TOO!

TaxCreditHelp

Details of your local Inland Revenue Enquiry Centre (IREC) can be found on the HMRC website or in your local yellow pages.

daska

Yes, I had exactly this problem when some numpty at the HMRC decided to amend our address to someone else's. Of course, we couldn't tell them the address they had on their records because it wasn't one we'd ever lived at... between that and a couple of other 'admin' errors the HMRC screwed up my Tax Credits, my ESA by giving them false info based on the address, my Child Benefit by taking away DSD as 'first' child and not replacing her with DS2 and my HealthyStart vouchers by changing details at the wrong point during a change from a joint tax credit claim to a single claim... which left me staring at the paracetamol while the bills mounted around me.

In the end I wrote to my MP and very soon afterwards lots of really helpful people were on the phone making sure it was all sorted out!

TaxCreditHelp

There are alternative questions the helpline can use to verify security. Ask them to use Child Benefit number, bank account number, details of children, or employment details. All of this information is available to the adviser as soon as you provide them with your National Insurance number.

newmoneysavingexpert

the above is incorrect,the helpline cannot use any other details to verify you if it is the basic details which are incorrect such as name,DOB.Do you have a joint claim,possibly have partner call up and check your personal details are correct.As for the people being imbeciles it's not really their fault since there is rigid guidance which they have to follow and cannot pass you through security if the information available to them does not match what you give

daska

newmoneysavingexpert wrote: »

As for the people being imbeciles it's not really their fault since there is rigid guidance which they have to follow and cannot pass you through security if the information available to them does not match what you give

Yes, they are told what questions to ask but it is their choice as to whether they advise you how to get the problem resolved or whether they just claim they can't help at all. I phoned upwards of 3 dozen times and spoke to a total of 2 people who actually tried to help - so in my view the other 34+ were found wanting.

newmoneysavingexpert

in the scenario put up by the OP there is nothing else that they can tell her,they cannot say what is incorrect and all they can say is to check the details and call back.Not very helpful i know but that isn't the advisor trying to be unhelpful but them following the prescribed guidance which must be followed at all times

Walnut_Whip_2

I have experienced a similar issue with HMRC, although not the Tax Credit section.....the Self Employment section. I persistently failed the security questions, and like the OP, I think I would know (at aged over 50) my middle name, occupation, d.o.b etc.

I spoke to so many different people at HMRC, none of whom would continue the conversation with me once the security checks failed. I too explained that I was reading diretly from the HMRC document in front of me, which they had sent me, but to no avail. Too many idiots reading off of a card, and not enough people with common sense.

In the end, I demanded to speak with a Supervisor, who bluntly informed me that the only thing I could do was put all my personal details (name, address, NI number, d.o.b etc) in a signed letter and send it to them, to prove I was who I said I was! This I did, but to cut a very, very long story short, the whole matter became a huge complaint, eventually being referred to The Adjudicator's Office. To date, I am still awaiting for my case to be taken up with The Adjudicator's Office (whose minimum timescale for a case to be given to a caseworker incidentally, is 13 months!). The initial issue and complaint was raised some 17 months ago. All because of an error caused by a HMRC member of staff inputting the wrong details against my NI number, with no resolution in sight.

I have lost the will to live.....

daska

Walnut_Whip wrote: »

I have lost the will to live.....

That's where I was 9 months ago. Write to your MP.

Walnut_Whip_2

My MP won't help due to the stage I am at with the case. I spoke to my MP to ask if he would refer my case to the Parliamentary Ombudsman, and he categorically told me that he could not do that until the case had been through to The Adjudicator's Office first, which is apparently the procedure. If once the case has been responded to by The Adjudicator's Office I am not happy with their response, I can then go back to my MP and ask him to refer it to the Parliamentary Ombudsman. It's an absolute joke. I'm pretty sure my MP just can't be bothered to get involved. Still, it's a different MP now (!), so I may just try again!

It's a terrible reflection on HMRC that problems and errors created by their own staff are not rectified immediately as they should be, but become part of a long-winded fight on the part of the customer, with little more than a half-hearted, robotically mumbled, watered-down apology. Still, from my experience, I don't expect anything less these days.