Tax credits-what to do?

stephief

Hi,

Bit of a complicated one so please bear with me, I am at the end of my tenther and need some advice!

I applied for tax credits in march this year. Little over a week after sending off the form, I started recievinng payments. In this short time we were given a date for my partner to move in with us (he is disabled and it had taken years for us to be able to move in together!) I phoned tax credits on march 22nd, the day I started getting payments, and informed them my partner would be moving in on the 26th. A lovely man I spoke to said he would make a note of it, but that I would have to phone back on the 26th as they cant do anything before that date, and I would need to make a new claim as a couple. I called back on the 26th, and spoke to another man who said it would just be a change of circumstances as we were still claiming income support anyway, and he would send out a pack. They continued to pay me up to the 27th april, and I recieved a renewal pack, nothing else. However, since then I have had no money. I called them up when my payments stopped, to be told I hadnt informed them of my partner moving in so now I owed them nearly £600! They have admitted I did phone on the 22nd, and there is a note saying he was moving in on the 26th, but they insist I did not call them on the 26th! They are basiically accusing me of not informing them of a change of circumstances, and that it was income support who informed them! Why would I tell them he is moving in, and then try to 'commit fraud' by not telling them? Makes no sense! I cant prove I made a phonecall (how do I prove that, I dont get phone bills!) but the upshot is, after 4 weeks, I still havent had a penny from them. My new claim has been in for 3 weeks, but no payments at all, and when I phone them I get an earbashing from them for 'not informing them' and told there is nothing of the new claim on the system and call back next week! I am happy to pay back any overpayment when my new claim is sorted (this is supposed to be backdated to when my partner moved in, so would cover the overpayment anyway) I am not trying to make money out of them at all, as far as I am concerned they have already paid me and I dont want the money twice, I just need some money from them as supporting a family of five on a couples rate of income support is getting beyond a joke! My bills are all in arrears (I am usually such an organised person so this is annoying for me!)

Is there anything I can do? I need help!

kingfisherblue

Reading your post, it seems that the pack was seent out in response to your phone call on the 26th - the phone call that they are denying receiving. Is that correct? If I am right, can you use this to prove that you rang?

Do you have the name of the person that you spoke to?

TaxCreditHelp

If you called the main Tax Credit Helpline then most calls are recorded so you can ask them to check the 'CMA' system for details of this call.

If you have moved from a single award to a joint award then I'm afraid it's more than a change of circumstances and you must submit an entirely new award. It sounds like your single award has been ended so there shouldn't be any more overpayment but I advise you to submit your joint award as soon as possible.

stephief

Hi,

I have spoken to them so many times now (I dread my next phone bill ,I end up on hold for half an hour at a time!) and they have said they will look into seeing if they can find a recording of the call, but no one ever seems to actually try, and tbh they insist I didnt call so I doubt they would admit to finding the call anyway! They also said I can appeal the overpyament once I can prove I made this call, but I am not bothered about that as I have recieved the money they have 'overpaid' me, and I dont want that back, I just want the money I havent had for the last month! My new claim, as a couple, has been in for three weeks and still nothing. I called them again this afternoon (last week they assured me it would be done by today and to call back if it wasnt) and they still have no record of my new claim on their system, and the lady I spoke to today has passed my details onto another dept to see if they can find me anywhere. She said to keep in touch as it can appear on their system at anytime, and I asked when I should call back (I honestly dont like to bother people all the time!) and she said anytime, we are open from from whenever to whenever and then hung up on me! I was in tears by the end of the call. We havent even got enough coming in to cover fuel and food costs at the moment, and (I know this is a little shallow!) I am desperately in need of some new clothes as I am 7 months pregnant and I am only fitting into trousers by using safety pins! Just a tenner for some cheap leggings would be a godsend right now!

I wish I had kept a record of everyone who I have spoken to (I have everytime since! , my first claim went through so smoothly I never for a minute thought there would ever be a problem with this!