working tax credits, help needed.

verystressedneedhelp

hi
this is my first post and im posting as i have no idea what to do..i seem to spend my life going from ringing to writting and still getting no where.

right..i was with my ex many years ago about 3 years ago..he set up a claim for joint workign tax credits however by time i recieved anything to do with it we had broke up..also before i go on i will explian that we never lived at the same address we both lived aprt but stayed over at each others homes ect.

well i cant remember for the life of me signing anything to say i agreed with it all and details that hmr recieved were correct.

every letter i recieved i rang hmr and wrote to them saying that i hadnt recieved any money from them and that i was no longer with my ex. i didnt hear anything back and was told over the phone that this would be sorted..i didnt hear anything from them untill this year 2010 when i was sent a renewal pack..so once again i rang them wrote to them.well i have now had a letter back saying that i need to repay money as i have being over paid, yet i havent recieved a penny.. and i do not have contact with my ex.

also has i pointed out to hmr to make a claim as a joint claim you need to ve living together at the same address either as a married couple, none married couple, same sex couple. and as they have sent a letter to my address and i am guessing one to my exs address, wouldnt this tell them we do not live at the same address and havent????

i am now waiting for another form from hmr to fill in so i can explain all this again to them..

i am just wondering if anyone has being in same boat as me before and what did they do, what was the end result. as i cant afford to pay back money that i didnt choise to recieve and i have not recieve... also they hold no bank details on me.. so i had no excess to any money from them...

please help...im worried sick as i dont want be left with this and have to pay...as i have done everything i was asked to do, rang and then put in writting and also why didnt they contact me everytime they recieved it in writting, why keep sending me letters regading the claim?????

thank you.

toonbaz

to make a joint claim for tax credits would require both signatures, did you sign the application form? if so then you are jointly liable for any overpayment on the claim even though any payments were made to his bank. if you did not sign a form then i suspect that would be the basis for your appeal against the overpayment.

UnderPressure

Hello firstly welcome to the forums.........

OK from what you are saying I would suggest your ex has been inreceipt of these tax credits for some time, some money HAS to have been paid for them to tell you you have been overpaid, if you have not had the money then it must have been your ex.

I would ring them and find out how much is being paid weekly, to what bank account and for how long, I would them inform them that you have no knowledge of this claim and tell them how long you have been seperated from your ex. As has been mentioned as it is a joint claim you are bot jointly liable, but from what you are saying there seems to have been an element of fraud on your ex's part, you need to get this mesage across to HMRC and be as co-operative as you can in helping them with their enquiries.

I would ring them and see exactly what has happenedm then inform them as far as you are concerned your ex partner who you never lived with has been claiming these tax credits without your knowledge and fraudulantly.............

verystressedneedhelp

hi

thank you for replying im very grateful.. i have recieved a number of forms each year from hmr but everytime i have sent letters back with the forms explaing we are not together and do not live together and that i wanted the claim stopped. with not hearing from them i thought that was it the claim was canceled, but it wasnt.

i have rang them and all they will tell me as yet is that there needs to have beign two people to sign as it was joint..my point is even if we did both sign, which i cant remeber signing anything.. i have not recieved a penny and i contacted them everytime they sent me letters. so why didnt they stop the claim??? and wouldnt that mean that he should have to pay back anymoney as he as carried on claiming...also on the forms i recieved it each year it asked if there were any changes, and you had to sign, which i didnt do i rang them and sent a letter back to hmr with a letter explaining why i wasnt signing and that i wanted the claim stopped and letters stopped.

the amount that needs to be paid back is just under £200 will this be halfed between us if we do end up having to pay?? also the money would have ebing paid into my exs account, as they do not hold my bank details, and i havent any record of any money from hmr.so will this be any help for me, when appealing??? im really worried because i now have a new partner, whom i have being with for 3 years we have own house, dptn claim anything. and right now i cant afford £1 never mind nearly £200. what beats me is it has took them nearly 4 years to send me a letter saying i owe this, even though i have spent them years ringing and writting to them.

also will this go agaisnt me with credit rating/scoring???

thank you

UnderPressure

As far as I am aware no it makes no difference to your credit score.

Im sorry to say you need to ring them again and make it obvious that you have no knowledge of a claim, you have received no monies from them and if there is a live claim with your name on it is a fraudulent claim, ask to be put throught to a team leader if you are not getting anywhere with the script reader that answers the phone.

I would also get in touch with the CAB as well for further advice, as it stands it looks as though your ex partner for god knows how long has been claiming tax credit on behalf of himself and also you, to add insult to injury we have just passed the renewal period so he must have rang up and gave details for himself and false details for you for any overpayment to even come to light, what he has done is illegal and although you know you have not done anything wrong you really need to liase with HMRC and get your point across, mention the word fraud to them and let them know you need this investiagting as you have never claimed anything and have never received any monies from them.

I would not just leave this alone, you need to plough forward with it, give the CAB a ring and see what they say either way it needs bringing to the attention of HMRC and quickly the claim is obviously still to this day being paid to your ex partner......................

G51shopaholic

if you didn't live together why did he make a claim as a couple? If you each had your own homes then you would not have been counted as a couple and therefore would have received more Tax Credits with a single claim.

Have you claimed Tax Credits in your own name since the split?

Each claim has to be signed - each annual declaration has to be signed - How long has this been going on?

I've just "won" my fight with them over a demand for repayment of nearly £3500!

samhuzz

G51shopaholic wrote: »

if you didn't live together why did he make a claim as a couple? If you each had your own homes then you would not have been counted as a couple and therefore would have received more Tax Credits with a single claim.

Have you claimed Tax Credits in your own name since the split?

Each claim has to be signed - each annual declaration has to be signed - How long has this been going on?

I've just "won" my fight with them over a demand for repayment of nearly £3500!

Hey, how did you manage that? I've paid back £2300 over the past 4 years and still owe them £1015!

verystressedneedhelp

i havent claimed anything before and i wasnt aware this was recieved untill i recieved letters by which point we were not together...so i rang and wrote.. i will ring them again in morning and post what they say.. im very grateful for all info and will make a note about what i need to ask and all other stuff that has beign said.

this is just making me so angry and stressed when i have spent the last 3 years building my life and getting to where i am...

reply to why a joint claim..he did say he wanted to apply for workign tax credits but i said no..even though my wage low i was ok without it.. got by..but he saw diff and also he thought we should live in one place not two, but once again my views were diff...

but all it seems to have done is made a right mess and now looks like i going have to pay money back when i didnt recieve any money in first place.. just makes me angry that i informed hmr of the changes and they did nothing and they still had an open claim...it dont make sense...!!!!!!!!!!

will post up what i get told tomorrow when i ring....

System

You need to write to the Tax Credit Office and make a "Subject Access Request" under the data protection act. You need to ask for a copy of the original application form and copies of all correspondence sent by you and sent by them relating to this claim. You can also request a copy of all the calls made by you in relation to this matter, they will send that on a CD.

Next you need to write in and ask for a full explanation of how the overpayment occurred and what tax years they relate to. When you have all that information then you can formally dispute the overpayments.

BTW if your signature was on the original application form then TCO would have automatically assumed that you and your ex made a joint claim as a couple and that you had decided between you that payments would be made into his account if that's were they went.

HTH

verystressedneedhelp

rang them tonight and the overpayment is the period ending 11/07/2008. they didnt say anything after this date so im guessing the claim is closed/endded whatever they want to call it.???

do you think i would be better to now put it in writting and request they write back stating if the claim is closed or is still active??? i received a letter today regarding the overpayment and the one before that was on the 22 april 2010.stating the final tax credits decision for 6/4/1008 to 11/07/2008.

does this mean that it is it now, the claim is closed/endded???

i feel i am being told to do one thing, do it then told to do the first thing..the hmr seem to be not telling me anything i dont already know!!!!

arrrrrrrrr
:mad:

toonbaz

verystressedneedhelp wrote: »

rang them tonight and the overpayment is the period ending 11/07/2008. they didnt say anything after this date so im guessing the claim is closed/endded whatever they want to call it.???

do you think i would be better to now put it in writting and request they write back stating if the claim is closed or is still active??? i received a letter today regarding the overpayment and the one before that was on the 22 april 2010.stating the final tax credits decision for 6/4/1008 to 11/07/2008.

does this mean that it is it now, the claim is closed/endded???

i feel i am being told to do one thing, do it then told to do the first thing..the hmr seem to be not telling me anything i dont already know!!!!

arrrrrrrrr
:mad:

the claim will no longer be active, will have ended on 11-07-2008