Help and advice REALLY needed

desperate_for_advice_2

Hi all,

I recently posted a question re;potential payment, and was just wondering if anybody at all has any idea of how to get the process of getting the potential payment speeded up? I am really desperate now, I am 27 weeks pregnant and am really, really stressed out by this. I am in contact with creditors who are chasing me for money, which really worries me what further action they may take. Its started to affect my sleeping at nights too. I have explained all this to tco but dont think its made any difference.

ANY help or advice offered will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance guys.

AnxiousMum

Is this a potential payment for tax credits? Is the 'potential payment' in relation to a change of income since you renewed this year?

DX2

AnxiousMum wrote: »

Is this a potential payment for tax credits? Is the 'potential payment' in relation to a change of income since you renewed this year?

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desperate_for_advice wrote: »

Hi all,

Was looking for some advice regarding potential payments, mines seems to be taking forever to sort out. I'll try to keep the history of this short, please bear with me.

Ok so I had a baby last April, and started claiming tax credits. Was initially told we weren't entitled to working tax credits and child tax credits were due of about £20 per week. Later in the year, I had telephoned about something completely different, when the operator I spoke to said that my maternity pay (£111.00) was noted down wrong, it should only have been £11 as the first £100 is not counted. I then find out that my weekly child tax credits are meant to be £66 and we are at that point eligable for working tax credits also of about £20 per week. As this had been due for some time, a potential payment was built on the difference in what we should have been getting and what we actually were getting.

I asked them to release the potential payment, because it was their fault that this had happened. They refused and told me to put in an appeal requesting that the payment be released. I did so. Skip forward to this January, I get a phone call from the appeals department advising that I withdraw my appeal. I agreed to do so, on the confirmation that when that years earnings had been worked out via the renewal, any potential payment would be released.

Received my renewal form and sent it back, they received it middle of May. Have been phoning since as I hadn't heard anything back from them. Kept getting the same answers from the helpline staff, no time limit for renewing tax credits, just wait and it will be sorted out, we will contact you by post etc etc.

A fortnight ago, during one of my routing calls, it was discovered that there is a marker/signal on the system that is stopping my renewals and potential payment from being completed and released. This marker is showing that there is still an open appeal, when in fact it should have been removed in January due to me removing the appeal... (confirmed by tax credits office, again a mistake on their behalf).

Phoned last week, was told that they had put all this information to head office as they are the ones who can remove the marker. Was told also that they have a time-scale of 7-10 days to do this in, at the end of which they hope to have everything sorted out, i.e. renewal updated, potential payment released etc. (this time limit runs out on Thursday this week). Phoned back today, nothing had changed on their system, the marker was still active. Was told that After the ten days had passed, the helpline people would issue a reminder to the head office. Was basically told the timescale of 10 days was only relevant to the helpline finding out what was happening and was not a guarantee that everything would be sorted out by the end of it.

So sorry for the length of the post, but really feel that the system is far too complicated. Was looking for any advice from anyone who has been in a similar situation to myself, or who may have any ideas on how to hurry the process along.

desperate_for_advice_2

Hi AnxiousMum,

Thanks for your reply.

This is a potential payment in relation to both child tax credits and working tax credits. There has been no change in income, the TCO had taken my maternity pay down wrong last april when I had my baby. Therefore, the potential payment was created through a fault of their own and they seem reluctant to release it to me.

Do you have any personal experience of this? Or any help/advice to offer?

Would be gratefully received.

Thanks in advance.