Working Tax Credit Overpayment - Please help!!

creamegg112

Hello,

My parents received an overpayment of working tax credit last year - My mum had put £12,800 for her annual wage on the form but on the form returned from HMRC it was down at £128.00 even though her working hours were 37??

From this we wrote to them to inform them of their error and we received a letter back confirming they will be in touch. We never did hear from them in the end (annoyingly my mother has lost this confirmation of acknoledgment letter from them). However we have received the tax credit this year and it says we won't be receiving payments? it doesnt highlight to us that this is because of overpayment or anything but we just presume. How do i go about this now? do i write to them asking them why we are not entiled to payments? or does i automatically complete the TC846 form?

My dad is self employed - very often with the current economic situation he is very often out of work for weeks - we live on 12,800 this monthly payments from them do really help!

I hope you can help xxxxxxx thank you for reading

AnxiousMum

As your mum knew that this was an overpayment, did she put the money away to return to them when it would be requested? Did she not question when she did not receive anything with the proper amount on it for income? When changes are made, we are sent updated assessments - and if this was not received, did she chase it up at all?

creamegg112

She did put it away but with the run up to Christmas and my dad was of work for months it had to pay the bills and food. so its all gone now.

No - we sent the letter off to confirm the error and we received confirmation that they have received our letter and will be in touch. That is the last correspondence.

Will we have to pay it back? we're always struggling for money! people who don't work have more money than us! xxxxxxxxx

creamegg112

my dad is a painter and decorator - with the run up to Christmas and after everyone is skint which results in my dad having no work for months around this time xxx

AnxiousMum

You say that your mum's wage is £12,800 per year, and that's what she put on the form, and this is what you live on. But, your dad is also self employed - did a wage get entered for him? Maybe the overpayment relates to him having an income that wasn't declared originally?

creamegg112

Yes his wage was entered correctly and was correct on the form they sent to us. It is because they put my mums wage down as £128 pounds for the annual wage even though her weekly hours was down as 37? do you think we have to pay it back ? xxx

Duncombe

Highly likely, yes.

Unless you can prove that the error was on their part (ie..a typo), it seems unlikely that you will get out of it. If i recall correctly, this has happened before on the forum - a wage being incorrectly entered on the form sent to you.

Did you not query it at the time? Surely the incorrect income would have been listed on the original award letter?

AnxiousMum

Duncombe - they did receive an award letter with the incorrect amount of £128.00 annual income entered onto it. OP says they did query it at the time, and were told that someone would get back to them. They then did not hear anything, and never pursued it as the money was used over the Christmas period when money was tight. They were sent a letter about the incorrect info, but have misplaced this.

Obviously though there has been no new award notice as the payments have remained the same.

creamegg112

thats right AnxiousMum.. thats exactly what has happened. do i write to them asking why we aren't getting our payments or just go ahead with completing the TC846 ? xxxx

Duncombe

AnxiousMum wrote: »

Duncombe - they did receive an award letter with the incorrect amount of £128.00 annual income entered onto it. OP says they did query it at the time, and were told that someone would get back to them. They then did not hear anything, and never pursued it as the money was used over the Christmas period when money was tight. They were sent a letter about the incorrect info, but have misplaced this.

Obviously though there has been no new award notice as the payments have remained the same.

Ahh, I see. Sorry, I misunderstood the original post. Thanks for clarifying.

Although spending money you knew you wern't entitled to does seem somewhat foolish - Christmas time or not. As is not pursuing the case however tempting that may have been.

It seems obvious but if you don't know exactly why they have stopped your payments, you may as well ask for written confirmation.

creamegg112

It was foolish - it was purely either pay the rent/food or not and that cash in the bank was the only option throughout November - March where my dad had no work on.

I think i'll complete that form then??xx