Tax credit help please (really, really long epic)

elaine373

I urge any-one having problems with child tax credits or the working family tax credits to personally go into your local Tax office. I had problems (massive ones) when they changed the system and I had no option but to go and sort it out myself. It was sorted out in a few hours in my local inland revenue office..all the best, let us know the outcome, Regards, Elaine

iwblue

My advice is to contact your MP, they are really the only people who can make things happen at the Tax Credit Office. CAB offer good advice, but the TCO are only answerable to MP's.

Tax Credit staff really do try to sort problems, its just that the system is so complicated now, and the computer system is full of software problems.

Good Luck

reelcrazy

My first and immediate suggestion is take yourself down to your nearest IREC (Enquiry Centre) and be forceful and demand an emergency payment.

Secondly, write to the DIRECTOR of Inland Revenue Tax Credits who is Jim Harra. Also, copy your letter to Dave Harnett who is heavily involved with the Tax Credit programme. You should use the address you usually write to to contact Jim Harra and for Dave Harnett, use the following:

Dave Harnett
Revenue Policy
Somerset House
Westminster
London WC2

Tell them both about your difficulties caused by the incompetence of IR staff.

coffeeandfags

Have you been in touch with the single parent advisor at your local job centre?

This could be worth a try as they will contact the tax credits people for you and get it sorted out FAST

I am also a single mum claiming benefits at the moment, and know how hard it is if they b****r up one week and you lose a few quid! I certainly wouldnt manage if they stopped the tax credit!! My sympathies are 100% with you

nannymcd

Hi im new to this not sure im at the right place. I wonder if anyone could help my son who is 17 and his girlfriend who is 18 have just moved in together 27/1/2007 they have a new baby daughter born 19/1/2007 i have been intouch with family tax credit for them to see what they could claim i was told before the baby was born that they would get working tax and child tax. my son works 40 hours a week and one day of that he is at college he is doing a modern apprentiship in motor mecanics and is due to finish his 2nd year come the summer he earns an average of 113.00 a week. His girlfriend is doing the same but in hairdressing and is paid 90.00 a week.She works 40 hours but is now off due to the baby and has two weeks holiday pay to come then nothing as she has only started back in june [she didnt know she was expecting at the time of starting] on ringing them today to find out what they could be entitled to they said mum would get child tax which we knew but neither of them would get working tax credit as they were being paid to do a training course. I wonder if anyone knows if there is anything else they would be entitled to as they have a new place to pay rent on and a baby. we are currently filling in forms for housing benefit and council tax benefit but dont know of anything else or where to start looking:

gettingitsorted

hi nanny theres a fab site called entitledto.co.uk if you put there details in there it tells you what they can claim for and how much

hope this helps

gis

DazzerG

eml wrote:

Good Luck - why a benefit like this was given to the Inland Revenue to administer, I don't know!

because it's a Tax Credit, and not classed as a benefit.

sammy_kaye18

I really feel for you

I am goign through the same battle at the minute - so far i have had to rign for the last 3 weeks every few days to check on my progress.

I am supposed to be paid £300 a month into my account for my son (3 almost) but we recieved a letter saygin my bf would recieve a manual cheque of £109 as child benefit so we have been left severely damaged by it all money wise - ive been on to them and the most i get is that a complaint has been forwarded to the complaints and payment department or whatever it is but no luck yet - also there is no notes on my file of when ill next be recieving a payment which means my family has just over £300 to live on a month now. This has to pay food, gas, electric, council tax top up, water rates, tv license, ntl bill and whatever else arises. My washing machine has been broken since before Xmas and i still cannot afford to get it mended - i have been allowed to borrow my mother in laws but i hate having to ask her.

Anyway i have still hasd no luck but have been told i was still owed £900 this tax credit year so im hopign they get there butts in gear soon otherwise im up !!!! creek with out a paddle.

Thankfully the healthy start vouchers we applied for came through today (£11.20) and i am due to be paid on the 1st Feb (should be £239 but was off ill for a day so its down to £212!) and my child benefit isnt in until the 19th Feb.

So Im going to have to pay out £65 NTL bill, £95 on a debt, £22 council tax, £30.40 water, £5 rent - which leaves me - £5.40!!!! and i havent even brought food etc yet!! so i think im going to have to just pay the debt (£95)and council tax (£22 am on a final notice), and £15 off the NTL bill which will leave me about £80 for gas/electric and food.

i hope you get your claim sorted soon - fingers crossed ours will be sorted soon too as this is barely making it

System

Crepe Suzette it can take a while for the award to be restored and it has nothing to do with you being on benefits.

If the TCO are telling you they have no record of any calls you made then ask for a copy of all the calls you made. They are all recorded and so you can ask for them. Unfortunately it will take time for that to be sent out to you too but it is worth asking for it to prove your case. You can also make a Subject access request which means you get copies of all correspondence.

You can also ask that they check all the relevant start, include and end dates for your child if this appears to be a problem with the claim. They should know what that means.

One point though, last year the Annual declaration, which would have been issued to you in April as you are a priority being on benefits, should have been returned by 31 August 2006. That gave you 4 months to return it. The TCO always advise that the declaration is returned asap because that ensures the details on the claim are as up to date as possible.

changkra

sammy_kaye18 wrote:

I really feel for you

I am goign through the same battle at the minute - so far i have had to rign for the last 3 weeks every few days to check on my progress.

I am supposed to be paid £300 a month into my account for my son (3 almost) but we recieved a letter saygin my bf would recieve a manual cheque of £109 as child benefit so we have been left severely damaged by it all money wise - ive been on to them and the most i get is that a complaint has been forwarded to the complaints and payment department or whatever it is but no luck yet - also there is no notes on my file of when ill next be recieving a payment which means my family has just over £300 to live on a month now. This has to pay food, gas, electric, council tax top up, water rates, tv license, ntl bill and whatever else arises. My washing machine has been broken since before Xmas and i still cannot afford to get it mended - i have been allowed to borrow my mother in laws but i hate having to ask her.

Anyway i have still hasd no luck but have been told i was still owed £900 this tax credit year so im hopign they get there butts in gear soon otherwise im up !!!! creek with out a paddle.

Thankfully the healthy start vouchers we applied for came through today (£11.20) and i am due to be paid on the 1st Feb (should be £239 but was off ill for a day so its down to £212!) and my child benefit isnt in until the 19th Feb.

So Im going to have to pay out £65 NTL bill, £95 on a debt, £22 council tax, £30.40 water, £5 rent - which leaves me - £5.40!!!! and i havent even brought food etc yet!! so i think im going to have to just pay the debt (£95)and council tax (£22 am on a final notice), and £15 off the NTL bill which will leave me about £80 for gas/electric and food.

i hope you get your claim sorted soon - fingers crossed ours will be sorted soon too as this is barely making it

Please don't take this the wrong way but do you really need NTL? that is a huge amount for so little money coming in which would easily pay for food for the week for you. Or are you tied into a 12 month contract? A few years back i got rid of Sky otherwise I would have ended up with approx £15 for food for the month, not week, that really was a nightmare time and this is before tax credits and i wasn't on benefits either i was self employed but very ill at the same time and couldn't claim any benefit. I understand the situation you are in financially but not the tax credit.