I owe £2000 to Child Tax Credits

flea72

no, its is unlikely that fraud proceedings will ensue. most court cases have been brought against people who failed to inform HMRC of partners moving in. which then resulted in them having a higher household income that made them ineligible for tax credits

in this case, the OP is entitled, they just havent informed HMRC of a change in circumstances - which has resulted in them claiming back all money paid, rather than the slight difference between what was awarded and what they should be entitled to

Cobble your situation is totally different. you were not entitled to tax credits, and that is what your case is based on

F

flea72

Danielsmum wrote: »

Oh I feel sick. I didn't even think about it being criminal. Non of the letters have mentioned this. I could cry, oh wait, I am ='(

if court proceedings were in the offing, you would have been informed about them by now - do not let the scaremonger here, give you additional stress

F

denton6

slightly different, but we had a overpayment of tax credits. when my husband left i did inform them, went onto the single person claim. the amount we owed was split between us and i will be paying my part back for the next 3 years. they wont and cant expect you to pay it all back in one go. keep strong it will work itself out in the end.

kaylzbob

OP, ring the helpline and ask for a 'notional entitlement' referral to be sent off to TCO. This means that they will look at the space between the claims and if you still had entitlement they will use some of this to reduce the overpayment. Also check to see that your single claim was backdated 3 months when it went through, if it wasn't then ask for that to be looked at and use the backdating to repay some of the overpayment. Even if both these things get looked at there may still be some overpayment left over so my advice would be to phone the overpayment helpline (08453021429) and ask to set up an agreement to repay, even if it is only for £10 per month this will keep them off your back and stop letters being sent out to you. The agreement can then be adjusted once everything has been looked at!!

Hope this helps

nottslass_2

flea72 wrote: »

no, its is unlikely that fraud proceedings will ensue. most court cases have been brought against people who failed to inform HMRC of partners moving in. which then resulted in them having a higher household income that made them ineligible for tax credits

in this case, the OP is entitled, they just havent informed HMRC of a change in circumstances - which has resulted in them claiming back all money paid, rather than the slight difference between what was awarded and what they should be entitled to

Cobble your situation is totally different. you were not entitled to tax credits, and that is what your case is based on

F

From what I can gather( from a quick google) The overpayment can be offset against what the OP would have been entitled to had she been claiming correctly.

In other words The OP should only be having to pay back the extra £8pw that she received and not the entire £2000 .

Daniels mum, You need to get advise from somebody who has knowledge of over payments in these circumstances,pref a trained Welfare benefits advisor who will know the procedure on appealing against the actual sum of the overpayment.

chrissiesurfergirl123

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/tctmanual/TCTM05300.htm

Danielsmum - please do not panic. Please do as nottslass says. This is a very complicated area and you need proper advice. If you were entitled to Tax Credits as a single person when you split up the change of circumstances rules apply -see above therefore your entitlement would have been reduced from that date not stopped completely. Therefore meaning your overpayment will be much less. Please get some advice from Welfare Rights dept or your local Law Centre. Also your MP may be able to help get things sorted out quickly. Good luck

nottslass_2

chrissiesurfergirl123 wrote: »

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/tctmanual/TCTM05300.htm

Danielsmum - please do not panic. Please do as nottslass says. This is a very complicated area and you need proper advice. If you were entitled to Tax Credits as a single person when you split up the change of circumstances rules apply -see above therefore your entitlement would have been reduced from that date not stopped completely. Therefore meaning your overpayment will be much less. Please get some advice from Welfare Rights dept or your local Law Centre. Also your MP may be able to help get things sorted out quickly. Good luck

Thanks for posting the link = They never seem to work for me

Hopefully the OP can stop panicking and take your advise.

flea72

chrissiesurfergirl123 wrote: »

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/tctmanual/TCTM05300.htm

Danielsmum - please do not panic. Please do as nottslass says. This is a very complicated area and you need proper advice. If you were entitled to Tax Credits as a single person when you split up the change of circumstances rules apply -see above therefore your entitlement would have been reduced from that date not stopped completely. Therefore meaning your overpayment will be much less. Please get some advice from Welfare Rights dept or your local Law Centre. Also your MP may be able to help get things sorted out quickly. Good luck

yes, you can have payments backdated, but only if you inform HMRC of the change in circumstances within the required timeframes - if you dont bother telling them you are classed as claiming fraudulently, and they then take it to assume it was intentional, and done from the date you split up

the problem is when you have a change in adults, the current claim has to be stopped, and a new claim raised, based on your new situation. this is why the OP is being chased for the full £2k, as until the new claim is set up, then the technicality is, that you are getting paid based on your old situation, which if fraud - the new claim doesnt factor at all, seeing as to all intents, its doesnt exist as you havent applied for it to be set up yet - that is why, you cant just say you owe the difference between what you were overpaid, and what you are entitled to, as until you set up the new claim, you are entitled to nothing, therefore the full overpayment is owed

F

DanE2010

kaylzbob wrote: »

OP, ring the helpline and ask for a 'notional entitlement' referral to be sent off to TCO. This means that they will look at the space between the claims and if you still had entitlement they will use some of this to reduce the overpayment. Also check to see that your single claim was backdated 3 months when it went through, if it wasn't then ask for that to be looked at and use the backdating to repay some of the overpayment. Even if both these things get looked at there may still be some overpayment left over so my advice would be to phone the overpayment helpline (08453021429) and ask to set up an agreement to repay, even if it is only for £10 per month this will keep them off your back and stop letters being sent out to you. The agreement can then be adjusted once everything has been looked at!!

Hope this helps

fantastic post and I hope this sets the OP's mind at ease instead of iresponsible scaremongering from cobble who's situation is entirely different to the OP's so to be frank he needs to take his chip on his shoulder elsewhere.

As the post above says you need a notional entitlement to be sent and make sure your single claim has been backdated the 3 months, they will then offset what you were owed as a single claiment against the overpayment for the joint claim - therefore what your would of got backdated 3 months in your single claim will go towards paying back the overpayment.

Id also like to add that £2000 that is owed is the total amount payable - they will only ask you to pay back half of that, it doesnt make it very clear of the award notice but it always shows the total amount of the overpayment, you only need pay half of that and your ex partner is responsible for the other half.

Hope you get this sorted and please try not to panic they wont leave you destitute I promise.

RAS

Hi

With the amount you owe, a custodial sentence is not likely, unless you choose to really pee off the judge.

At least explain that you did not mean to do it.