Check your payments are correct

grafton_2 · 11 February 2011 at 1:30PM

A word of warning about tax credits.
Whilst I was recieving my tax credits, after my husband left, I made a point of contacting the tax credits people by phone every time I had a change in my financial situation and to keep myself informed from their end. This was about every 6 months or so.
When my situation changed four years later, I moved in with my partner, I called and told them to stop my payments. It took three phone calls to get the message across, eventually on the third call action was taken to stop the payments.
In the post the following week a bill for £1.700, I had been overpaid for some time, so despite my constant checking and re-checking, calling them regularly, they still managed to muck up my payments.
That was nearly five years ago and I will be paying them back until november 2012.
I thought I had done everything in my power to prevent the situation that I'm in and I trusted them when they told me that I was entitled to the money.

thriftychick · 11 February 2011 at 2:47PM

I think alot of people are in the same boat. It seems so unfair when people have promptly contacted them and yet the huge overpayment bill still arrives out of the blue.:(