tax credits ALERT for people on incapacity benefit

minimadtrix

briancrum wrote: »

....if they did ask all these different questions about every little part of the guidance I'm sure you would be the first to complain that youre on the phone for hours to them. Take some responsibility for yourself- or do you want to be spoon fed?

The whole point of a HELPLINE is to help. There are general questions asked when you ring the helpline like how many hours do you work, do you have children, what does the household earn etc. The only extra question as far as I am aware would be in relation to the IB ie when has that person been claiming.

If you want to throw insults at me, go ahead - I'm happy for you to feed them to me - so long as it's with a silver spoon

System

Incapacity Benefit prior to 1995 was known as Invalidity Benefit and was not taxable and those people whose claim for Invalidity Benefit has been continued after the name change are in receipt of non-taxable Incapacity Benefit now.

Anyone claiming Incapacity Benefit after 1995 has the first 28 weeks tax free and everything after that is taxable.

kazzah60

When I first claimed CTC when they came out first ( 2004 ??) I too declared my IB although I had been in receipt of it since before 1995

in my case the TCO made a total mess up of my claim ( for a variety of reasons including hubby changing job and getting substantial wage increase which I notified them of) and this resulted in a significant overpayment
it was only on reading through ALL the accompanying notes that came with the claim pack and finding it stated 3/4 way down page 26 of the notes or some such silly place that I spotted that i did NOT need to declare my IB

After a number of complaints about the TCO incompetence and due to the fact I had been underpaid this part of the claim, I was able to get the overpayment cancelled - but I have to say this informaiton was NOT readily available

how difficult would it be to print a note by the box for IB details ON THE CLAIM FORM which states only IB claimed for after 1995 need be declared? - not difficult at all in my opinion
the cynic in me thinks the government saves quite a few pounds by not doing this and making the information easier to find!

[Deleted User]

minimadtrix wrote: »

And my argument with that would be that the people answering the phone should also clearly ask you - I rang the TC Helpline, never received a form or notes and did not check the website. As it is a Helpline, shouldn't they point this out to you? Which makes me wonder how many of their trained staff are also aware of it.

You are angry at your own mistake, you did not read the notes.

Do not say you have not received notes because you would have received them at the very least when you initially applied for Tax Credits.

The helpline staff cannot ask questions like this on the call as this is not the only "special case" where income may be disregarded. There are lots of "special cases" and it's the claimants' responsibility to make sure they are declaring the correct income.

Guidance notes are provided at the application and renewals stage every year. The information can also be found through the HMRC website and if you are unsure you can call to ask, but make sure to advise what you are receiving, who exactly is getting it and when it started.

minimadtrix

subsoniccoyote wrote: »

You are angry at your own mistake, you did not read the notes.

Do not say you have not received notes because you would have received them at the very least when you initially applied for Tax Credits.

The helpline staff cannot ask questions like this on the call as this is not the only "special case" where income may be disregarded. There are lots of "special cases" and it's the claimants' responsibility to make sure they are declaring the correct income.

Guidance notes are provided at the application and renewals stage every year. The information can also be found through the HMRC website and if you are unsure you can call to ask, but make sure to advise what you are receiving, who exactly is getting it and when it started.

I did not receive any notes, as I rang up the helpline to ask if we were entitled. They told me that, because of the income we had coming into the household, we were not. End of story. It is very difficult to read notes on an application form when you do not apply in writing. So, no, I'm not angry for not reading notes I never received.

As the OP points out: for them, ourselves and others who are, or who have a partner who is, unfortunately enough to be incapable of working since before 1995, it would be nice to know that someone else is made aware they might be entitled to it.

I thought this forum was about helping out others, not to be slated by someone who also has not read the full facts

diceydeb

Well , i too find some of the comments on here quite offensive. A few of youseem to be under the assumption that it serves us right for not noticing this in the first place. I have always renewed my tax credits over the phone and when asked what benefits my OH was on, listed them accordingly. so i expect them to do their job and pay me the correct money! And if there are varying criteria attatched to Incapacity I would expect the person on the end of the line to know this and ask me which category we fell into.When I found out about this and rang them, the woman i spoke to did not know either and had to go ask someone above her. so there you have it! Even this sites ' 5 MINUTES to find out what T/C ur entitled to' prompts you to include ur incapacity benefit as accountable income. Its no wonder mistakes are made... as far as Im concerned its their error not mine and i intend to persue it! It also means we have been paying dental/ opticians/ prescriptions for the last 5 years when it should have been free! Yeah you bet im annoyed!

Nick_B_3

You have made 5 legal declarations and they have paid the money on the information you have given. In 5 years you have not bothered reading the notes/guidance. Why is it their error? They have over 8 million claims to look after - how many have you got?
They cannot hold everyones' hand. The earlier awards will now be final and it is virtually impossible to get these re-opened.

diceydeb

When we made our first claim there was no difference between pre 1995 incapacity and post 1995 this has been changed at some point over the years. so when you renew each year the only change you would expect to give them is my increase in wages. you only report changes in income or circumstances and as they have been the same since our first claim why would i expect to suddenly not have to declare my husbands incapacity !

diceydeb

Just wanted to let all the ' its your fault you signed the declaration ' brigade know that the tax credit office have admitted their error and backdated us 2 years tax credits, and are still looking into previous years. So if you feel you have been underpaid through no fault of your own hang on in there cos its not true that they only go back 3 months. And thanks to those who sympathised with my situation or have been in a similar boat.

Druagh

Very glad to hear about your backdated payment diceydeb.

Thanks so much for posting this information. The reality is that the online claims process tells applicants to include Incapacity Benefit as income with no caviats given. The exception is only stated in the guidance notes provided for filling in a claim form manually.

Having been on a low income in the recent past, I had looked at Working Tax Credit through the online application system and thought I did not qualify due to my wife's benefit. Therefore, I made no claim!

Recently I've been earning enough to support the two of us, but always on short therm contracts. Now being about to be paid off from a Fixed Term Appointment (next Tuesday), I have been able to take a lower paid job (the only one I've been offered!) in the knowledge that I can claim WTC to supplement our income.

I doubt I would ever have found out my mistake if you hadn't started this thread - and I've been working for the DWP for the last two years!

Thank you diceydeb,:T this is exactly the kind of thing that these forums are for, neither you nor anyone else should be put off by snide comments.

Cheers,

Drew