Reduced payments on account

deltatwo

Hi,

I am self-employed and on 6th May applied to reduce payments on my account via the online service. It then prompted me to say that I was due a rebate, which I duly applied for. However, although it changed the payment amount due on account in July, it did not change the repayment status. I kept checking this and on then on 11th May I thought there must be an error with the system, so applied again for the repayment.

Still heard nothing, and emailed them to ask, and they came back and said had been passed to my local office. I phoned them and they said a signal was put on my account preventing automatic payout, and that it had been passed to customer services to review. The 1st person I spoke to in a different office said there was no problem, but to speak direct with local office, and they don't seem able to tell me anything apart from account being reviewed to see if they can release the money to me. They say they will come back in 15 days, but just wanted to know if I would get the money back!

I am assuming it may be because I requested amount twice and also I have given different bank details?

Anyone been through anything like this before??

Thanks

chrismac1

This sort of thing is depressingly normal, there are other threads on this subject I have posted into. To summarise:

1. They will never tell either the taxpayer or the agent - if he or she has one - that they've blocked a request. How hard can that be?
2. Once you know a request has been blocked finding out why can often be about as easy as pulling teeth.
3. Once you've found out why it's blocked getting anyone to seem as if they give a damn is even harder. I had one guy claim he had "taken ownership" of one of these. So I asked "What have you done?" He said "I passed it on to Madame Sweet FA of the Timbuktoo office." You couldn't make it up!

OK, so what is to be done?

1. If there is any sort of valid reason given and any sort of reasonable request for info. is made, comply with it and keep copies. Take names of people and when you spoke to them.
2. If an unreasonable request is made - for example to post off data you've already sent online, or which they should already have such as a P60 or P11D, make a note of this - who asked you for it and which office they were in and when.

Once you have done everything reasonable, give them 4 weeks to cough up. Then raise a formal complaint and mention writing to your MP if they don't get their fingers out.