Tax Credit Overpayment to Ex

nizlopi

About a year ago, me and my ex moved out from living together and in with our new partners. It sounds like it would be an awkward situation, but at the time everything went very smoothly and we were all friendly.

My ex and I had our working tax and child tax credits all paid into his account. When we moved out, he assured me that he had phoned and cancelled this claim. I stupidly believed this, as to be honest, I didn't even imagine he would lie about something so serious.

We moved into our new houses on September 1st and put in our claim for our credits pretty quickly after that. In around November I got a letter saying that the claim I had made was on hold as I was already named on ANOTHER claim. I rang the Tax Credits helpline and was horrified to discover that my ex had claimed nearly £900 in over payment, under both of our names. I cancelled the claim immediately, and the lady informed me that despite it going into my ex's account, legally I was responsible for 50% of the money.

A year has now passed, and the letter for repayment has been sent to me. I contacted my ex and gave him the letter, and at first he agreed to pay the money in full back but to cut a long, angry story short, it has now become clear to me that he has no intention of doing this.

I know that this is a long shot, but if I pay this back (which I will be doing, I do not want to have any sort of debt hanging over me) will I be able to sue my ex for the money back? Everyone is telling me that this is something that I could do, but I get the feeling that they don't understand the situation. Whilst morally I do not owe this money, I understand that as far as the Tax Credits people are concerned, I do.

Some advice would be really appreciated, thank you.

nannytone_2

as the person on the helpline said ... legally 50% of the overpayment is yours, regardless of whether you thought your ex had stopped the claim or not.

i don't think you'd have a leg to stand on if you went to court and said ' i thought he'd cancelled the claim'
if your name was on the claim too, the onus is on you to make sure it had been closed.

jetplane

nanytone is right it's your responsibility however I think you are jointly liable which means that if he doesn't pay 50% then you will have to pay it all

nizlopi

jetplane wrote: »

nanytone is right it's your responsibility however I think you are jointly liable which means that if he doesn't pay 50% then you will have to pay it all

Luckily thats not the case, if I pay off the 50% then they'll remove my name from the debt and simply chase him for the further 50%.

jetplane

Thats good (not good that you've got the overpayment) but it used to be that they would pursue both claimants for the whole amount but it seems they have now modified this.

jojo_2012_2

I'd just swallow my pride and pay back the ?£450. Maybe save it up over the year so he has until the last minute to come to his senses and pay it all himself. If he doesn't then pay it. But it's not really a good idea on his part for maintaining good relations is it??