Distraint Notice - Working Tax Credits

DistraintDistress

We had an overpayment of WTC back in 2004 in which we thought was being taken into account in subsequent year's claims and was being paid back in this way by way of reduction in award. It seems this wasn't the case.

We have now received a "Distraint Notice" saying the the full amount is required for payment or they will send the baliffs round to assess our goods. WE HAVE HEARD NOTHING FROM THEM SINCE 2006! The confusion hereby lies with the distraint notice as it states that baliffs are looking to seize goods from a business point of view (i.e looking to remove goods from premises like vans/office furniture etc...)

It looks like it is aimed at Income Tax debts from a business doesn't it?

I can't believe they can just land this on us without any constructive attempts to recover the money by way of repayment plans, etc..

We don't know what to do and how realistically we will pay it back...the amount is £12k :eek:

Icequeen99

The first thing you should do is contact the number on the letter and try and agree a payment plan. You can agree a reasonable monthly repayment over anything up to 10 years with only minimal income/exp details. That will stop any further action. If you can't afford at least £10 a month, you need to explain that and ask for a suspension of recovery.

Make a note of who who spoke to and the time etc.

Once you have the action stopped, then you should write a letter to the Dispute team asking for full details of how the overpayment occurred and see if you can dispute it in any way. Have a look at HMRC guide COP 26 which explains the dispute process.

if it isn't being recovered from an ongoing claim, that must mean the claim where the overpayment arose has ended and you claimed again.

As I say, the most important thing is to stop the distraint going ahead. If you win your dispute any money paid on the repayment plan will be refunded to you.

IQ

doodoot

£12K overpayment?! :eek:

What period of time was that over?

If memory serves me correctly they wouldn't normally send you a letter to say that they are taking payment out of a current award or when it will start, even after it's been agreed with you.

It should have been stated on the award letter and your payments would have gone down - it will be on the award letter under something like 'amount you owe' or 'amount due from you'.

You need to dig out award letters from that time and check them!

The only time I've heard of notification letters about repayments is when they are being repaid by direct debit - I have one in place for an overpayment.

If you think that HMRC haven't met their responsibilities or repaying will cause you hardship, have a look at this site for step by step advice.

http://www.tameside.gov.uk/welfarerights/taxcredits/overpaid

It sounds very strange that they have let such a large overpayment go un-chased for such a long time - my overpayment was only £200 2 years ago for an overlap between claims and they bombarded me with letters! :cool:

mr2gti

Hang on - £12,000??!?!?!?!!

Oldernotwiser

mr2gti wrote: »

Hang on - £12,000??!?!?!?!!

Welcome to our brave new world!:(

Vejovis

when i had an overpayment they would not take it from the next years payments, it had to be paid back by direct debit. didnt you notice all that extra money going into your account? £12,000 is a lot not to notice.