Hmrc sent personal details to wrong person

summer78

Hi all just wanted to let you all know if you arer still waiting for the tax office to get back to you regarding your paper tax return it could be because they have sent all of your personal information to the wrong person. I just received a letter apologising for sending my tax return including bank account details, nat in no, previous address and current, employment history, earnings, home tel no etc to the wrong address.

I have recently had to call the police regarding identity theft (someone ordered £800 on a very account chargeable to me) I guess this is a clue as to how they managed to do this.

The ref on my letter seems to indicate there are more of us in this boat.

Pennywise

This kind of thing has been happening for years by all kinds of organisation. It's not some kind of major failure, it's simple human error. Someone, somewhere has put your stuff in the wrong envelope attached to someone else's letter. No, it shouldn't have happened, but that's the nature of relying on humans.

If HMRC have written to you to tell you what's happened (rather than you chasing them), then it suggests that they know exactly who got what - maybe the recipient sent it back to them. I'd suggest you tell the police to contact HMRC to ask for all they know about what happened. But don't jump to assumptions that this caused your identity theft. Presumably they didn't have your bank card (so don't know the card number and CV number on the back), and don't have any photo id. I can't imagine anyone being able to order something using only a bank account number - all good firms would want a lot more than that!

If you end up out of pocket that can't be recovered from anyone else, then you probably have a good chance of a claim for your losses against HMRC, but the first claims should be made to your bank who seem to have wrongly allowed your bank account to pay for items without the proper evidence of your authorisation.

summer78

Yes just wanted to encourage others to chase and not give up when the phone lines are hectic. I didn't bother for ages as the phones were such a bother. Very strange about my ID theft case I dont know how they managed it luckily I am not being charged the £800. Thought others might be in the same boat as the letter indicates there was a few affected.

jennifernil

I recently chased up my OH's tax calc and statement (paper return) as he had submitted in late July and heard nothing since. HMRC seemed surprised he had received nothing and agreed to send copies, which indicated to me that they reckoned they had sent 2 items which we had not received.

Copies arrived promptly, followed about a week later by another statement.

When he opened that, it contained not only his statement, but one for someone in Tunbridge Wells. We stuck it back in the envelope, taped it up, and dropped it in the post box.

Now we are wondering if his original paperwork went to someone else, who didn't bother to send it on, or back to HMRC.