letter says i have been overpaid £13,726 !

welshgirl39

I have been claiming tax credits on my own for several years, have 4 children with my husband, we have been seperated since before i claimed. Took him to court and had an order against him due to violence and also i was added to deeds on house, as its his mortgage, so he couldnt sell house until our youngest is 18. After non molestation order ended i couldnt stop him from living at house, which he has done on off over the years. He pays me no csa as he pays all the mortgage, he pays most bills and we have all seperate finances etc. The tax credits knew he was at property as wrote to him here few years back, although i have always claimed as single as i believe i met the criteria. still do. never tried to say he wasnt here, or hide it etc, he pays council tax and his address for wages/tax is here.
i had letter saying after a check they were checking my claim entitlement, so i sent off paperwork showing bank accounts, mortgage, council tax etc, then they have written back , saying they have numerous association's between my husband and my household to cast significant doubt over my single claim entitlement .....and that i have been overpaid £13,726. Also have another year to wait for aswell. there are lots of things to link him to this house, i have told them all they have asked,im not trying to say he isnt here, the opposite, now i have no tax credits award but have 4 chidren to support. i dont know what to do, can i claim any benefits whist hes here? its his house, i couldnt make him move out before so cant now, he quite helpful as the girls are here but he isnt going to give me any money, and csa say he is with his chidren so isnt classed as absent father ? any help or advice greatly appreciated .. thank you.

DUTR

Welcome to the forum, I suspect you will have to pay it back.

welshgirl39

thanks for your reply, but i cant pay it back , i have no money and now no income . how can i prove i dont owe it , i would like to know why they think they have significant doubt in my claim. what will they do now?

SuziQ

It sounds like you need to get some legal advice, possibly through the CAB? You have to prove you are not a couple, which is difficult given your circumstances. Do you have any legal letters regarding him moving back into the house-ie did he take legal action to regain entry, did you take advice when he did so? It's a horrible situation for you. Ask for whatever information they have about your case and take that to a legal advisor-have you told them you are contesting this? I expect that is the first step you need to take, I hope someone comes along more knowledgeable than me to advise you.

welshgirl39

hello,
no i have no letters regarding him moving back in, the order expired and as there was no more violence involved and he had kept to order to stay away from me, there was nothing i could do, the police changed locks whilst he had to stay away but i had to give him a key to property after all that ended as its his house at end of day , i will write to them and ask why they are saying my claim is wrong, i can see as we are still legally married and at same address it will be hard to prove, but surely they have to prove what they are saying as well. this is my childrens home and had myself put onto deeds through solicitor to stop him from selling and to make sure i could stay here unti youngest 18 , its all so confusing, how can i pay it back if i have no money? will they take me to court to get money and can i claim for any benefits now as can prob borrow some from my grandparents for a few weeks but i have no income now

SuziQ

Maybe you could start with the letters pertaining to the work your solicitor did to get you put onto the deeds? Although you may not have been able to stop him moving back in, a letter from your solicitor at the time spelling out your concerns or maybe starting an official separation may have helped you now, although it's too late of course.

Contact your local CAB on Tuesday, maybe you will qualify for some legal aid-I really don't know, but Legal advice is what you need rather than advice from people on here who can't really help you. You do have an uphill battle here to prove your entitlement to CTC as a single person.

welshgirl39

yes, and thats what i for see an uphill battle, but can they enforce collecting this money in meantime, am i going to end up in lots of trouble as cant pay it back, will def go to CAB on tues

nottslass_2

Sorry but it sounds as if you might have difficulty proving that you are not a couple - Tax credits may question why you havent divorced your violent husband , legally separated or indeed moved out yourself and split the assests of your marriage......

Wonderful100

Sorry but I agree with nottslass, in their eyes as far as the information they go off and the boxes they need to tick you are indeed a couple financially if nothing else.
He does not pay you CSA as such but he does pay other things and regardless of what he chooses to use the actual money for he is actually putting money into the household income and that's how they will see it.
As for not being able to pay it back they will simply stop any future payments until the debt is cleared.
Sorry it all sounds doom and gloom but I am just being honest about my thoughts on the situation and trying to put you in a more realistic frame of mind for your meeting with the CAB.

Mara69

This sounds so incredibly suspect, I am another one that thinks you'll have to pay it back - because you should never have claimed it. Notwithstanding your plaintive 'not fair' claims, the facts appears to be thus:

• You split up with your husband - he was violent and a non molestation order was given.
• The locks were changed to the house and he moved out
• He apparently stopped being violent
• You gave him a key and he moved back in
• You share bills and have numerous financial associations
• He pays no CSA
• All his post comes to your (shared) home address
• You never bothered to divorce this violent man

Yup, you are in it up to your neck. Good luck trying to persuade anyone you are single cos you sure as hell don't look it.

BurnleyBob

They won't need to prove you are a legitimate couple in the sense that you share the same bed, go holidaying and shopping together, etc, because the onus will be on you to convince them that you don't which will be difficult to say the least given that he lives under the same roof plus sharing all the financial ties you mentioned.

From what you've wrote they've been aware of the situation for some time but failed to act. Usually they'd claw back the sum by agreeing to a repayment plan by taking a small proportion of your future benefits or wages over a number of years until the overpayment is cleared.