Tax credits one off payment

highhopes19

I'm so confused

I phoned tax credits a couple of weeks ago to be told I was getting a one off payment of £522 on the 22nd April and now they are saying there never was any one off payment to start with??

I even have the time and date I phoned them and they checked and said nope no one off payment :mad:

I'm just a little confused how one minute there can be and now there can't

Any advise would be great many thanks in advance

Wonderful100

What a nightmare, did they tell you what the payment was for?

highhopes19

Wonderful100 wrote: »

What a nightmare, did they tell you what the payment was for?

Nope they went though what I'd roughly get in tax credits and the first thing they said was they'll be a one off payment of £522 on the 22nd of april and then regular payments from the 27th of April every 4 weeks. I even asked the lady on the phone to read them out again to me.
Then I phoned again as I forgot to write them down and needed them to do so e rough budgeting for when I go back to work from maternity leave. And no one off payment was mentioned so I asked and was told there was no one off payment to start with

Angiedub

I am looking to turn to college as a mature student in September to do a degree and although I am intending to try and work alongside this, our income will go down and so thought it best to keep my claim going in case we do become entitled.
When I rang at the end of March, I too was told that there would be a one off payment. I said if i am nit entitled do I have to keep this to pay back at the end of the year? And was told no, but if I did make a claim in September, this amount would then be deducted off anything I was entitled to then. I explained that I may not be entitled to something and would rather not have this payment in case I later got a letter saying I needed to pay it back. The gentleman said there was nothing he could do, to keep the claim going, there had to be a one off payment and I definitely would not have to pay this back.
I am also dubious due to dealings in the past. A couple of years ago I was buying a new home and was going to move in with my partner. As part of the arrangement i was going to part exchange my current home. On the day of completion there was a problem with the mortgage sorted out By the company's own mortgage advisor and everything fell through. As my partner and I both had our own properties, I had sold most of my furniture and this had been taken away in the week running up to the completion date. I was left with no choice but to move into my partners home until we worked out what we were going to do next. After 6 weeks we decided to leave my house empty and try to sell it whilst continuing to live together rather than me buying more furniture that in the future we would only have to sell again. When I contacted tax credits and explained the situation, I was very honest and gave dates to which they said I should have told them the minute my circumstances had changed and and sent me a awful letter telling me I had to pay back the credits I had received during this period. The letter states that you may be taken to court if you do not pay the amount by a specified date. I rand and I explained I wasn't sure whether I would be staying within my own home which was why we had waited. David Wilson homes and the Fsa looked into the problem and the advisor later admitted his mistakes. I am sure there are people out there who aren't honest ( I unfortunately know some!) but was penalised for my honesty even though there were extenuating circumstances. The whole system stinks! If I do receive a payment I don't want to spend this although it would be very useful as am on a low income only to receive one of their charming letters telling you you owe them money and you must pay it back or they will be applying to the courts.

shedboy94

Angiedub wrote: »

I am looking to turn to college as a mature student in September to do a degree and although I am intending to try and work alongside this, our income will go down and so thought it best to keep my claim going in case we do become entitled.
When I rang at the end of March, I too was told that there would be a one off payment. I said if i am nit entitled do I have to keep this to pay back at the end of the year? And was told no, but if I did make a claim in September, this amount would then be deducted off anything I was entitled to then. I explained that I may not be entitled to something and would rather not have this payment in case I later got a letter saying I needed to pay it back. The gentleman said there was nothing he could do, to keep the claim going, there had to be a one off payment and I definitely would not have to pay this back.
I am also dubious due to dealings in the past. A couple of years ago I was buying a new home and was going to move in with my partner. As part of the arrangement i was going to part exchange my current home. On the day of completion there was a problem with the mortgage sorted out By the company's own mortgage advisor and everything fell through. As my partner and I both had our own properties, I had sold most of my furniture and this had been taken away in the week running up to the completion date. I was left with no choice but to move into my partners home until we worked out what we were going to do next. After 6 weeks we decided to leave my house empty and try to sell it whilst continuing to live together rather than me buying more furniture that in the future we would only have to sell again. When I contacted tax credits and explained the situation, I was very honest and gave dates to which they said I should have told them the minute my circumstances had changed and and sent me a awful letter telling me I had to pay back the credits I had received during this period. The letter states that you may be taken to court if you do not pay the amount by a specified date. I rand and I explained I wasn't sure whether I would be staying within my own home which was why we had waited. David Wilson homes and the Fsa looked into the problem and the advisor later admitted his mistakes. I am sure there are people out there who aren't honest ( I unfortunately know some!) but was penalised for my honesty even though there were extenuating circumstances. The whole system stinks! If I do receive a payment I don't want to spend this although it would be very useful as am on a low income only to receive one of their charming letters telling you you owe them money and you must pay it back or they will be applying to the courts.

Points in turn

If you claim Tax Credits you are not entitled to, then surprisingly you do need to pay them back - you were claiming to live alone but weren't.
Regardless of not knowing what was happening with your own home, you weren't living there so as soon as you made the decision to move in with your partner you should have advised TC's of the change in circs.
It doesn't take 6 weeks to know that you are living with someone....you would know straight away as you are living in his house.......what you were doing with your own property has nothing to do with it.
You haven't been penalised for being honest, you are being asked to repay back 6 weeks worth of TC's you have claimed as a single person when you weren't living as a single person - you weren't entitled to it.

Presumably if you were still entitled to TC's as a couple you would have got the new joint claim backdated to the date you did move in together and would have received a lump sum for the period , effectively meaning you were paid twice, but you haven't mentioned this..........
If you are no longer entitled as a couple then it means you were claiming as a single person while not entitled.

Either way you haven't lost out because you will still have received the money.

Angiedub

I didn't know whether I was going to have to move back into my own home thus continuing to be a single parent whilst waiting for it to sell and was awaiting the outcome of the investigation in to the failed house purchase which eventually ruled in our favour. within these six weeks I was waiting for the outcome which may have meant the sale may have gone through which would not have made it worth me buying new furniture and moving back in.
During this time I was not claiming as a couple, a new claim was later set up youre correct, I didn't mean in my post I should get what I wasn't entitled to, of course i should pay it back thats why i was honest it just was a shock to receive a letter that mentioned court when I hadn't been trying to swindle the system which for someone who has never been in trouble or debt is rather scary to receive. hence feeling penalised for doing the right thing.