Warning to all single tax credit claimants !!

clearingout

danielanthony wrote: »

People move house and change their address details every day; I imagine the relevant authorities would find it hard to believe that two people had not managed to separate their financial affairs after two years.

have you ever tried to divorce someone who doesn't want to engage with the system? I know of one case personally which took over 8 years to reach the absolute stage and whilst that is extreme, 2 years and counting isn't unusual. During that time, it's possible to have your finances entwined more than you would like. It's also possible for people to assume that something dodgy is going on when actually, what you're doing is vacating the property every weekend so your ex can spend time in his house with his children.

It is a worrying move if it's happening - and there will be parents as a result of this that will struggle to feed their children whilst providing proof that they are single.

System

I'm sorry but the Tax Credit compliance do not just stop the payments and tell the claimant they have thousands of £'s of overpayments. They write out to the claimant and give them the opportunity to prove they are single and not living with a partner. If they can't then, and only then, do they stop the payments. They are protecting the public purse after all.

If a couple separate I do appreciate that the partner who left can cause chaos for the claimant. However with regard to post arriving for the other person, it's simple, mark it return to sender and put it back in the post box. Also if a divorce is messy the claimant should find it easy to get a letter from their solicitor proving the difficulties they are having.

I think claimants need to be more aware and do everything they can to be seen to be complaint. In essence they need to protect themselves. It doesn't matter if the ex is living somewhere where it isn't safe to receive post that's their problem. Use Experian to find out what is registered at your address and then set about getting them to correct your record to ensure that the ex is removed from your address.
Similarly if you are claiming childcare costs then in order to protect your claim don't pay in cash, pay by cheque and get a receipt from the childcare provider. That way TCO can't say a claim for childcare costs is fraudulent. Plus it also ensures self-employed childcare providers declare their income and pay their taxes.

NoBS_2

HMRC have been using Experian for almost two years now. It is not a new thing.

Yes they are used to weed out fraud with single claims but another just as important service they are providing is weeding out fraud where people have had their identities stolen.

This is an extremely distressing issue to the many who have suffered this fate - much more than you would think. People unable to get credit, losing benefits and unable to claim at all just because someone raided their bin and found an old statement.

Everyone who has called tax credits since around May 2010 has been registered against Experian unless they have actually refused point blank at the time. Small minority have done that.

crystal_clear

Pam17 wrote: »

I'm sorry but the Tax Credit compliance do not just stop the payments and tell the claimant they have thousands of £'s of overpayments. They write out to the claimant and give them the opportunity to prove they are single and not living with a partner. If they can't then, and only then, do they stop the payments. They are protecting the public purse after all.

If a couple separate I do appreciate that the partner who left can cause chaos for the claimant. However with regard to post arriving for the other person, it's simple, mark it return to sender and put it back in the post box. Also if a divorce is messy the claimant should find it easy to get a letter from their solicitor proving the difficulties they are having.

I think claimants need to be more aware and do everything they can to be seen to be complaint. In essence they need to protect themselves. It doesn't matter if the ex is living somewhere where it isn't safe to receive post that's their problem. Use Experian to find out what is registered at your address and then set about getting them to correct your record to ensure that the ex is removed from your address.
Similarly if you are claiming childcare costs then in order to protect your claim don't pay in cash, pay by cheque and get a receipt from the childcare provider. That way TCO can't say a claim for childcare costs is fraudulent. Plus it also ensures self-employed childcare providers declare their income and pay their taxes.

I am sure thats what I said above they write asking you to call them and then follow on with outcome from compliance team.

All my post was for was to warn those that could be claiming single (genuine ones only) there is a need to protect themselves from falling foul of this and getting caught up in the whole mess. There are a lot of genuine people for whatever reason still have the link with ex's and many are not aware until the HMRC letter arrives.

I am a tax payer myself and do not for one minute wish to think my taxes had gone anywhere near any fraudsters trying to get a bit of my hard earned cash.

But i can sleep better of a night knowing that maybe I saved one or two by not only getting there credit report but getting a household credit report to get it rectified to state correctly the true print of whats happening within the household.

crystal clear

bestpud

It's easy enough to have bills transferred to your name, although there can be issues if there is a credit or debt on the account.

If your address is being used by an ex then tell them they have a month to get it sorted or you will start returning letters to senders.

If they disappear and you suspect things like a driving licence and bank account are still registered to your address then write to the relevant agencies and inform them! Tell TC or HB that you still have a shared bank account because it has an overdraft on it, or whatever - send them the letter from the bank stating that and show them you have opened a new one for day to day living. It's not rocket science - if there's nothing to hide then there is no reason to withold information.

I agree two years is more than enough time to split finances and I also wonder how people manage to live in shared houses for years on end if they are all so insecure?

If the separation is genuine then there is no need for all this 'loyalty' about then after all that time.

psicocat

I always read these forums with interest, how people get high and mighty is always entertaining .... Until now, for me anyway, as a victum, my tax credits have been stopped without notice, after calling on the 0345 number I was given a 0151 number to call as 'i am being investigated for fraud' 3 weeks later I can't get through on the number and still no letter, so I know nothing more at all. I won't go to lengths explaining my innocence, I'll just say I am single with children. So they dont always tell you and people are getting left hanging wondering what is happen

nannytone_2

it must be incredibly frustrating.

but when you are wanting to access public funds i suppose you should expect a degree of state interference in your private affairs ......

sniggings

Becles wrote: »

This is what worries me.

He has a mail redirect on post for him so anything for him coming to my address gets removed by the postman before delivery and forwarded onto his new address.

I've had debt collectors turning up here and various phones calls on my landline, including the bank who he had his current account with when he was with me.

If he is still using my address, it's not something I can do anything about and it would be harsh for me to be penalised for something I cannot control.

You can return to sender any bill etc and the company should stop sending, doesn't work all the time. ( mark on them the reason you are returning, no point just writing return to sender, as then the sender has to guess why it was returned)

He can only get his own mail redirected which is allowed, it's his mail after all, any mail with both of your names on would not be redirected, it would be delivered as normal.

Some bills it is illegal to not change address when you move such as driving licence and bank so a quick call to those will stop them straight away, bills in credit you would have no problem closing/taking his name off, and lets not get carried away here not all single people are overdrawn for months and months, surely if the benefits people have had time to chase you then you would have been able to sort the bills out.

So not nothing you can do but a fair bit, mainly only bill in overdue you would not be able to change but you still could advice them of his/her new address so it's on record.

ifrustrated

A friend received a letter saying she is getting investigated even though she is a single parent.

What would happen if she never contacted them? It says her payments would stop within a few weeks but not if they would still hound her.

She is fed up with all the hassle she has had from tc and just wants them to stop paying her but I think she may get into trouble doing it the way.

rogerblack

ifrustrated wrote: »

What would happen if she never contacted them? It says her payments would stop within a few weeks but not if they would still hound her.

Her payments will stop, her case will be investigated to determine when they believe the overpayment due to nonreported change of circumstances began, an amount will be calculated that she's overpaid, and this will either or both be handed over to debt collectors, and the fraud prosecution side.

Not engaging with the process is almost the worst thing you can do, as it leaves them open to make decisions which you may not later be able to effectively challenge as you are out of time to lodge an appeal.