HMRC Child Tax Credit Overpayment Query

Icequeen99

CheekyCherub wrote: »

When I spoke to DMB they said they're nothing to do with the Tax Credits people their purpose is to collect any monies owed to HMRC. Anyway, that aside I understand what you're saying, setting up a repayment plan is buying me some time for them to sort it out without it being passed to debt collection outside of the HMRC but for that amount of money they say I owe the minimum payment is going to be stupidly high and I can imagine trying to claim any of it back if I am proven to not owe anything will be a painful task. Why the TC people can't just talk to DMB is beyond me it would clear this up much quicker. It's very unprofessional expecting me to be their go-between. I'm going to call them both again tomorrow morning and hopefully I'll make some progress. Thanks for your advice it is appreciated. I'll let you know how it all goes.

They are nothing to do with TCO, but they are both part of HMRC (which is just one Government department). They don't communicate well though as you have found out.

You can repay over 10 years if the amount offered is reasonable based on your income. Minimum amount for a DD is £10 a month. So you can offer whatever is reasonable on your circumstances and current income. I have several cases with tax credits debt in excess of £20,000 so sometimes that is all people can afford.

Also, in my experience getting the money back isn't normally that difficult.

IQ

CheekyCherub

OK....

Spoke to Tax Credits Helpline this morning. Was only on hold for 22 minutes this time which has to be a record!

Anyway - here goes. I spoke to a TC advisor who confirmed that she CAN see the overpayment for 2005/2006. She put me on hold after I asked her to look into how this came about, she wanted to look through my award for 2005/06 to see what calculations were made etc.

She came back after about 5 mins to inform me that my child had been removed from the claim - so they were asking me to repay the whole annual award 8 years later. This is clearly a mistake as I do have a child and she confirmed to me at the time I applied I provided proof of my IS benefit and other docs which would show I was entitled to CTC for the period shown and for the amounts received.

She couldn't tell me why my Daughter has been removed from my award. I would never have removed her as I've been her sole carer since she was born. That has never changed.

She advised me to complete the dispute form which is on its way to me and write down the info I've been given now they have access to the system etc. She told me to contact DMB again to advise them I am aware of the reason of the OP and it's under dispute. I've written to them so they have a record of the dispute. The TC advisor told me that debt recovery is suspended while a dispute is being investigated. Whether or not they suspend it I don't know but I've given both the TC and the DMB all the info I have.

She has apparently put notes on the system to explain what we've discussed so I don't have to go through all this again when I call up.

So now I have to wait for this dispute form which she thinks I should get tomorrow as it was posted on Saturday.

Getting there slowly!!

Icequeen99

At least you're making some progress.

The problem is that an appeal or an official error request would have sorted this out, but you are out of time for both.

A dispute is the weakest option because if HMRC decide they met their responsibilities and you failed in yours you can't do much about their decision whereas an appeal is about entitlement and if you could provide entitlement it can be changed.

Good luck with it.

IQ

InDiresTRAITs_2

Hi! (My first post!),

If the overpayment has only just recently come light form 8 years ago, whether it is legit or not, as you had had no prior knowledge of it and haven't agreed to make any payment arrangement, isn't it "Statute Barred"? Meaning they can't chase you for it anyway? I could be wrong. Anyway, I've just been hit with an £888 overpayment, so I'm feeling your pain!

I hope it all goes well for you in the end.

Caz3121

benefit debts are never statute barred

Icequeen99

Caz3121 wrote: »

benefit debts are never statute barred

Tax credits are different. Yes they can be statute barred but it is rare for it to apply because there has been some form of recovery going on for a while and then the claim ends.

IQ

SB67_2

That's weird...everyone has been overpaid for the year 2005/06. I really wonder whether this is genuine or not? I recieved a letter asking me to pay back nearly £15k. I wrote to them asking for an explanation. They accepted that this was a mistake and now I owe them nearly £5k. I wrote to them again for an explanation and the reason they provided was for that year (2004/05) our income was £0 when my husband had a full time job! Now they want me to provide evidence of me informing them, when they know very well that such records cannot be traced back to so long ago (9 years ago) i.e phone calls.

PLEASE ADVISE ME!

Icequeen99

SB67 wrote: »

That's weird...everyone has been overpaid for the year 2005/06. I really wonder whether this is genuine or not? I recieved a letter asking me to pay back nearly £15k. I wrote to them asking for an explanation. They accepted that this was a mistake and now I owe them nearly £5k. I wrote to them again for an explanation and the reason they provided was for that year (2004/05) our income was £0 when my husband had a full time job! Now they want me to provide evidence of me informing them, when they know very well that such records cannot be traced back to so long ago (9 years ago) i.e phone calls.

PLEASE ADVISE ME!

You can request calls for the 2004/05 tax year, I regularly get them for cases. Do a request for all of your calls.

Did you notice on the award notice that they had put Nil instead of your husband's income? Did you tell them?

The presumption being that if you did tell them that the notice was wrong (nil instead of full income) you would know you were being overpaid and would have put the extra money aside.

IQ