tax credit overpayment

Anthillmob

we have been informed that we have been overpaid £727 in tax credits for last year.

no probs given that because mr mob canged jobs mid financial year that we 'estimated' what his income would be.

then we receive the notification of this years award with no mention of how they intend to claim back the o/p.

i called them today to ask how they are going to claim it back and they said they have left it for now and will reclaim it back next year.



id rather they took it back bit by bit this year but before i could ask they hung up on me. i couldnt ring back as i was at work.

can they do this?

Gemmzie

Stick it in a high interest savings account for the year

Emma1510

The same thing happend to us in 2005 - we haven't received a penny from them since. Whenever I ask they tell me we're still effectively paying them back because we're not receiving any payments now. I assumed that was how they always did it? We have been 'paying them back' for 2 years now.

It's funny you should mention it because I'd just realised I needed to make my annual chase again!

Emma1510

I've just thought..maybe when they say they

Anthillmob wrote: »

will reclaim it back next year.


they mean as they did to us - by not paying you what you would have received with your correct income details this year?! If that makes any sense at all?:p

jay1jay

If you have a very low income and get a 'maximum award' they will reduce your payments by 10%. If you just get £10 per week they will take the full £10 per week. Otherwise they take 25%

Repayments usually start around September(ish), but can start earlier or later than this. You will get an award notice to tell you that your payment rate is changing.

Hope that helps!

Anthillmob

today they wrote again and are deducting £20 per week from now until jan 2008. theyve also reduced the amount overpaid which makes me wonder if

a. the overpayment amount is correct

b. they even know what they are doing

sarahmoon_2

Our overpayment (which I'm not disputing because my OH earned more than expected) has changed three times. They are reducing our payments until July, although at first it was until August? So I'm in the same boat as you Anthil.

emmie1234

We first started claiming tax credits in March 2005 when we adopted our daughter. I took six months adoption leave from work and then decided I wasn't going to go back to work. From the very beginning of claiming tax credits, they had my husbands income details and I also explained that for the first six months I was on adoption leave I would be getting full pay for three months and half pay for the rest. I told them they would have to deduct £103 per week of this as it was Statutory Adoption Pay and wasn't taxable. The idiots paid me Maximum CTC even though Hubby was working and I was still getting "paid" from work. They also paid me about £50 per week WTC. I double checked this at least 3/4 times and was always told you are being paid the correct amount, don't worry about it. In November that year when I had by this time left work altogether and we only had one income, they stopped my tax credits altogether (overpayment) and didn't resume them until April the following year (06). I think then they paid me a reduced amount of CTC only about £45 per week. Even though my child is disabled and we recieve the severe disablement premium. When we sent back the annual review pack that year we had to estimate my husbands income as he had just been seconded for six months to supervisor position and we were unsure how much he would be earning. Our tax credits went up to £75 per week even though we estimated higher than expected so we wouldn't get an overpayment again. In January this year, they sent me a letter asking them to ring in with figures again, when I did, they stopped my tax credits again saying they would start them again in April this year at a rate pf £54 per week. Unfortunately hubby became unemployed in April and we claimed Income support and that then entitled us to maximum CTC. I enquired about overpayments as they are still being deducted and if your income is low enough they only take 10%. Although this was much higher when Hubby was working. Sorry for waffling, but tax credits are supposed to be there to help families and when they leave you with no money at all how are they helping people out of poverty when half the time the mistakes are their fault.....

Sorry for going on a bit.....

Em X

tonyd_2

i have just had a letter today,telling me my tax credits are been stopped and i owe then £428,so when i phoned and asked why,they said i had changed jobs and didnt inform them for 2 months,(which i havent) i said i rang them 2 weeks ago,told them i was working 26 hours a week now,instead of 20,i was told it wouldnt make any difference,so now they say,there are going to send me a new application pack..its all so confusing

Anthillmob

the thing that startles me is at work we have a 'private' phone number for tax credits which we can ring to get info about joe public and they are always very helpful and clued up on what they are talking about. however, when you call them on the 'public' phone line to talk about your own tax credits they havent got a clue!!

tonyd_2

tonyd wrote: »

i have just had a letter today,telling me my tax credits are been stopped and i owe then £428,so when i phoned and asked why,they said i had changed jobs and didnt inform them for 2 months,(which i havent) i said i rang them 2 weeks ago,told them i was working 26 hours a week now,instead of 20,i was told it wouldnt make any difference,so now they say,there are going to send me a new application pack..its all so confusing

it gets more confusing,my estimated income last year was roughly £7100,when i got my p60 my income is acutally £7337,so i inofomed them they have added the differnce to what i owe them and say i owe over £600 now...howcome? as i earn so little,i have very little in savings,and no tax credits,and i am disabled(suffer from anxiety and panic attacks)its going to cause me problems.