Child tax credit overpayment

Farside

Overpayment of child tax credits


I've just had a letter from HMRC and i have an overpayment that i need to pay them back, Here is a little info regarding it;

in May 2012 my son was born so i applied for child tax credits, i did a single application not a joint application with my wife as my wife is not a UK or EU resident so i thought she could not apply for benefits in the UK. It turns out i was wrong and i should have made a joint app my wife so now they are wanting all the money back as i made a mistake by not telling them, i am actually in titled to more then they paid me because i should have made a joint application not a single application. But as i made a mistake i must pay back all the money. This seems wrong because i am actually in titled to more money then i was paid!!!

Does anyone have any info that can help me out? I know i made a mistake but to make me pay all that money back, when i'm actually entitled to it, and when i was entitled to more in-fact then i received is outrageous!

I called them today and they told me that because i hadn't informed them correctly, even though i am entitled to it, i have to pay it all back, !!!!!!!

Pips_Mum

I had an overpayment as there was an error in my partners income that I had not noticed. I have been reliably informed by the guys on here that you have 30 days to inform them of an error if not then its your fault.

I agree it seems odd to owe them when you think they should owe you but I think they will make you pay it back.

Farside

Pips_Mum wrote: »

I had an overpayment as there was an error in my partners income that I had not noticed. I have been reliably informed by the guys on here that you have 30 days to inform them of an error if not then its your fault.

I agree it seems odd to owe them when you think they should owe you but I think they will make you pay it back.

I have paid it back today, i'm well in the red now, good job i have a good overdraft, but they do owe me more then i claimed because a joint application would of gotten me a little more as my wife does not work and earn any money. After my new joint application i now get £6 more per week lol.

It seems really out of order that just because i didn't make a joint app that i have to pay ALL the money back for the entire year and not get anything.

Icequeen99

Farside wrote: »

I have paid it back today, i'm well in the red now, good job i have a good overdraft, but they do owe me more then i claimed because a joint application would of gotten me a little more as my wife does not work and earn any money. After my new joint application i now get £6 more per week lol.

It seems really out of order that just because i didn't make a joint app that i have to pay ALL the money back for the entire year and not get anything.

You need to write to them and ask them to apply notional offsetting. This is where they reduce the overpayment by the amount you would have received had you made the correct joint claim. This applies unless you claimed incorrectly deliberately - you sound as if you made a genuine mistake.

As long as you have now made a joint application, you should be entitled to full notional offsetting. If you get this then the money you have paid will be refunded.

IQ

Farside

i dont think i can do the notional offsetting as that can only go back 31 days can't it? i was claiming for 9+ months i think before i called them to ask about my wife, then they instantly stopped the single child tax credit and sent me out a new form to fill in for the joint application. Or am i wrong and i still can do it for the entire 9 months that i have jut paid back? I called them to make a appeal, but i know that won't work as i didn't give them the correct info, even though i didn't mean to, i was only trying to make sure my mrs wasn't breaking the law or she'd be kicked out the country. This stuff i way over my head.

The joint app was done months ago but i only received the overpayment letter today

davehughes182

why would you pay it all up front and then make an appeal? this whole story seems fishy to me. you had an overpayment and asked for assistance with it. 20 mins later, you have paid the money back? why? why did you not appeal and then pay back the money based on the result of the appeal?

Farside

I'm not very good with letters, does this sound ok?

Name

Address

04/07/13

RE: Overpayment

Dear HMRC,

I have received an overpayment letter from you today, during my phone call with one of your adviors today you have told me this was because i was claiming as a single not a couple. The reason why i was claiming as a single was because my wife is not a UK or EU citizen so i thought she was not allowed to apply for UK benefits. I didn't want her breaking the law and being kicked out the country and my family been torn apart.

Even though i am entitled to the child tax credit i have today paid back the overpayment, the ref number for this is:..........

I would now like you to apply national offsetting so that the overpayment is reduced by the amount i would have received had i made the correct joint claim.

Once again i appologise for the mistake i made, but i was unaware my wife could actually claim with me,

Yours sincerely,

Mr......

Farside

davehughes182 wrote: »

why would you pay it all up front and then make an appeal? this whole story seems fishy to me. you had an overpayment and asked for assistance with it. 20 mins later, you have paid the money back? why? why did you not appeal and then pay back the money based on the result of the appeal?

To get it over with, but why is it fishy? How is anything fishy? how have i done anything wrong? That's what i'm trying to get over to the HMRC i AM intitled to this money, but just because i made a mistake with the application all those months ago they have taken ALL the money away. When infact i would have had more money IF i had made a joint app.

davehughes182

well as I said, it seems fishy that it took you 20 mins to make a decision to pay the money back and then appeal the overpayment. why not just wait for the response and not put your family in financial difficulty for the sake of an overpayment to TC?

Farside

Because it's HMRC and i panicked. I don't want them knocking on my door, Plus i don't want them to get baliffs on me, its taken me several years to get my credit back up to good, Last thing i need is being taken to court for money owed to the government. I had a overdraft so i used it. Atleast with a overdraft i will receive no bad credit as long as i pay on time, i'm not sure about the government pay scheme as i called them to ask wether i would get bad credit by going into the payback scheme (so i could pay back monthly) and they said they didn't know if i would get bad credit by doing this.

davehughes182

ok. well either way, the fact you asked for advise on here and then paid in 20 mins is unusual to me. it would not give you bad credit repaying the overpayment (which a quick internet search or waiting for advise on here would have informed you of) and no bailiffs or court action would have occurred so soon given you were informed of the overpayment today.