Massive tax credit overpayment - income error. Please help

Alwaysonthego_4

We received a nightmare letter from Tax Credits yesterday. We have been receiving Ctc and Wtc and have been overpaid by over £6000 (£4k for 12-13 and £2k for the current yr to date).

There are no explanations for the reasons for overpayment and I tried all afternoon yesterday to get through on the helpline. Having reviewed previous awards from them though, they have made an error with my husband's income. Rather than his self employed income being around £21,000 which we told them, it has been recorded as £0!

Neither of us reviewed the paperwork and so we did not notice the error. We now have this demand and absolutely no way of paying.

I intend to dispute repayment via the form mentioned in other posts and will be asking them to explain how this occurred and provide a breakdown of notifications etc. in hindsight I should have done everything in writing but unfortunately did everything by phone.

My main question is, whose fault is the error? TC for making it or ours for not spotting it? Would this make a difference with repayment (eg whether we have to or not)? We were just keeping our heads above water - the situation (no more TC payments and a £6k debt) is making the future look unmanageable.

Thanks in advance for any help, advice or tips

SuziQ

I believe it is your responsibility to check all the paperwork is correct before completing your annual review. When you sign or agree over the telephone , you are effectively saying their assessment is correct I'm afraid, so the error is seen as yours.

Alwaysonthego_4

The error has come to light following my renewal when I provided the actual figures. May this make any difference?

nannytone_2

i dont see how you can dispute it.
as has been said, it is your responsibility to check that the award notice contains all the correct information.

they wont expect you to pay it back in one go, but will reduce future payments to recover it

SuziQ

No it won't make any difference. Some of the overpayment is for a prior year where you agreed their info was correct and you were awarded an amount accordingly. You have no case I'm afraid, it will all be recoverable, but you can ask them to work with you on repayment so that you don't suffer too much hardship.

Pedent

Alwaysonthego wrote: »

My main question is, whose fault is the error? TC for making it or ours for not spotting it? Would this make a difference with repayment (eg whether we have to or not)?

See http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/leaflets/cop26.pdf. The key bit is at the end of page five, where it says that if they make a mistake but you don't tell them about it within 30 days of receiving your award notice, then any overpayment is recoverable.

themull1

your fault for not spotting it, i got my tax credit overpayment spread over four years. Ring the overpayment helpline and tell them what you can afford.

wildwestfan

I know tax credits are complicated but surely most claimants have some idea of their entitlement? Certainly £300+ a month on top of wages etc would have me checking carefully.