Tax credits overpayment dispute

tattoodevil

Hello all, I hope you can assist me with your collective knowledge. I am (on behalf of my fiancee) disputing an overpayment of tax credits from HMRC.

The story so far......
She applies for Tax Credits in May 2011. Her income for the year previous was 6k as she was working part time while the kids were little. In January 2011 she went back to her career and her income went back to 26k. She told them this when she applied but the girl on the phone told her it was worked out on the previous years income and not to worry about it.

Now they want 2.5k back. I've told them it was an error on their part as she told them when she applied. She got a reply saying they had met all their responsibilities and she had not, by failing to raise the issue of differences on the award notices and letters they sent her. I asked her to show me all the paperwork she had received and it turns out they had not sent her anything after the initial award notice.

Surely she cannot be responsible for failing to act on notices she never received?

nannytone_2

tax credits send a new award letter every time someone reports a change to their claim.
if she notifield them of the change and didnt receive an award letter, then she should have contacted them again

tattoodevil

Surely it's their responsibility to actually send the documents out though? SHe was claiming for 2 years and only ever got 1 letter from them. The renewal was done online. I have asked for proof that they sent the documents out.

Pedent

From the "Your Responsibilities" section of http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/leaflets/cop26.pdf:

If you don’t get an award notice within 30 days of telling us about a change in circumstance let us know as soon as possible.

tattoodevil

There was no change, she gave them the correct information from day 1, they failed to act on it.

pmlindyloo

I can understand how annoyed you are but you need to be realistic about this.

Yes, ask them for proof that the letters were sent out and ask for a breakdown of the amount of overpayment so that it can be checked.

But................ as already said it is entirely the receiver of tax credit who is responsible for checking/notifying etc etc.

You fianc!e will have been receiving money that she has not been entitled to.

At the very least she should have noticed that the payments she was receiving were 'iffy' and queried these.

Many people fall into the trap of believing that it is not their fault when they get an overpayment. Because this is public money then the onus is on the recipient to check that they are receiving the correct amount, that they have received the correct letters. It is relatively easy to google about tax credits and find out what should happen. Yes, tax credits are based on the previous year's income but when she didn't receive any paperwork about her change of circumstances then alarm bells should have been ringing.

I am not 'having a go' but just stating the facts. HMRC are dealing with thousands of claimants. Things do go wrong.

If the overpayment is correct then you can ask to make an arrangement to pay it back in instalments.

Blake20

From the info I'm getting at the minute from people who seem to know,and not people who like to think they do and write in bold print

If you told them as it seemed your girlfriend did and they did not act upon this then they have failed there code of practices 26

You should fill in form tc846 and inform them of failing to follow there own cop

nannytone_2

Blake20 wrote: »

From the info I'm getting at the minute from people who seem to know,and not people who like to think they do and write in bold print

If you told them as it seemed your girlfriend did and they did not act upon this then they have failed there code of practices 26

You should fill in form tc846 and inform them of failing to follow there own cop

i assume thats aimed at me?

there are very specific circumstances where overpayments are deemed not to be the fault of the claimant.

not checking paperwork isnt one of them

pmlindyloo

Blake20 wrote: »

From the info I'm getting at the minute from people who seem to know,and not people who like to think they do and write in bold print

If you told them as it seemed your girlfriend did and they did not act upon this then they have failed there code of practices 26

You should fill in form tc846 and inform them of failing to follow there own cop

I think your opening statement is rather rude but as a new member you will not be familiar with regular posters.

Nannytone has severe problems with her eyesight and uses special software to access this forum. She needs to use bold print.

The OP's fianc!e has every right to dispute the overpayment - the form is here:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/tc846.pdf

Many of us posting have experience of tax credits overpayments. Usually there are very few cases where HMRC are to blame.

It is often the case that people lose letters/forget they had one. However, the OP's fiancee would probably have been receiving a lot of money if her going back to work wasn't noted. She must have realised that something was wrong.

Maybe not - perhaps her salary figures were incorrect.

We are only pointing out that the onus is on her to speak to tax credits if she didn't receive the correct paperwork.

If the OP's fianc!e has the date, time and name of the person she says told her the incorrect information then there may be sufficient evidence to dispute this, but in the cases that I have worked with the onus has always been on the client to make sure everything is correct.

tattoodevil

There was no paperwork to check. So be it HMRC or Royal Mail's fault, it's not hers. Nowhere in the original award notice does it say when new documents would be issued so how is she supposed to know?

I do appreciate all the help and advice and I apologise if I sound aggressive, as you know- the internet and faceless communication can come across wrong! :-)

tattoodevil

pmlindyloo wrote: »

the onus has always been on the client to make sure everything is correct.

That is my point entirely. She told them on the phone that her income was MUCH higher than shown on the award notice. I heard the call as it was on hands free in the car. She was told that it wouldn't matter during this award notice as it was worked out on the previous years earnings. So the amount on the award notice is the amount they paid into her account monthly. As far as she was concerned, everything was correct.