Tax Credits With A 16 Year old In College

Ferret1234

HI

Im so confused! Ive just received our tax credit assessment back and i don’t understand it.

I have 4 children but payments for my 16 year old who has just left school finish in the last week in August and my payments drop a lot. This is despite me telling them he starts college none advanced in September.

Ive asked them why they drop in August because he starts college in September! They have told me i will get a new assessment in September to cover this. So why does my current one end next April?

What confuses me is my current assessment lasts till April next year and doesn’t mention him going to college or getting in new assessment in September. I would have thought my current assessment should end in August and start again in September.

Anyone been through this? Can you maybe explain it to me?

Thanks
Ferret

robnye

Anyone been through this? Can you maybe explain it to me?

typical red tape........ i am afraid

my eldest is 17, we had the same problem last year.... they need proof of some sort that the child is going onto college, the payments then go down then back up (including back payment) then settle, i presume we will have to do the same again this year, as she is only half way through her A levels.

Ferret1234

Hi

So im not alone then with this type of hassle!

I have now rang them 4 times and none of them have explained the procedure for this or even tried to.

I rang them this morning to try force them to tell me how this work and even said to them shall i post you the acceptance letter from the college.The answer was NO there is no need.

Im just wondering if it will be in September when my son starts his course they will ask for the proof. This could be the reason there a bit vauge.

I think a acceptance letter should be enough and they should be telling me your payments will continue as normal until such a time your son finishes his course :eek: But that would be too easy.

robnye

At what time did you contact them? Was it September when your payments dropped? How long did they take to sort it out for you.:mad:

Thanks
Ferret

jasper12

What you have been told is correct. All children automatically get paid ctc up to the 31st of august following their 16th birthday. However, if they are staying in ft education (NVQ level 3 or below) they still qualify right up to their 20th birthday.

To make things easier, tax credits can accept the change of circumstance in advance of this. i.e before 31st September. (there are not that many changes you can register in advance but this is one of them) However, because the change hasn't in fact happened yet (remember you are still being paid until the end of august anyway) the computer won't actually process and send out the award notice until after the 31st August.

They do NOT need proof that you child is staying on in education.

As Robinye says, sometimes you payments will drop for the first week whilst the higher payments are being entered into the bacs system but you will then find they will go back up again.

Hope this puts your mind more at ease:cheesy:

Allison

I am in the same situation.

I called to inform them my son is going to college in September. They told me they had noted this change but I would not recieve any documents about this change until after 1st September, then my payments would carry on as they are hopefully with no drop, she told me that if there was a drop it would only be for a week or so and it would be refunded.

I guess it will be a matter of checking the bank for a few weeks at the start of September to check everything is as it should.

Oh and I was also told they did not want any proof of my son going to college, I found this odd.

Ferret1234

Thanks All

I can sleep at night now :-)

Ferret

carol_a_3

My payments went up and down a bit when my son started college and have settled down, however I am still getting £2 a week less than I was last year despite an increase in benefit amounts etc. I'm still on the same annual income. Do "young people" get less than when they are classed as children?

jasper12

carol_a wrote: »

My payments went up and down a bit when my son started college and have settled down, however I am still getting £2 a week less than I was last year despite an increase in benefit amounts etc. I'm still on the same annual income. Do "young people" get less than when they are classed as children?

Hi Carol

The key probably is to look at your award for the whole of the year. You may find your award is the same but that due to one off payments etc giving you 2 payments in the one week, your weekly payments may work out less.

Gaz83

What usually happens is that the award will only include the child element up until the 31st August.

As long as you've told them that your son's going to stay on in FTNAE, on the 1st September a new award will be generated giving updated payments going all the way to the end of the tax year.

System

You have to leave it as late as possible because they assume you can't possibly be certain the child is continuing in education until the results come out and they have a confirmed place in school or college.

This is the same as telling them of a change in job. They don't want to know until you actually start in the new job as anything can happen between getting the offer and the date you are due to start. Similarly you don't give them a change of address until you have actually moved and you can't make a fresh claim as a single person until you and your partner split up.

All changes in circumstances are to be reported asap after they occur.

jasper12

Advising that a child is staying in ftnae can be given up to 136 days beforehand. As I said earlier, it is one of the few changes which can be given in advance. There is no reason to leave it until afterwards.