HMRC Child Tax Credits overpayment

SomebodyToldMe

Speaking as someone who recently got a letter from HMRC stating I don't have to pay £7k CTC overpayment back, as well as a refund on amounts taken post BR....my advice to you is not to give up.
Any amount you owed before you went BR should have been included in your BR petition- the HMRC muppets should do 'one'.
I myself, wrote several letters to these jobsworths - (if I called, I would probably go BR again when phone bill arrived!)...and my OR did the same-they still didn't get it!
My MP wrote to them....and only now it seems the penny dropped for them!
Good luck & don't give up!

PippaGirl_2

Thanks guys. I was just shocked when the HMRC woman was absolutely adamant that I still owed the money because the overpayment was from pre BR and that my only option was to pay it. It didn't fit with anything I have learned about BR.

I phoned the same number again, only was on hold for 40 minutes the second time, and the man who answered read to me the sentence that was on the system acknowledging my letter and notice of BR that I sent them in December 2013. The next entry (and last) is a sentence written in early Januaray 2014 from the dispute team saying they were going to liaise with the insolvency team about this. No further notes have been made. Normally their guidance is to resolve disputes within 17 weeks, and although they often don't meet this target, it has been much longer than that for this so the man spoke to his manager while I was on the line and this is being escalated to head office. This will hopefully re-start my dispute and they will decide one way or the other.

The man said only head office deal with disputes and they don't take phone calls from the public or the helplines, the only communication methods is for me to write (done that 3 times, each time notifying them about BR and enclosing certificate, I have yet to receive a single reply or acknowledgement) or for the helpline to escalate something on the system which is a process which they can do and write one sentence alongside to briefly explain the reason for the escalation. Even the helploines can do no more than that. If what he says is right and the dispute is in limbo and no result has been shown then I don't know what the previous woman was talking about. Was she just making it up? Being horrid deliberately?

The man suggested phoning back in two weeks to see what has happened due to the escalation. I will do that and then if I get nowhere with that I will pm debtdoctor as suggested because this issue is over 2 years old now and they don't seem to listen to me or respond to anything I write to them. I just want this nightmare to end.

PippaGirl_2

Today I received a letter from LCS debt recovery for this debt. HMRC have still not responded to any of my letters. I don't have the mental energy to deal with this right now.

debt_doctor

Hi Pippa,

You should follow the procedure below or ask your MP to intervene now (they all have caseworkers to assist them);

Complaints about HM Revenue and Customs
219 If a client wants to complain about the administration of tax credits, s/he should first complain to the person or office which dealt with her/his enquiry or application. If s/he is unhappy with the response, s/he can complain further to the Complaints Manager at the relevant tax credit office. If s/he is still not satisfied, s/he can ask for the decision to be looked at again. This will be done by a senior official who has not previously been involved in the case. This complaints procedure is explained in the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) fact sheet 'Complaints and putting things right'.

220 In some cases, the client may be able to make a claim for compensation, for example, if there has been a mistake or unreasonable delay. This, too, is explained in the HMRC fact sheet.
221 If the client does not receive a satisfactory answer to her/his complaint, s/he can complain to the Adjudicator. The Adjudicator will only deal with a complaint if HMRC has been given an opportunity to resolve it.

222 A client can ask her/his MP to refer a complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. S/he should normally have used the HMRC complaints procedure first, and the Ombudsman would also expect a complaint to have been considered by the Adjudicator before deciding whether or not to investigate.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/factsheets/complaints-factsheet.pdf

With the debt collector you should write to them informing that it is a disputed debt and that they should cease collection as per the FCA debt collection guidance.

DD

fermi

Thanks for that DD.

Surely also applies here --> Caught betweem OR & HMRC with a tax credit overpayment

debt_doctor

fermi wrote: »

Thanks for that DD.

Surly also applies here --> Caught betweem OR & HMRC with a tax credit overpayment

Hi Fermi, I agree, the same would apply in that thread.

DD

fermi

Good. Posted.

Seems HMRC are either not advising their staff properly on this, or they have just decided to be arsholes about it in the hope to wear people down so they can recover sums that they are not entitled to?

debt_doctor

A bit of both I suspect!

DD

PippaGirl_2

Thank you. I will try and get an appointment with my MP asap.

georgiasmum

Pippa Girl, hang in there. Things can only get better.xx