tax credit overpayments

BillDee

Hi
looking for advice please. Received working tax credits 2003, 04 and 2005. Can't recall date of first notification of overpayment letter, I think it was 2008. We contacted CAB at the time and they advised us to request copies of phone calls made by myself and my wife to tax credits regarding any changes to our income etc.


Received copies of my phone calls but not my wife's, as my wife made most of the calls we requested a copy of her calls.
All contact from tax credits ended, until, 2012 when we received another demand letter.


This time we took advice from MSE and copied a template letter pointing out the limitations act and that any more demands would be considered harassment, leading to us making a police complaint should we receive any more. It stated in the advice that tax credits had not pursued anyone (to date) after these letters, and that the limitations act does apply in this case.


Today we received yet another demand stating that the limitations act does not apply to tax credit overpayments.
Can anyone say for sure what the law is, and, what is our next step? Do we file a police complaint against the named officer?
or is there some other course of action we can take?

BillDee

blondebubbles wrote: »

Have you completed an overpayment dispute forum at any point?

I believe this is the relevant guidance

As for making a complaint against the officer, they don't make the rules. They don't make the decision to pursue you. They are doing their job. They are not going out their way to target or harass you.

Hi
thanks for reply, we have written several letters and CAB have contacted tax credits on our behalf.
Don't like the idea of a police complaint but, if we are correct then this is harassment and that is a criminal offence.

BillDee

blondebubbles wrote: »

I don't personally think the police would help but I honestly don't know. Just wanting to point out, it's not a specific person with a vendetta.

Anyways, you need to establish if your case has actually been reviewed by the dispute team at any point.

I take it you do know the reason for the overpayment?

Case has been reviewed but they have failed to supply us with the proof (copies of my wife's phone calls) that we contacted them with all relevant changes, and they are disputing whether or not the limitations act applies.

wildwestfan

Is there a limitation on how long HRMC can chase for a debt?

Sorry I see this is a disputed point.

skateykatey

wildwestfan wrote: »

Is there a limitation on how long HRMC can chase for a debt?

Sorry I see this is a disputed point.

Put simply, there is nothing in legislation that stops the Tax Credit Office from pursuing a debt however, they are limited in that they cannot instigate court proceedings.

Icequeen99

BillDee wrote: »

Hi
looking for advice please. Received working tax credits 2003, 04 and 2005. Can't recall date of first notification of overpayment letter, I think it was 2008. We contacted CAB at the time and they advised us to request copies of phone calls made by myself and my wife to tax credits regarding any changes to our income etc.


Received copies of my phone calls but not my wife's, as my wife made most of the calls we requested a copy of her calls.
All contact from tax credits ended, until, 2012 when we received another demand letter.


This time we took advice from MSE and copied a template letter pointing out the limitations act and that any more demands would be considered harassment, leading to us making a police complaint should we receive any more. It stated in the advice that tax credits had not pursued anyone (to date) after these letters, and that the limitations act does apply in this case.


Today we received yet another demand stating that the limitations act does not apply to tax credit overpayments.
Can anyone say for sure what the law is, and, what is our next step? Do we file a police complaint against the named officer?
or is there some other course of action we can take?

Are you sure the advice was from MSE? I don't think MSE have had these letters - they were on another site which suggested people threaten with the police.

The Limitation Act can apply to tax credits - you have been given the relevant link by BB to HMRC guidance.

However, whether it actually applies in your case depends on the facts and no-one here could give you a legal opinion.

I would be very hesitant to get the police involved unless you are 100% sure that is the correct legal process. You need to speak to a solicitor and get some legal advice.

As others have said, even if it does apply it would only stop court proceedings. It wouldn't stop them say taking it directly from your wages or from other benefits or indeed any future tax credits (from later this year).

IQ

pmlindyloo

I agree with blondbubbles and Icequeen99 that is is impossible for us to know what you should do without seeing all the paperwork.

The point about raising a dispute is vital because this is the process you should have used when first receiving the overpayment.

If you followed the MSE's guide on this site did you look at this link?

http://static.advicenow.org.uk/files/tax-credit-overpayments-2013-77.pdf

I think this is an excellent overview of the process as regards an overpayment.

I think the most relevant part (based on your mention of your wife's phone calls) is that you seem to be saying that you informed them of a change of circumstance. Did you receive an award letter after this? If you did, did you notice that a mistake had been made and then inform them again?

Basically if you can prove that you informed them after an award letter giving the wrong information was sent and they still did nothing then you may have a case.

It is up to you to check all paperwork and inform them if they have got it wrong despite your giving the correct information. This is what catches many people out.

Having said that if you still consider that you have done everything that you could have done, and they still overpaid you, then, on the link I gave, is how to proceed.

As regards the Limitations Act the date you give when you first were notified on the overpayment makes it difficult to know whether the act applies.

Disputing an overpayment relies heavily on paperwork/phone calls evidence. If you have all the relevant paperwork to support you then go ahead with the 'next step'.

If you do not have the evidence on your side then you may have to rely on the Limitations Act.

I have read the website about using the harassment path and you could use this if you wish. However, you would need professional advice.

You could also ignore it after sending your final letter. BUT as already said the Limitations Act only stops any court action. It does not stop them making future deductions.

Icequeen99

Thinking about this further, i find it really hard to see how HMRC sending a couple of letters about a debt that is legally owed would amount to harassment.

Even if they couldn't go to court with the debt, they could do lots of other things and so writing a letter about those things is what I would expect them to do to collect money owed to the public purse.

I suspect in reality you would have a hard job getting the police to actually do anything about it.

IQ

Poppie68

The police complaint would have to be made against HMRC and not the individual officer, i can't see the police taking any action. As said by others if you dispute these overpayments and have already followed the correct procedure obtaining legal advice would be the correct course for you to take, the only problem with that is though is the cost if you are found liable for the overpayments and you would have to find a solicitor with a special interest in Tax Credits.

pmlindyloo

Just been doing a bit of research about this and I am amazed at the powers of recovery that they have.

See here:

http://www.revenuebenefits.org.uk/tax-credits/guidance/how-to-deal-with-hmrc/dealing-with-debt/

BillDee

Many thanks for all your replies, had hoped the limitations act would stop all recovery action but it looks likely that they have many different ways ie. changing my tax code. to force me to repay. Their system is obviously flawed, and people like us who did everything in our power to give them all the information they needed to NOT overpay, end up worrying.