Tax Credits Renewals - 2014

KevinG

I phoned yesterday and got through in about 10 minutes (Saturday does seem to be a good day to call). Good job because my updated details had got "stuck" on 27 August and not passed on. Now they have, I am told, and they took a phone number to call me to confirm it. I await the call.

mrsajs69

I had a text message from HMRC on 06 June, 14 to say received my renewal. Still not heard. Phone them 4 weeks ago and they quoted 2-3 weeks as it had been passed for checking. Still nothing. Should I phone again to enquire as usually on hold for 25 minutes?

KevinG

mrsajs69 wrote: »

Should I phone again to enquire as usually on hold for 25 minutes?

Try phoning on a Saturday.

kate555

Ive been waiting for 9 weeks and last wednesday i had back payment and new amended payment on thursday.I didn't contacted them because i was still receiving payments every week,so i just left them to it.they must have back log,this it the first year i had to wait this long.

julieph66

Hi I'm hoping somebody may be able to help.
After completeing my renewal online, during the school summer holidays I received a letter from the Tax Credit office saying they needed proof my 5 year old daughter lives with me!

I called them and they said they had crosschecked me against Child Benefit and seen that I don't receive it so need proof my daughter lives with me. They are correct, I gave up Child Benefit so my estranged husband could claim it and consequently also claim Housing Benefit to enable him to live somewhere half decent for when my daughter stays over. However it's beyong annoying as before I gave it up I called Tax Credits to see if it would impact my payments and they said no!
They then stopped my payments the 3rd week in August!

Anyway, I had to wait until the school was open because they wanted a letter from them confirming my daughter went there. In the meantime I gathered together my receipts for food, uniform, hobbies, days out, presents, sundries, my daughters passport and bank book. I received the letter from her school on 3 Sept and sent everything off to the Tax Credits office Special Delivery on 4 Sept.
I tracked the letter on 5 Sept which confirmed it had been received and signed for that morning. Two weeks later I called the tax credits office who told me they hadnt received my documents! When I pointed out I had proof that they did have them 2 weeks earlier they backtracked and said they had been received but hadnt been allocated to anybody to process.
I called back in another 2 weeks time (today) and they said they had received my documents but it would take another 6-8 weeks to process.
So as advised by so many people with similar experiences on here I have contacted my local MP's office who then came back to me this afternoon to say she had called Tax Credits and they had received my documents on 18 Sept!
What in the world is happening with this system when we are lied to and so are our MP's who are just trying to help.
I've had no tax credits for 6 weeks and have no idea how we are going to survive another 8 weeks of this!

Does anyone have any ideas please?

KevinG

The final chapter in the saga. On 24th October I received yet another letter asking me to explain why my declared income was different from the figure they had on record. This had an 0300 number to call between 16:15 and 20:00, which I duly called at 16:35 and got straight through. I explained the figures for the fourth time and these were noted, with suitable apologies. I asked whether I would have to supply any further evidence and the advisor thought probably not, but they would let me know. She said the figures would be updated within 24 hours and I should receive an updated award notice in two weeks. So here we are, just under two weeks later and it arrived in the post today. It looks as though they have finally used the correct figures, no back payment but my child tax credit going forward has more than doubled, which is nice.

Until next year ...

mrs_sparrow

This is where the problem is lying - they say you can deduct losses and pension payments from the main income but do not ask for a breakdown and wonder why the money is different to what my husbands employers declares to them.... but at the same times they don't check my return to HMRC. It makes no sense.

If they make you breakdown the figures they would not have half of these problems!!! I was told mine would be done in September, it wasn't - I called to ask why and they said it was because the figures were different. Again, asked if I wanted to give more evidence, they said no, but if you find it is different, call back (eh??)

I finally got the award notice last weekend. As KevinG says 'until next year'. God help us!!!!

Oh, I will not even go into trying to claim my husbands laundry allowance and his expenses for tools......

KevinG

mrs_sparrow wrote: »

If they make you breakdown the figures they would not have half of these problems!!!

Exactly - it is utterly crazy that they do not let you enter deductions; the cynical part of me thinks it's deliberate in an attempt to reduce payments, but it's more likely to be sheer incompetence on the part of whoever designed the system.

zagfles

KevinG wrote: »

The final chapter in the saga. On 24th October I received yet another letter asking me to explain why my declared income was different from the figure they had on record. This had an 0300 number to call between 16:15 and 20:00, which I duly called at 16:35 and got straight through. I explained the figures for the fourth time and these were noted, with suitable apologies. I asked whether I would have to supply any further evidence and the advisor thought probably not, but they would let me know. She said the figures would be updated within 24 hours and I should receive an updated award notice in two weeks. So here we are, just under two weeks later and it arrived in the post today. It looks as though they have finally used the correct figures, no back payment but my child tax credit going forward has more than doubled, which is nice.

Until next year ...

Which is exactly why I recommended writing to them earlier in the thread. Rather than relying on someone on the phone understanding what you're saying, noting it correctly, and dealing with it.

I did a letter for a friend with a lot of deductions after she'd had similar hassle, got sorted (final award) within a couple of weeks. Sent all the evidence they could possibly want (they even sent it back - eventually!).

zagfles

KevinG wrote: »

Exactly - it is utterly crazy that they do not let you enter deductions; the cynical part of me thinks it's deliberate in an attempt to reduce payments, but it's more likely to be sheer incompetence on the part of whoever designed the system.

It was supposed to be a "simple" thing to claim, unlike the war-and-peace usual means tested benefits forms. Just a few boxes to fill in.

Unfortunately it's far too simple. Not even a free format box to explain deductions. Yet a whole page to ask what colour your skin is...