Child tax credit overpayments in 2010 and 2011

JustRaider

Hi IQ,

Thanks again for your excellent advice.

I have now found the award notice we were sent in
2004. Sure enough there was an entry for Working Tax
Credit. I received a letter on 7/9/2004 from HMRC, the main
points were :
"Your tax credits have been overpaid since April because
we calculated your award incorrectly. We apologise for
our mistake. We will explain the arrangements for repaying
this money.
You may have realised that there has been a mistake. However,
if you can show you had good reason to believe that your
payments were correct please contact us. Also contact us if you
are unable to repay the overpayment."

I still have a copy of the letter I wrote (dated 23/9/2004) in
reply.
I stated that I disagreed with the amount of the Overpayment
and that our bank account showed otherwise. I explained that my
wife had left her job in 2003 to look after our 2 children, so both
her salary and child care had stopped. We believed that the
alleged overpayment was correct as a result of the change in
circumstances. I stated that we would find it difficult to repay the
overpayment, as we had severe debts due to demands from the
Child Support agency. explained that it would cause financial
hardship if we attempted to pay back the money owing.

HMRC then decided that the overpayment would be paid back by
reducing our tax credits amounts over future years. This has been
the case for the past 10 years now, but there is still an amount
still owing.

At present we still have financial issues. One of our children
required special educational needs and constant supervision and
the other is at University. Supporting a child with SEN, and paying
for London University accommodation is a considerable drain on
our finances. We are still in the same situation as 2004 in that it
would cause financial hardship if we attempted to pay back the
money owing.

I'm not really sure which is the best way forward on this issue.

Thanks,
JustRaider

Icequeen99

Well, it seems like you have disputed already and they have turned it down. You are now out of time to dispute the overpayment.

So really the only option is to negotiate with Debt Management and Banking. If you can offer something (minimum £10 a month) then that would be the place to start. if you cannot offer that or to do so would cause hardship then you need to have some income/expenditure figures ready and tell them you want a suspension of recovery on hardship grounds.

IQ

JustRaider

Hi IQ,

Yes, You're right there aren't many options open now.

I'll contact Debt Management and Banking and explain
the situation.

Thanks for your guidance and help, which is most appreciated
as I find 'over-payments' such a complicated subject to deal
with.

JustRaider