have been under paid tax credits over two years !

mum2Sophie

Hi hoping someone may be able to help.... It has come to attention following a phone call yesterday to contact a family that they think we've been under paid tax credits. I get carers allowance have done for five years. My other half works 16 hours a week apparently in April 2012 their rules changed which meant he qualified for working tax credits at around 45 a week. We called tax credits this evening just to be told were correct and that's true but they will only back date from this April not the two years before.....because we didn't notice. I said how would we of known if they are given all our details which they were then we would expect them to award what were entitled to. He then tried to say it is not down that I get carers allowance and said on the forms undertaxable social security benefit I said yes but how am I suppose to know it should any differently ? That's not my job under the forms you fill in that's exactly what it is a taxable benefit. But it ended with him basically completely blaming us. I said It still did not seem right and asked to be transferred to someone else so he put me on hold and then hung up on me. This was ten mins before they closed so I will have to call again tomorrow. We're talking about over five and a half thousand pound and to us that would be life changing. Every year when otherhalf calls them to renew he tells them what his wage is still which has not changed and tells them I still get carers allowance which they always check the current rate their end and work it out for the year so it's been told every year that it's carers allowance. Is. there anything we can do ?

mum2Sophie

Also just to add I have spoken to a friend who also claims carers allowance and her form just has it under taxable social security benefits as well.

mum2Sophie

But I started claiming carers in the summer of 2009 when my step daughter moved in so we called them to tell them of both things. And we've told each year when we've renewed so what more should we have done ?

mum2Sophie

Sorry I think we're getting crossed wires....when we called them in the summer of 2009 we didn't say we're getting a taxable benefit we said that I was then getting carers allowance along with my daughter moving in so she was then on the claim. each year we have renewed it has been mentioned on phone I still get carers allowance and they have checked their end what it adds up to for a year to check the amounts for us. So it's always been made very clear from our end I get the carers allowance. X

mum2Sophie

It says taxable benefit on the award that's where that part comes from. But when we've spoken to them about what income we have each year we've made it very clear it's his wages....and my carers allowance using those exact words.

mum2Sophie

I just fail to see how else were supposed to of told them. I guess writing it is the only other way but does everyone else write into them ? Does anyone know how long they keep recorded phone calls as hif they do keep them then that will prove we have mentioned it's carers allowance I've been getting each time we talk to them every year. It may well have been well publicised but to be honest as a busy mum to five kids two of which has special needs if I have told tax credits all the info to do with our income etc I would expect them to award us what were entitled to. Also how come they can claim over payments years later...years back my other half was contacted out of the blue over k over payment from six years before due to some money his ex continued to claim he had to pay about six hundred pounds back despite never having had the money and it being six years later.

Icequeen99

You need to apply for the awards to be amended under something called the Official Error Regulations. You should contact someone for advice to get some support as it is likely to be more successful if you quote the right terminology.

It is worth checking back to see what information was published, if I recollect correctly it took some time for them to introduce the exception and so if you were telling them on the phone that your partner was working 16 hours and you were in receipt of carer's allowance they should have added the WTC to your claim.

IQ

mum2Sophie

Thank you.not sure whether to call tax credits back tomorrow as they hung up on me earlier or whether I should wait till I have spoken to someone next week. Would the cab be the people to talk to or should I just call contact a family who I spoke to yesterday ? I can't get hold of them till Monday. I am not sure if the backdated payment from April has been actioned today or not as like I say they put me on hold to talk to someone as I was not happy and then hung up on me. Frustrating.

Icequeen99

mum2Sophie wrote: »

Thank you.not sure whether to call tax credits back tomorrow as they hung up on me earlier or whether I should wait till I have spoken to someone next week. Would the cab be the people to talk to or should I just call contact a family who I spoke to yesterday ? I can't get hold of them till Monday. I am not sure if the backdated payment from April has been actioned today or not as like I say they put me on hold to talk to someone as I was not happy and then hung up on me. Frustrating.

If the CAB has a benefits specialist that should be fine. You could also try contacting https://www.litrg.org.uk or https://www.taxaid.org.uk who are specialist tax charities. I am not sure what help contact a family can provide but it is worth a try.

IQ

amiehall

As explained above, if you called to renew and reported income from your partners wages and your carers allowance, staff wouldn't really have a need to bring up your full account to process the renewal. They wouldn't now how many hours your partner works, whether you're on WTC or not, anything really... The way the system works is that the operator needs to actively go in and look for any information they might want about your account in general, it doesn't just appear. There would be no real reason to be rooting around checking these things because, as noted, call times are monitored and staff are encouraged to get on with the job in hand.

dave030445

blondebubbles wrote: »

These changes were decided in 2010 and implemented in 2012.

They were well publicised.

Unfortunately no there is nothing you can do now as your previous claims will be finalised.

Simply reporting your taxable social security benefits is not enough. There are many benefits this could cover, some of which would to allow you to qualify for WTC some would not.

There are also other benefits you can claim to qualify for WTC that are not taxable and don't need to be reported.

The friend you have mentioned will have told them they claim a taxable social security benefit but they will also have a marker on their claim showing they are "incapacitated".

I wonder how many years they could go back if it came to light there was an overpayment.