MSE News: Tax credit renewal packs being sent out, but phone lines already jammed 29 April 2015 at 1:46PM in Benefits & tax credits 26 replies 5.4K views

Former_MSE_Helen

The first batch of tax credit renewal packs have been sent out by HMRC, but some report delays calling the helpline...

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Tax credit renewal packs being sent out, but phone lines already jammed




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merlin68

They never answer phones anyway, i always write to them now its quicker.

meer53

I've never had a problem getting through. I usually call late evening.

missk_ensington

Ive been trying to get through to them for days, I sit on hold for ages then my baby starts screaming and I have to put the phone down. Nightmare!

danimcg85

I was on hold for over half an hour this morning to cancel my claim and then passed to someone else as they didn't know how to deal with it. Frustrating!

getting-sorted-sarah

You can NOT order an application form online - the gov.uk link just advises you to call to order one. It also says you should have your income and other details ready but actually they don't ask for them. Why does it take 2 weeks to send out a form - why couldn't it be available to download?

georgiasdragons

46 mins for me on hold then couple days later my renewal form come and I need to reply so wasn't going to ring again unless I had to by luckily I could renew online.

So will see if it works and how long and if not heard in 8 weeks or my next months payment different will ring straight through ! And be on hold for ages

[Deleted User]

Indeed, they do an entitlement check on the phone, but even if they say you're not entitled, you can still demand a form anyway.

This can work to your favour, if you're expecting an income drop (or a baby) halfway through the year to come, and you want to get a "nil award" for the meantime, in order to protect your entitlement for the whole year when you call them with a change of circumstances.

Icequeen99

getting-sorted-sarah wrote: »

You can NOT order an application form online - the gov.uk link just advises you to call to order one. It also says you should have your income and other details ready but actually they don't ask for them. Why does it take 2 weeks to send out a form - why couldn't it be available to download?

You can order a claim form online.

Go here https://www.gov.uk/qualify-tax-credits - do the tool and at the end you can click to order a claim form.

IQ

markb1964

Some information that people mind find useful... I spent 90 minutes on hold spread over 4 phone calls, the last one lasted 46 minutes, all this at 9p per minute. So wrote a letter of complaint to HMRC listing the time and money that this had cost me. HMRC not only rang me back to apologise,but they then sent me compensation to cover my losses. The address to write to is on the HMRC website.

barbedhook

I ring at 8 in the morning when people are getting kids ready for school and people are going to work. I always seem to get straight through.might just be lucky