Will bankruptcy write of tax credit overpayment already being recovered

jontycalv1975

I have my appointment booked for a fortnights time to go BR however i just have one query regarding my tax credit overpayment.

Long winded so will cut it down a bit. I split with my ex wife in early 2012 and put in a sole claim for tax credits. this was all fine until 2013. I moved out of the property ( repossesed ) and moved iin with my new partner. I cancelled my old claim and was added on to her claim where she claimed for her son. The child I had claimed for under my claim had gone to live with his mum as she became the main carer just prior to my move.
I was blissfully unaware that the tax credits people were chasing me to complete a review form for my now closed claim ( I had been advised by them i did not need to as i had closed the claim ) and they were sending all correspondance to my old address. Due to no contact from myself they cancelled the claim and an overpayment was created.
So to cut a long story short they eventually found me ( not that i was hiding ) advised me that my overpayment had already been to Rossendales and come back to them and they were now going to recover the overpayments from mine and my partners current claim. I am under the impression that this is a relatively new thing they do and i am awaiting the paperwork to appeal this although the deductions have already started.
But my question is this. With my impending BR will this write off the TC's overpayment as this was my overpayment on my claim, prior to the BR and nothing to do with my partner. Surely she cannot be legally liable for it!!

Many thanks in advance

Jonathan

samanthaknd

I have no idea, but maybe Citizens Advice may be able to help you out?

Marktheshark

As far as I am aware you need an official demand for payment from them which is not easy to get.

owlet

It should be covered in your BR. See the link below to another thread asking this a couple of days ago. Fermi's reply in post 2 is relevant to you.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4790112

Your partner is not liable for your debts and can't be chased for them. The exception to this is joint debts with her.

Edit: The post I referred to is almost a couple of years old, however it looks as if it is still relevant. Legislation was further updated in 2014.

https://www.insolvencydirect.bis.gov.uk/technicalmanual/Ch73-84/Chapter77/part7/Part7.htm

jontycalv1975

Thanks all for coming back to me

Special thanks to Owlet, links made interesting reading and gives me some hope. Tax Credits claim that as it is being recovered from mine and my partners joint claim ( even though overpayment nothing to do with her ) they can carry on recovering it if their is a live claim with my name on it even when i become BR. To be fair they were not 100% confident in their answers.

Well i will be sure to find out in a couple of weeks

Thanks again

owlet

From reading that again, it should be your ex wife they should be claiming back from because she was the other claimant - not your current partner.

Maybe Fermi will pop in & clarify!

fermi

You are not liable due to the bankruptcy, and your current partner was never liable, so can't see how HMRC could ever make that stand up if challenged?

debt doctor http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/member.php?u=223640 can probably give a more informed opinion that me though, and better info on how to challenge.

owlet

Thanks Fermi, that was my view too but I wasn't 100% sure!

jontycalv1975

Thanks Fermi and Owlet

Just to confirm owlet it is my sole claim that was cancelled and became an overpayment, not the joint one with my ex. They are recovering my sole claim overpayment from my joint claim with my partner whom i now live with.

Fermi, do i message debtdoctor directly or will they see that you have tagged (?) them.

Thanks again for your help

owlet

If it was your sole claim, they can't claw it back from your current partner, it's nothing to do with her.
It's only recoverable from you & will be included in your bankruptcy.

fermi

I sent DD a PM. Hopefully he will have time to take a look here.