Help please Hmrc want 2.3k

Startup1985

Already posted in debt free sub forum but thought it may actually be better here.

Hi all

I'm December 2015 I bought my first house and my girlfriend and her daughter moved in with me, previously they were renting off the council and I was living with my parents. She was recieving working tax credits before we moved in together.
Two weeks before the move date she notified Hmrc that we would be moving in together and they told her it was to early and told her to ring back when she has actually moved. In the first week of moving in she called again and notified them of the change and the claim was ended. The advisor told her that she would still recieve the benefit until sometime in January which she did.
Now fast forward to today and there is a letter in the doorstep saying that she owes £2300 for overpayment from December 7 to January 26. In sheer panic she has rung them and they say it is because even though she notified them before she moved in to say stop the claim on Dec 7th that she never ring back on the 7th to finalise it. We both know for a fact that she did ring them albeit on around the 9th to notify them she was in the new house. They say that there is no record of this but claim she rung them on January the 26th to stop the claim, which she never she actually ring to see if she could get any help towards childcare. I'm so furious that they admit she notified them early and they accepted she wanted the claim to stop on December the 7th but they didn't actually stop it then and say it is because she didn't ring back again. We are not in debt but we cannot afford to pay that amount back after buying this home and renovating it, they also want the money by this time next month even though it is double my partners monthly wage. What the hell do we do?

Darksparkle

The fact that she called before she moved in isnt relevant because they can't update that change in advance.

Why she was told she would be paid until January doesn't make much sense either, the claim stops the day she is no longer single. There is no run on in that circumstance.

Can she provide proof that she called on the 9th eg an itemised bill? She could make a subject access request for a record of the call made. She could then attempt to dispute the overpayment.

Also did she actually receive £2300 in those 7 weeks? Seems very high.

Bananas123

are you SURE she rang them back as advised ?, and spoke to the right person ?

because it sounds a bit weird, that:

Two weeks before the move date she notified Hmrc that we would be moving in together and they told her it was to early and told her to ring back when she has actually moved.

like they obviously advised, and there is no reason for them to not have record ????

---

it would make more sense that, she didn't follow up ?, continued to recieve the benefit and then "spent all the money" [she shouldn't have been recieving] ???

if you had income coming in from them, when you realise you shouldn't ?, then why did you not ring them etc ?

(there seems to be a theme of "not ringing")

i am not having ago, but that's just what i gathered.

regards.

kingfisherblue

Could the payment in January be because WTC is paid in arrears? (I'm assuming it is paid in arrears but don't actually know). If so, did she then receive a payment iin February too?

Darksparkle

kingfisherblue wrote: »

Could the payment in January be because WTC is paid in arrears? (I'm assuming it is paid in arrears but don't actually know). If so, did she then receive a payment iin February too?

The only way a payment would be issues in January if the change was reported at the start of December would be if there was a delay in the system being updated.

Detroit

This OP could have arisen due to other changes if circumstances during the year, changes in your partner's income, childcare or hours worked.

The information you receive as to the reason for the OP when contacting the call centre is not necessarily the correct or only reason.

Your partner needs to contact HMRC and ask for written reasons for the OP. Ask for it to be broken down as a statement showing what was paid when and what income was used for the calculation. She should do this immediately.

Her letter should also say that she disputes the OP and refer to it as an 'alleged' OP. ( Even if it turns out they are correct, this doesn't hurt) There is no need to put in any back story, just make a simple request for the reason for the alleged OP.

When she receives a response from HMRC she should take this to CAB who may be able to assist her to challenge it, IF there is cause to do so.
If HMRC are correct, CAB can assist to arrange an affordable repayment plan.