Working Tax Credit tied to bad loan help

malteser2018

Hello everyone,

I am really hoping that someone can help me with this issue. I will keep it as short as possible.

Basically up to 2008 my wife and I owned a few properties in the UK, however we had so many rent arrears with our tenants and damages at the time that we had no choice but to agree with the mortgage company to give the keys back. Anyway, this was a long time ago and we had some small loans with a major bank etc.

We had contacted our lends etc and ended up moving to Malta and we have never looked at our old main bank account since.

We have since been working very hard to rebuild properly etc and never took out another loan.
However I just received a letter from the HMRC after 9 years, saying that we owe them £2100 for child tax credit and working tax credits as they had kept paying into our old account.

I was told to contact the bank to retrieve old bank statements, however I am terrified of being bombarded again with issues if I go down that route. I would have like to access that account and return the money if it hasn't been raided with other costs and fees etc.

Would it be easier to just agree with the HMRC to pay the balance and be done with it.
Thanks in advance.

System

> Would it be easier to just agree with the HMRC to pay the balance and be done with it.


Most definitely if you're in a position to. It does mean you may have £2100 sat in a dormant account. Not quite sure why you'd end up being bombarded again if you do go about seeing what the status of your old main account is. I doubt the mortgage company is the same company as the bank.

malteser2018

Thanks for the swift reply. The issues that I am worried about is that we had a small loan with the bank at the time so I am hesitant to contact them again to be honest so as to not open a can of worms. I think I might make an arrangement with the HMRC for a monthly payment option and be done with it.

Clive_Woody

malteser2018 wrote: »

Thanks for the swift reply. The issues that I am worried about is that we had a small loan with the bank at the time so I am hesitant to contact them again to be honest so as to not open a can of worms. I think I might make an arrangement with the HMRC for a monthly payment option and be done with it.

Was it more than 6 years since you acknowledged the debt? If so it's probably statute barred.

malteser2018

Hi Clive,

Yes, it was in 2009. Both the HMRC and the loan date back to then. I thought that the Statute barred was 12 years but I'm not up to speed on these things.

I asked the HMRC why they are contacting me now when I had called a week after we arrived to cancel these payments at the time and they don't know why but they did say that the debt is still due after all these years.

System

12 years for mortgages, student loans and a small list of other debts. The vast majority though fall within the 6 year period.

malteser2018

Thanks for the info.

I'm going to speak to the HMRC again to see if this can be disputed but I really doubt it. I will most likely just settle it rather than going through the aggravation of relighting an issue with the bank.