Renewal of Tax Credits and result of not filling in paperwork

poppy12345

Stevepm said:

Thank you all for your comments i will put in a new claim.
I guess i will have to leave the tax credit issue
thanks
steve

As previously advised, you need to make a rapid reclaim from your journal. You don't need to start a new claim. If your UC is reduced to zero because of earnings then it's normal for your claim to close. Just make a rapid reclaim when this happens.

Nikster73

The same thing happened to me.  I was receiving child tax credits in 2016.  I did not renew a claim as we didn't have exact income figures from self employment.  I presumed that by not renewing a claim that the payments would automatically stop! We were legally entitled to the money, as per income figures.  Unfortunately like you, they penalised us and asked for 6 months money back.......this was 4 years later!  I also appealed wrote several letters, and spent at least £50 on telephone calls.  I have been totally disgusted, especially when you are entitled to the money.  All because of paperwork not being completed.  You think they would allow for one error, as mistakes happen in life.  We are also now paying the funds back.  Always remember HMRC/DWP are clawing back money in overpayments from thousands of people who have scammed them.  We are contributing to this.  

Nikster73

Also to add, we never ever claimed again ( even though we would have been entitled to child tax credits) as I was too frightened incase we would ever owe them anything again.  They make you feel like a fraudster, or a criminal.  We have lost out probably 4 years worth of credits. No matter how hard you appeal or fight your case, you get nowhere with these people.

Stevepm

Nikster73 said:

Also to add, we never ever claimed again ( even though we would have been entitled to child tax credits) as I was too frightened incase we would ever owe them anything again.  They make you feel like a fraudster, or a criminal.  We have lost out probably 4 years worth of credits. No matter how hard you appeal or fight your case, you get nowhere with these people.

Many thanks for your comments I totally agree with you. What an unkind and unfair system we live in.

poppy12345

Nikster73 said:

The same thing happened to me.  I was receiving child tax credits in 2016.  I did not renew a claim as we didn't have exact income figures from self employment.  I presumed that by not renewing a claim that the payments would automatically stop! We were legally entitled to the money, as per income figures.  Unfortunately like you, they penalised us and asked for 6 months money back.......this was 4 years later!  I also appealed wrote several letters, and spent at least £50 on telephone calls.  I have been totally disgusted, especially when you are entitled to the money.  All because of paperwork not being completed.  You think they would allow for one error, as mistakes happen in life.  We are also now paying the funds back.  Always remember HMRC/DWP are clawing back money in overpayments from thousands of people who have scammed them.  We are contributing to this.  

If you had renewed your claim and returned the form then this wouldn't have happened. You can't just leave it and hope nothing further will happen, that's not how it works.

Nikster73

At the end of the day, we were legally entitled to the money due to earnings.  Sometimes in life errors are made, and  oversights happen. They have to allow for this.  

Galloglass

They have to allow for this. 

They said I could appeal. So I wrote to them and explained that i did not realise I could simply not allow it to finish I had to fill in the renewal saying we were no longer claiming tax credits. I explained though that we were entitled to the tax credits it seemed harsh asking for two years worth of credits back simply because of a paperwork mistake. They denied my appeal and demanded the tax credit payments back. So I had to arrange a plan to pay monthly to clear the balance.

As mentioned in post #1 there is an appeal mechanism. Any and all government departments works to legislation and guidance. It's not their money and they cannot [legally] withhold it. By the same measure they cannot just give it to you without reason and that is what the appeal allows you to explain.