stupid error on my part has stopped my benefits

Mrree

I have a 3 year old daughter and my nursery told me about the 30 hours free childcare. I signed up to this and everything was fine, I have also been claiming both working tax and child tax for 3 years. However the reconfirmation email came up recently and I accidently registered for tax free childcare thinking this is what I'm currently getting. Now because of this all my benefits which are relied upon to live have now stopped. Contacted HMRC to explain the situation and they basically said nothing they can do and go into universal credit but doing a check to see what I will get shows that I'm not eligible for it because of the tax free childcare. Now I'm in financial distress because of that one stupid error and don't know what to do or how I will support my family.

tacpot12

I'm sorry that this has happened. I don't think you will have much success cancelling your application for tax free childcare, but I think you can do so in three months time, and you can then claim Universal Credit. You need to think carefully about what led you to make your mistake. If you can show that the email was misleading, you could write to you MP to see if they will take your case up. I do understand how the difference between "Free Child Care" and "Tax Free Child Care" is very subtle, but there are warnings on the information about Tax Free Child Care that say you can't claim Tax Credits or Universal Credit and that you should work out whether it is better to apply for Tax Free Child Care or the benefits. If the actual application process for Tax Free Child Care didn't give you this warning, I think you have valid cause for complaint so should complain to HMRC and your MP. 

Your best option now is to get a loan from a family member or a bank to carry you through the next three months. Clearly you will need to stop spending money on all, but the most essential items. Use any credit cards if you must, but it would be better to keep these for an even greater emergency, although I am not sure what could be worse than the situation you are in. 
 
You might want to speak to your local Citizens Advice to see if they can see other ways in which the application process was flawed. 

Mrree

I did get the notification that it I continue I won't be able to claim for tax free childcare which I thought that's what I was getting so thought I did something wrong so went back and selected none for tax credits Which really confused me because I was getting tax credits but I never got the notification that it was stopping doing it that way. Was really confused because I don't understand these things but thought that i was doing it correctly at that point.I had a very near successful suicide attempt a couple of years ago due to severe depression ever since then my brain gets confused very easily and I tend to get things muddled up. I will consider going to my MP for help though

calcotti

The interaction of these different schemes is absurd.

MalMonroe

As tacpot12 suggests, Citizens Advice should be able to help. You can phone them. 

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/

I think benefits have always been confusing and the names of different ones keep changing. It seems a bit harsh that they have stopped all your benefits just because of one mistake. 

In some cases you can claim emergency funding to see you through a bad patch but Citizens Advice will be able to give you more information about them. 

Mrree

The thing was when I selected I get tax credits I was issued with the warning that my tax free childcare would stop. Obviously I thought that was what I was claiming for so I said tax credits was none which didn't seem right as I was receiving them but I was issued with no warning so assumed everything went through as it should. I feel it was purposefully worded to confuse people to select the wrong benefit knowing that it will end all tax credits forcing a push to universal credit which I'm not eligible for also because I'm a full time student

calcotti

Mrree said:..universal credit which I'm not eligible for also because I'm a full time student

As you are a parent being a full time student would not exclude you from UC.

Mrree

Unfortunately CAB calculated my potential eligibility for UC and showed that I will receive nothing they had been working on it for two days now. Their final advice was a mandatory reconsideration but I have very little hope that will work

calcotti

Mrree said: Their final advice was a mandatory reconsideration but I have very little hope that will work

I agree with you. An MR is to request that a decision be looked at again because you think it incorrect. From what you have said the decisions are correct based on the actions you (mistakenly) took.

tacpot12

calcotti said:

Mrree said: Their final advice was a mandatory reconsideration but I have very little hope that will work

I agree with you. An MR is to request that a decision be looked at again because you think it incorrect. From what you have said the decisions are correct based on the actions you (mistakenly) took.

I tend to agree that an MR on the decision not to pay you UC is unlikely to work. However, if your are in significant hardship, the DWP  should be providing some financial help. 

I think you need to ask for MR into the decision at HMRC not to allow you to cancel your claim for Tax Free Child Care when it was clearly made in error. This really shouldn't be a scheme that there is no escape from for three month if a mistake has been made. Of course, you might need to repay any money received under the scheme, but if you cancel promptly, then the outcome should be better than not cancelling. 

I was slightly confused as to why your local Citizens Advice calculated your UC entitlement as zero. Either you are eligible or you are not. You are not currently eligible, so it would only make sense if they calculated your entitlement assuming that your were not receiving Tax Free Child Care. If this calculation came up with the entitlement as zero, then you would not be entitled to any UC whether or not you are claiming Tax Free Child Care, in which case you are better off with the Tax Free Child Care. This seems unlikely though as you say your were receiving useful amounts of Tax Credits. 

You can do you own calculation of your entitlement to UC using the calculator at entitledto.co.uk. This will tell you how much UC you are not receiving because your are claiming Tax Free Child Care. If it calculates your UC amount as zero, then even an MR is not going to help as they can reverse their decision, allow you to claim UC, but you still end up with nothing. 

Mrree

It's apparently complicated because I'm a student and my maintenance loan which I get is just enough to put me in zero for claiming UC, however even with that is a struggle as the stuff I need costs a fair bit for my course. I have followed the advice by contacting my MP though I know him personally as I'm friends with his son so hopefully he can help me. I didn't get a lot of credits but it was just enough to keep me going as my situation hasn't changed i hope they will see that I have made an error which they told me over the phone it happens a fair bit and retract it. The MR and letter to MP is now submitted so I guess I just have to play the waiting game now.