Tax credit notice to pay…15yrs later!

pollyminx

I received a notice to pay from a joint tax credit claim (with my abusive ex partner) that was closed in 2008 (when I left him). 

The letter had both our NI numbers on and he was sent a copy which is clearly a breach of GDPR. 

I called the payment helpline because the online portal only allows you to dispute claims up to 6yrs ago. The staff I spoke to couldn’t identify why there was an apparent overpayment and apparently the call records and full notifications will probably not be available?! So how on Earth can they prove there is an overpayment? 

I’ve written to the overpayment team to dispute it, I spoke to a manager about the breach of GDPR (she claimed there was no DV marker on the file and they weren’t aware we had split up?! Which is insane as that’s why the joint claim was closed, I have a different address and a married surname now as well) and she has escalated it to the complaints team. 

How can a dispute be resolved if they no longer have the records in full? 

I’m absolutely furious about this and cannot believe they can suddenly decide 15yrs down the line that someone owes them money but they’ve never bothered to chase it before? 

poppy12345

You would have received your final tax credits award notice for the year in question at the time when your Tax credits ended and you will be responsible for 50% of the overpayment with your ex. You could have disputed that at the time but i think you're now out of time to dispute this. They have been catching up with people that owe them money and you won't be the first person to receive a letter like this.

peteuk

They would have traced you via you National Insurance number.  As above it’s not uncommon for them to chase a 15 yr old overpayment however they wont have the paperwork because it’s not HMRC’s debt, it would have been sent to HMRC to collect.   You are liable for 50% of the overpayment, regardless of where the money was sent.

At the end of your last claim they would have sent you a final statement, this will highlight the overpayment.  If it hadn’t been a closed account then they would have deducted the overpayment from your next claim. 

Being out of the complaint time frame, may be wrong if you can prove you weren’t aware of the overpayment eg last statement was sent to a property you didn’t reside at, then you might be able to argue this it the first time your aware of the overpayment so the clock starts ticking now.  (Its a slim shot but may be worth trying) 

Alternatively phone them up and start paying it off in small amounts, their next step may be to approach your employer and take it from your wage. 

pollyminx

poppy12345 said:

You would have received your final tax credits award notice for the year in question at the time when your Tax credits ended and you will be responsible for 50% of the overpayment with your ex. You could have disputed that at the time but i think you're now out of time to dispute this. They have been catching up with people that owe them money and you won't be the first person to receive a letter like this.

According to the payment helpline, from what she could see if the basic records I write to dispute the overpayment at the time, then a note on the record says it was dealt with but she said there wasn’t any further information that she could see as to what that meant?! So I clearly had responded at the time. 

pollyminx

peteuk said:

They would have traced you via you National Insurance number.  As above it’s not uncommon for them to chase a 15 yr old overpayment however they wont have the paperwork because it’s not HMRC’s debt, it would have been sent to HMRC to collect.   You are liable for 50% of the overpayment, regardless of where the money was sent.

At the end of your last claim they would have sent you a final statement, this will highlight the overpayment.  If it hadn’t been a closed account then they would have deducted the overpayment from your next claim. 

Being out of the complaint time frame, may be wrong if you can prove you weren’t aware of the overpayment eg last statement was sent to a property you didn’t reside at, then you might be able to argue this it the first time your aware of the overpayment so the clock starts ticking now.  (Its a slim shot but may be worth trying) 

Alternatively phone them up and start paying it off in small amounts, their next step may be to approach your employer and take it from your wage. 

As above, the records they could see shows I disputed it at the time but they couldn’t see what the outcome was. I then had a solo claim for tax credits so why on Earth didn’t they deduct it from then. Also I’ve been working and paying tax since 2009 so surely they could have easily ‘chased’ payment from my NI number then?

Absolutely no way I am paying it back without them explaining where the alleged overpayment came from. If they no longer have the full records and call transcripts, and I (deeply frustratingly shredded my meticulous records 5yrs ago) how can they possibly prove there was an overpayment? 

peteuk

pollyminx said

According to the payment helpline, from what she could see if the basic records I write to dispute the overpayment at the time, then a note on the record says it was dealt with but she said there wasn’t any further information that she could see as to what that meant?! So I clearly had responded at the time. 

Dont trust the payment help line, they are not advisers on policy.  Although they have advised you to complain (and I still would) you are outside the period of complaint.  As youve already disputed this, I would find out what “dealt with” means.  I suspect not a lot,

We have an outstanding balance which we disputed on a number of occasions, we moved abroad twice and when we returned they would chase us again.  After the first complaint I made a phone call and was told that there was no overpayment.  Then in 2020 we got the chasing letter again, they have refused all complaints.

sheramber

https://www.litrg.org.uk/latest-news/news/191023-do-you-have-old-tax-credit-debt

pollyminx

sheramber said:

ht

Thanks, this is helpful. If the debt has transferred to DWP why is the letter of notice to pay from HMRC? 

Charles_Foxtrot

How much money are we talking about here?

tifo

pollyminx said:

If the debt has transferred to DWP why is the letter of notice to pay from HMRC? 

HMRC transfer any debt to DWP debt management if you're on a DWP benefit.

Newcad

Things are a bit all over the place at the moment with Tax Credits being migrated to UC.

Old overpayments that HMRC were not chasing are suddenly being looked at again - and of course with them sometimes being years old mistakes are being made.

If it is still HMRC you are dealing with then be thankful for (very) small mercies.

DWP have more powers/options to collect old debts than HMRC does. eg. DWP can take repayments from ongoing benefits without having to go to court first.

Once it does get to the DWPs Debt Managment you have very little chance of finding out what is going on, they appear to operate by their own rules behind closed doors - even DWP staff can get little if any information out of them.