COLS erroneously paid

flipper_72

I’m in the odd situation of having just received £300 COLS but I don’t claim any benefits. We did claim tax credits years ago and then had to pay back an overpayment, the last year we were paid under £10 in tax credits due to slightly changed circumstances. We were sent the paperwork to transfer to UC but didn’t do this. 

How do I pay this back? Is there an email address I can use as I start work at 8 so calling isn’t an option.
Thank you 

Devongardener

DWP don’t usually communicate by email.    If you can’t phone, you could write to the address on any of your previous benefits letters.

Robbie64

What is COLS? Cost Of Living Support? If so, what does the letter say and from whom did it come?

If you received tax credits last year you may have been receiving them at the relevant time someone qualified for the Cost Of Living payment. If you got £300 this suggests you qualified for the second Cost Of Living payment that was made last year. The first was for £301, and the third for £299 to help differentiate the three payments that were made by the DWP. As you got £300, the qualifying dates (and therefore the date you would have been in receipt of tax credits) was given on the relavant COL webpage on the gov.uk website as:

Tax credits
You are eligible for the Cost of Living Payment of £300 if you received a payment of tax credits for any day in the period 18 August 2023 to 17 September 2023, or if you later receive a payment for any day in that period.

Possibly Tax Credits have been doing a final sweep of qualifying claims that weren't paid at the time.

flipper_72

Thank you, I haven’t received any letters regarding the payment it just appeared overnight. I will dig out an old tax credits letter and write to them so I can get it paid back, email would have just speeded things up. I guess there is a possibility we are eligible for it because of the tiny amount paid to us for tax credits.

Robbie64

flipper_72 said:

Thank you, I haven’t received any letters regarding the payment it just appeared overnight. I will dig out an old tax credits letter and write to them so I can get it paid back, email would have just speeded things up. I guess there is a possibility we are eligible for it because of the tiny amount paid to us for tax credits.

But you may not need to pay them back - if you were getting tax credits, even just 1 pence in total, between 18 August 2023 and 17 September 2023 then you would qualify for the £300. If you weren't entitled between those dates then obviously you would need to take it further.

flipper_72

Yes that is true, I will contact them and find out.

Spoonie_Turtle

flipper_72 said:

Yes that is true, I will contact them and find out.

There is no Cost of Living department in DWP to contact, it would be HMRC who paid you if your only means-tested benefit was Tax Credits.

Here is the relevant info about the COL payment and eligibility:

Tax credits eligibility and payment dates

Amount of payment	Cost of Living Payment eligibility	Payment dates
£300	You received a payment of tax credits in respect of any day in the period 18 August 2023 to 17 September 2023	Between 10 November and 19 November 2023 for most people

When you are not eligible: tax credits

You are not eligible for the Cost of Living Payment if your tax credits entitlement for the tax year is below £26.

From https://www.gov.uk/guidance/cost-of-living-payment#low-income-benefits-and-tax-credits-cost-of-living-payment

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Was your Tax Credit award definitely only £10 or was your overall TC entitlement higher - but perhaps adjusted / reduced to recover a prior Overpayment?