Delays in claiming back tax for a flexibly accessed pension overpayment (HMRC form P55)

Claygate

Having submitted a P55 form in early October and being informed by HMRC that refunds (with no interest being paid on the c£6K I am owed!) would take around 30 days, I checked on the status of my claim today (end Oct).
The automated online message essentially stated that the earliest my claim will be processed is 9th Jan 2025 - and not to bother chasing again before this date! 
Does anyone know if there is a backlog in HMRC's claims department which is causing delays processing tax refund claims?

SnowMan

Claygate said:

Having submitted a P55 form in early October and being informed by HMRC that refunds (with no interest being paid on the c£6K I am owed!) would take around 30 days, I checked on the status of my claim today (end Oct).
The automated online message essentially stated that the earliest my claim will be processed is 9th Jan 2025 - and not to bother chasing again before this date! 
Does anyone know if there is a backlog in HMRC's claims department which is causing delays processing tax refund claims?

I think there have been a lot of people accessing their pensions because of fears around what might be in the budget. Fidelity told me they were super busy with people accessing pensions, and more people accessing pensions means more P55 claims of course

I've found the P55 HMRC checker to be fairly accurate in the past. They are currently processing claims from the 19th August as you will have seen from the checker. So allowing for Christmas the January date sounds about right. They do seem to do things in date order.

Marcon

Claygate said:

Having submitted a P55 form in early October and being informed by HMRC that refunds (with no interest being paid on the c£6K I am owed!) would take around 30 days, I checked on the status of my claim today (end Oct).
The automated online message essentially stated that the earliest my claim will be processed is 9th Jan 2025 - and not to bother chasing again before this date! 
Does anyone know if there is a backlog in HMRC's claims department which is causing delays processing tax refund claims?

You're not alone (although I appreciate that observation is of zero comfort): https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6563597/pension-emergency-tax-refund-30-or-90-days/p1

So yes, there clearly is a backlog, not least for the reasons explained in the post above.