Request I repay covid payment

Esty76

Anyone know where we stand, my brother applied for covid payments above board, then in the middle had a heart attack. Had major heart surgery, paid an accountant before hand who did his tax return but overlapped with being off for heart surgery. 
He got covid payments, was so depressed he tried to end his life found by police etc so had councellors etc but accountant got payment.
Now inland revenue saying he owes all money back. Can he challenge or agree a less amount or repayment in line with affordability instead of prison?

Esty76

BTW he's now still off as his chest opening and stitches have started to have issues. He's usung spray under tongue to keep heart issues right. 

MattMattMattUK

What specifically have they said? There is not enough information in your post to know why they are demanding repayment for sure. Was this the SEISS payments? If so he should have claimed under his income protection insurance, not SEISS as he was not not working due to Covid but due to ill health. Or was this through a limited and using CJRS?

This would be HMRC, it was renamed from the Inland Revenue decades ago. You mention prison, has he been convicted of fraud in relation to this or are you catastrophising? 

What he can "challenge"  and what repayment terms they will agree to depends on what has actually happened, how much he owes and what assets he has.

itsthelittlethings

What are the Covid payments? Furlough? Bounce back loan? I am sure there are more. Each one probably has its own rules. Unless there is something called Covid payments I haven’t heard of.

itsthelittlethings

Kickstart scheme, the Recovery Loan Scheme and the Job Entry Targeted Support programme?

Grumpy_chap

Esty76 said:

Anyone know where we stand, my brother applied for covid payments above board, then in the middle had a heart attack. Had major heart surgery, paid an accountant before hand who did his tax return but overlapped with being off for heart surgery. 
He got covid payments, was so depressed he tried to end his life found by police etc so had councellors etc but accountant got payment.
Now inland revenue saying he owes all money back. Can he challenge or agree a less amount or repayment in line with affordability instead of prison?

Esty76 said:

BTW he's now still off as his chest opening and stitches have started to have issues. He's usung spray under tongue to keep heart issues right. 

There is a lot to unpack here.  It would help to have a clear timeline set out of which payments have been received and when plus the health issues from Covid (beginning 2020) up until now, with the details of the payments that are currently being recovered by HMRC.

I have read that the individual had heart surgery 4 to 5 years ago, but the stitches have not yet healed, so I suspect I have misunderstood that.  It is possible I have read other parts of the information incorrectly also.

The spray under the tongue is possibly GTN spray, a common treatment for the symptoms of angina.

M25

Zero facts or information here that's pertinent.

What has he done? Are they accusing him of stealing money?

It sounds like you're looking for pity for your brother you may not find much anywhere so keep to the facts and think about seeing a lawyer if you have to.

Best way to help him is to stick to the facts and get proper legal advice.

sheramber

You need to tell us exactly what payments he got.

Some were grants that did not need to be repaid. For these you had to be intending to continue being self employed.  these were the first three SEES grants

For the next two grants if you did not continue being self employed they  have to be repiad.

Other payments were loans and were repayable.

what exactly does the lettr say.

Newcad

Esty76 said:

Now inland revenue saying he owes all money back. Can he challenge or agree a less amount or repayment in line with affordability instead of prison?

The things that we can say here is that -

1. Yes you can ask for lower repayments if what they are proposing would leave him in 'hardship'.
2. He you be able to challenge the overpayment(s), but you have not given any information about what they were/are and nobody can tell without those details.

PS. Your title is "Request I repay covid payment" but then you say ".. my brother applied for covid payments ..".
Would you like to clarify just who it is that had the covid payments and the HMRC letter asking for repayment?

tifo

Esty76 said:

Anyone know where we stand, my brother applied for covid payments above board, then in the middle had a heart attack. Had major heart surgery, paid an accountant before hand who did his tax return but overlapped with being off for heart surgery. 
He got covid payments, was so depressed he tried to end his life found by police etc so had councellors etc but accountant got payment.
Now inland revenue saying he owes all money back. Can he challenge or agree a less amount or repayment in line with affordability instead of prison?

Firstly, sorry about your brother's problems during covid, having a heart attack and then not being able to cope (trying to end life etc) is not easy.

Secondly, you say "He got covid payments" and also "accountant got payment" so did your brother receive the money or the accountant (who hasn't given it to your brother?).

You need to clarify what the payment was for, amounts etc and tell us what the letter from HMRC says.

tifo

M25 said:

It sounds like you're looking for pity for your brother you may not find much anywhere

I don't think the OP is looking for pity for his brother and i don't agree he won't find it anywhere, his brother's situation, through no fault of his own, does not sound nice. At the end of the day pity and sympathy are free to give and i think some people, like me, will feel sorry for him.

I think the OP is simply asking for advice.