can they do this?

strawberryfields

i started working for company x in jan 2007, signed off from job seekers when i started working and started to recieve working tax credits, single person no children, everything was fine, 2 weeks ago i was made redundant so informed the job centre i wished to sign on again and informed tax credits about my change in circumstances. yesterday i recieved a letter off them saying they want me to repay everything from this tax year all £1871.46 :eek: of it!! no reasons why. phoned them up today (was a little surprised that they are open on a sunday) where the woman basically said that they had me employer tax code wrong and someone had imputted s2 not sz when i gave them all the details origionally and to end the claim they had just said i wasn't eligible for wtc, and they would send me a new letter out. But having lost faith now will they just send me another letter saying i owe them the full amout? will i owe them anything? how are they figuring this out? i was paid every 4 weeks into my bank, next payment would have been due 1st tuesday in feb, would i be entitled to a poortion of this payment as i was working for some of the period?
sorry if this is not making sense but at the end of my tether with government departments at the moment and its begining to seriously stress me out, already worried about finding a job and paying all my bills and trying to pay off my debts but now this.
thanks in advance for any help

dmg24

What was your salary? This will establish if you should have been receiving Tax Credits.

strawberryfields

sorry should have thought to post that, salary before tax £10,900 and was recieving £181 and a few pence every 4 weeks in wtc

dmg24

In that case you were considerably overpaid, you should have only been receiving approx £25 a month.

They would usually stop your payments straight away, and then you need to work out a repayment plan for the outstanding amount.

[Deleted User]

How much was your 2006/07 actual income?

strawberryfields

earnt £177.56 in 2006/2007 and before that i was on jsa. i recieved the same amount as the entitled to website gave me, have i really been overpaid by so much? and how? they have had all the figures off me, renewal form sent back straight away, i have to phone them when i recieve my p45-hopefully at the end of the month and tell them the final figures for my last job. i really don't figure out how they have decide this. also i hope to get a new job soon so what happens then? start the process again? not sure i have more confidence in them at the moment, thanks for the help

[Deleted User]

Ok, it sounds as though you should not have an overpayment as large as this!
Call up TCO helpline and confirm that they held your work details - give the start and end dates. ask them to confirm this is history of hours worked.
It sounds as though someone may have inadvertantly deleted your work history from the system - CANNOT GUARANTEE THIS IS THE CASE WITHOUT CHECKING THOUGH.
If you are unhappy with the advice given to you by the adviser or they are unable to do so, request to speak to manager or send a dispute againt the overpayment and on this state the hours you worked, the start and finish dates and how much you earned in 2006/07.

strawberryfields

thank you for your help i am very gratefull just stressing at the moment, how can they overpay someone if they have all the correct details? thats what i don't understand it doesn't make sense, and how could someone delete details even by accident, actually none of it makes sense, should i wait until i recieve my p45 and contact them will all of the correct figures? by which time i should hopefully have had a new letter off the wtc people as spoke to them earlier? so confused right now, thank you again for your help, is there any way i can work out how much i have been overpaid by? or do i have to pay all of it back? and how? i cannot magic the money up from nowhere.
sorry if i am not making much sense but i cannot think clearly right now.

[Deleted User]

Firstly, the system used is not totally ideal and people new to the system can remove the details accidentally when trying to end the work details.
Dont wait, call up and ask if they had the details of where you worked and the start/end dates - if you are unsure about doing this just call up and ask for a dipute form.
On the dispute form, state that you are disputing the overpayment as you believe you were entitled to the payments as you were employed from "X" to "Y" and were working "Z" hours p/week. Your income from 2006/07 was £177.56 and your estimated income from this year is "p45 figure".
The overpayment wont be fianlised until after you complete the end of year annual declaration but you are best to act now before it gets even busier at HMRC with the end of the tax year coming soon!

G-G_4

No advice to offer but that is really rubbish.. i feel really sorry for you..

I hope you get it sorted, but it sounds like you will have to repay it somehow..

Good luck, and don't let it get you down.. get out there and get another job asap xx

strawberryfields

oopps just noticed my mistake, figure for 200-07 was 1773.56 sorry didn;t even notice it earlier and i reread my post cannot concentrate. will phone them now, thank you