tax credit overpayments new report published

skcollobcat10

I have just looked at the first page of this thread and it is from 2005!!! Five years they have been making mistakes is disgusting!

mum1plus1

Dear all

I have just finished reading (most) of this thread as I have had a demand and my appeal has been declined. This dates back to 2004/2005 and the claim is for over £2000! Im so glad I found this site as Iwouldn't know what to next without it. Im just about to ask for all the info as they say I told them that my earnings were £3000 which is ridiculous as I havent earned that since I left school 22 years ago. Thanks to this invaluable site I wont give up and will let you know results. Wish me luck!
mum1plus1

25.lindsay

ceejaydee23 wrote: »

I hope someon might beable to help here! I have just read on Martins email, that overpayments due to HMRC's cockups dont have to be repaid! I wish i had known this sooner, as between October 2008 and April 2009 after notifying TC's that i was no longer having childcare costs due to my working hours changing, i was told id have a 4 week run on, but because my payments changed slightly i thought they had already been adjusted, It wasnt until i made my renewal that I found out they hadnt, and basiclly ever since they have been clawring back an overpayemnt which was more than £500. Even when i told the woman when i made my renewal i had called back in october to notify them, she agreed it was there on my file! Is it too late to try and claim back this money? As even when i moved and my circumstances changed again (living with partner, and having a baby) i got a bill for the remaining outstanding amount!

We are in the same boat - I finished working in mod november, and was told we had a 4 week run on, and today received a letter demanding £600 back in overpayments...arghhhhhh! Just working out where to go and what to do next myself.

alexcross

OMG! I am just reading these posts and I feel so desperate there is no way to win this is there????
I returned to work Jan09 after taking care of my kids (by myself since hubby went to start a family with someone else!) one of which is severly disabled. The job centre said I would get more tax credits than i actually did and they said they would sort eveything out. March came and i got a demand to pay back an overpayment of income support that I never had ( was told there would be a four week benefit run-o but that never happened!) I had to wait four weeks for fist wage without any money I was only paid tax credits a few days before I got monthly pay.
Tax creds phoned me asking to give them an estimation of my annual earnings I over estimated saying £12000 knowing damn well i wouldnt make that on min wage working 30 hours per week.
Anyway Had to give up job in Dec because i could no long work when getting up all night to see to son so i went to job centre again for benefits sorted.
wish I had never gone back to work!!!! waited weeks with no income at all was told i could not claim IS and had to claim CA instead and a top up of IS (£20 per week) then they took away all of my IS saying I had been overpaid IS when I went back to work in Jan!!!! I disputed this but the girl at DWP was getting irrate because I wanted her to explain why and how this had happened i was more confused when i finished phone call. I rather hoped it would sort itself out as son was ill at the time.
Then I got a letter every other day off tax creds saying I had been overpaid. first one said I owed £444 because my actuall income had been £11000. I phoned them telling them I had my P45 and P60 infornt of me and my earnings were in fact £6000 they said they would put it right I assumed I would get a payment for the money they owed me then I got a letter saying I owed £1444 then another owing £2544 then the last letter saying I owed over £3000!!!!!! I phone asking why they said because my earnings had been more than I declaired???????what were they reading!!!! i appealed but then I was told the apeal was to be ignored because of the end of the tax year.
I got a letter last week saying I owed over £2000 so i phoned and asked how they told me I had failed to inform them of my not working in time I stated that the job centre and I had informed them within a week of me giving up work so the girl actually told me "yes you did I have it here in that case I dont know why you have incurred an overpayment"
today i get a letter saying i owe £1014.67 and they are going to take £50 per week off me......they are joking!!!! In total i will then be getting less than £120 per week in order to feed and clothe two children one of which is disabled and has special dietry requirements and I have to pay my bills on top of that!!!!!!
I phoned them to be told this time that when I went back to work in January and they had asked me for my estimation of earnings they had infact ignored that and went off my end of tax year earnings in April 09 which was just over £1000.........well it would be I only went back to work in january!!!! they are now saying this is what caused the over payment and that I did not declare my earnings would be more than this.....are they serious????who the hell would work for £1000 per year!!!!!!!
and if thats the case wouldn't I owe tax creds more than £1014?????? they have completly bamoozled me and I am ill through it all. if they take that money off me (they have already reduced my CTC without any explination) i will not be able to look after my kids!! I am so scared they will take my kids off me because of lack of funds.

kurjam

ALEXCROSS - when you rang them did you askl them if you could pay less than £50 a week repayment ??

alexcross

I didn't ask if I could pay less, simply because I have never had this overpayment!!! They have used several different excuses to explain the overpayment when the simple fact is they have no idea how I have been overpaid.
Plus the fact that if they really are stupid enough to think that anyone would actually work for £1000 per year then its their mistake!!! Its their mistake either way even if it somehow has been paid to me (which it hasnt) and I am sorry but I aint paying for someone elses stupid mistake
and neither are my kids!
I am struggeling as it is ( I can't even afford to buy enough food for the week) I simply can not and will not pay anything else out!!!!

alexcross

I have sent 4 apeal letters in three weeks. they deny getting any of them. spoke to a girl last monday about them and she said that it didnt matter if I had sent in a letter to apeal because the only way they can start an apeal is if i fill in a "disptue" form so i asked her to send me one. When I got it. it came with a letter stating that I could either fill in the dispute form OR write a letter stating i wanted to apeal!!!!
I am fuming they are ignoring my letter on purpose because they know damn well they have made a mistake and are going to make sure I pay for it!!! does anyone else think they are trying to drive me mad? I have a lot to deal with any way I really dont need this extra hassel. My little boy is disabled and very ill at the moment I really dont know how much more I can take. they are now taking £60 per week from my benefits......I can't live like this I can barley afford food never mind all my other bills and the housing association are threatening to evict me even though I have told them about my situation....they say the tax credit people would not leave me with so little to live on!!!!!

mum24boys

Alexcross - My sister is on benefits although she does not have the added stress of a disabled child and she is repaying an overpayment from around 2004. She has to pay back £10 per month and her expected date when it will all be paid back is 2058. I would get back onto them and tell them they are causing hardship and get them to lower payment amounts. Why some get loads of time and a really low rate to pay back while others seem to be forced into poverty by really high amounts and fast recovery time i don't know but it does seem very unfair.

order

Just completed the renewal pack. Updated the records from what they thought of me being on job seekers allowance getting about £64 per week to actually getting nothing £0...NO Income or benefits (due to some missed National Insuance payments 2 years ago) Out of work, partner on low income, daughter in school, asked for overpayment of £2900. I was not claiming Income support or jobseekers, which automatically entitles me to full tax credits. However being unemployed and not claiming of the government means I actually owe them money! Its an absolute joke. Thankfully they have not demanded all the money back and are going to be taking it back in increments. We have had nothing but problems with this 'Benefit' since it was introduced.

x5buddy

glad to hear x