Tax Credit Overpayment??

paulamathers

Hi, I am a sinlge mum with a full time job. I used to earn £12500 per yr in an old job and received tax credits based on that amount. When I changed jobs - in May 2005 (so after i had filled in my renewal notice) I rang the inland revenue and wrote to them to tell them my salary had increased to £15000. I was advised on the phone that I did not need to ring them until I was earning over £15000, so I left it at that. I then did not receive a renewal form in april 2006, but as I was promoted to earning £20,000 in the May, I rang them to advise them of the salary increase, and followed it up with a letter. I figured that they never sent me a renewal form because I had advised them of an increase at roughly the same time as the renewal notices arrive. My tax credit amount then went up! I rang them a couple more times to explain that I didn't think this was right, and every time I called, I was advised that their systems were down and to call back. In the end I got sick of it, and wrote to them a few times instead. Still nothing happened. In April 2007 I also never received a renewal form! I rang to find out why and also told them that my salary had increased to £21,500 plus unconfirmed bonus. I followed this up with a letter (i have kept copies of all of my letters). My tax credit decreaesd slightly (about £1 per month less!!). I then received a letter in October 2007 stating that I had paid too much tax and I was to send the last 4 years P60s to them. I did this - and never received them back!! This week, I received a letter from them telling me that I was being assessed, that they had my income for FY 06/07 as £13600 but my employer had told them it was £18500 (approx) and to sign to say I agree that it was the higher amount.

Over the past few years they have been totally ignoring the details I have been giving them and now I think im going to be slapped with a huge overpayment bill! I'm s**tting myself because I can't afford to pay them a large sum back. Please could someone advise what I can do if they do say i have to pay them loads of money. I'm so worried about it I haven't slept or eaten this week :-(

destiny_star2006

if they say this to you then say its not possible to pay back in lump sum but they can take smaller payments of your wage each week month etc
they did this to me but it was for over 1 year and becuase id adpated my way of living with there payments i couldnt afford for them to take anything of me!
So they said they wont be taking anything from becuase of hardship it would cause to me if they did

whitewing

Oh it's just a nightmare with these guys, isn't it? I can't give you any advice except to say that round our area the local MP's have been dealing with these kind of situations for years so I'm sure you will get some support if you contact yours. You can usually find their details in your local newspaper.

CAB will also have experience. You need to speak to someone; it's not wothy making yourself ill over it.

socks_uk

I've just 2 more monthly payments of £220 to pay then our family is clear of tax Credits.

The overpayments came about because of me taking a part-time job (15 hours a week) in addition to the 27 hour job I already had. I informed the Tax Credit Office of this... they can even tell me the date I informed them!
But we still had to pay it back.

I've built up a £1000 overdraft and Christmas was bad but it'll soon be all over.

I only earn about £270 in my part-time job so it wasn't worth it in the end!

Hope all goes well.

bestpud

Have you kept copies of the letters you have sent them, or even the dates you sent them? Or did you note down the date/time of the calls you have made?

Either way, go along to your local can with any paperwork you have and ask their advice. If you do end up paying a huge sum back, they will help you negotiate a payment plan if need be.

Also, as said, try your local mp.

Btw, to safeguard yourself, if you send anything else, use recorded delivery and keep a copy. If you call, note the date, time and operator you spoke to and what they said.

Good luck and try not to make yourself ill over it - you will be able to work something out I'm sure.

rach131

I'm in a very worrying situation too, ank like you am making myself ill. Basically, my claim has been messed up for years, and despite 3 complaint letters along the way they still get it wrong. Today I have received a letter asking for over £7000 back from last year - when we weren't even paid that much by them.

I am worried sick, my husband is at work but phoning them today. He is self employed and recently our accountant has been helping us with this, bu the is now on holiday! I don't know what to do next, any advice appreciated.

Money_Spider_4

I have also been having a nightmare with these clowns. I received a letter 2 years ago to say that I owe them £650.00 they say that this is because I didn't send my form back to them (Which I did). I have been getting harassed by them for too long now and about 10 months ago I went to welfare rights.
The welfare rights people are really nice and helpful, they are very understanding and they know what idiots the people who deal with these cases are. (I have spoken to about 5 or 6 different people at the tax credits office and they have all given me completely different information on as to why I owe the money one person even said that they had made a mistake and that I don't owe the money back)
I hadn't heard from them since June last year and neither had my welfare rights officer so we thought they must have written the case off. Unfortunately I received a letter today from the debt recovery people and after speaking to them I have been advised to put in a complaint.
I called my welfare rights officer up today and he is going to re-open my case and he is going to put in a complaint letter for me. So now I just have to wait and see:mad::mad:

I am sick of dealing with people who do not have a clue what they are doing or talking about, I would strongly recommend that you go to the welfare rights people and let them take over your case for you as they often have more power and knowledge than we do in these situations.

paulamathers

rach131 wrote: »

I'm in a very worrying situation too, ank like you am making myself ill. Basically, my claim has been messed up for years, and despite 3 complaint letters along the way they still get it wrong. Today I have received a letter asking for over £7000 back from last year - when we weren't even paid that much by them.

I am worried sick, my husband is at work but phoning them today. He is self employed and recently our accountant has been helping us with this, bu the is now on holiday! I don't know what to do next, any advice appreciated.

I have been advised that if i get a letter saying i owe them loads, to tell them that it will cause me financial hardship to pay back more than (for example) £20 a month. They are not allowed to put us in financial hardship, and so have to accept the figure - also, if you tell them that once your financial position improves that you will pay more (they don't have to know you wont), they will be happy with that. They are not allowed to charge interest on the overpayments. This made me feel a bit better, so i hope it does you too.

It's a joke seeing how much the inland revenue mess up. They seem to seriously f**k up everything they touch!!!

rach131

Well since my post, my husband rang them and they said it is showing as 'cleared' and we only owe £220 from 2004-2005, which I still dispute as they really messed up that year. I'm amazed they can send a letter asking for £7000 when I have never had that much from them in a year! I'm not accepting anything they say until it is in writing, and I still feel worried sick. I just want to sort this and never claim again!

pj#_2

Hiya all,

Am so sorry to hear about the harm and stress HMRC are causing you all. Unfortunately it’s an all too familiar story. Hopefully we at Tax Credit Casualties can be of some help. See our website (Google; Tax Credit Casualties)

Sorry I can't respond individually here, but if you get the chance to pop over to our site we have a step by step overpayment dispute guide and online advise.

But please remember this is not your fault; I can guarantee most of these cases here are caused by the stupid design of the system and incompetent administration procedures. Don’t let them get away with it.

Cheers
PJ