Tax credits and disability

Dizzy_B_2

Me and my big mouth. Being an honest person, I told the tax credits people that they keep putting me down as severely disabled and getting higher rate care DLA, which although I do get DLA, I am on the lower rate for care. Thats ok, it will make no difference to your claim, says the person on the phone when I ring up to renew my claim this year, oh no, not much, its only £25 less per week, thats all. In fact I get so little now its hardly worth claiming. If anyone out there knows just how they work out what you get, please let me know, because so far none of it adds up as far as I can tell, so I have absolutely no idea how much I should be getting anyway.
Sorry for the grumpy moan, but to be honest, I havent got over the shock yet, not to mention Im worried sick just how I can afford food now that Im so much down every week.

mspig

Not sure what you should be getting as it depends on different factors such as how many kids you have, also if you have a husband(or wife).

I do know that you do get more money for being on the higher rate of disability than if your on any of the other rates, as i have two disabled children 1 on higher rate care componant so he gets the severe rate whilst my middle child gets middle rate of disablility and he only gets the normal disablility element.

Not sure how much it works out at this year as ive not had my new claim award through yet even though i phone them 4 weeks ago and renewed and my money has change what goes into the bank but last year i got awarded,
an extra £364.48 for the severe element on to of the normal disablility rate which would only work out at £7.01 a week extra.

Conor_3

TBH if £25 a week is making that much of a difference in your life I think it's time you took a look at your finances. Pop over to the Debt Free Wannabee board and post in there providing a statement of affairs (post at top of DFW board tells you how to do it) and they'll provide plenty of suggestions which will hopefully save you enough money to make up for the £25 drop in income. It's amazing how incredibly wasteful we become with money due to sheer laziness and its only when times become hard you realise you're paying £100's more for things than you should do.

hotblu

"In fact I get so little now its hardly worth claiming"

Okay, don't claim then... your not forced to claim it. More than likely you have been o/p and they are recovering money hence the lower entitlement (but as mentioned before depends on all your circs and how long DLA-HCC was on their).

[Deleted User]

And just to add, they wouldnt keep putting you down as severely disabled. It would have either been put on your claim form or you have stated that you received the HCC on the phone.
If you knew that "they kept putting you down as severely disabled" why didnt you notify them earlier of the mistake?

As Hotblu states, you will be currently receiving the correct amount minus the overpaid tax credits.

Dizzy_B_2

Thank you for your replies and comments.Yes, as I said before, I did tell them before and no, I have never put down that I have higher rate DLA, nor have they said anything about paying anything back. I was told that as long as I get DLA that my payments would remain the same and even that it was probably a typing error. Yes, £25 a week does make a big difference to me, doesnt it everyone? I am on low pay, thats why I can claim tax credits, I thought that was what they are for.
As for the person who works as a tax credits adviser, perhaps you might be kind enough to explain exactly how tax credits are worked out, or even, if the tax credit advisers are so perfect, how come they work out the credits wrong so often and over charge millions of people every year, often forcing people who are already without money, to pay for someone elses mistake.

[Deleted User]

Dizzy_B wrote: »

Thank you for your replies and comments.Yes, as I said before, I did tell them before and no, I have never put down that I have higher rate DLA, nor have they said anything about paying anything back. I was told that as long as I get DLA that my payments would remain the same and even that it was probably a typing error. Yes, £25 a week does make a big difference to me, doesnt it everyone? I am on low pay, thats why I can claim tax credits, I thought that was what they are for.
As for the person who works as a tax credits adviser, perhaps you might be kind enough to explain exactly how tax credits are worked out, or even, if the tax credit advisers are so perfect, how come they work out the credits wrong so often and over charge millions of people every year, often forcing people who are already without money, to pay for someone elses mistake.

Which particular part of tax credits do you want explained?

The majority of overpayments are not actually the fault of TCO - but admittedly far too many of them have been.

Also, I have not stated ANYWHERE at any point that the Tax Credits system is faultless or perfect in any way.

Tax Credit advisers do not work out your entitlement, they are worked out by entering your details in to the NTC system which will calculate your entitlement. It can also be worked out if neccesary by processing staff.

When did you inform TCO that you started receiving DLA? If it was at the start of your claim it must have neem on the claim form. If you have been told that it makes no difference then you have been told a load of crap. And if this is true you should dispute against the overpayment giving approximate dates of the calls as every call is recorded.

Dizzy_B_2

Thank you for that subsonic. As people who know me will tell you, I do not blame call centre staff for mistakes that are made by other people, and maybe you didnt actually say you or your collegues are perfect, but you did say that the fault with my claim must have been made by me, which as I have already said was not. I have never at any time claimed to receive higher rate care component DLA, although as I have told them more than once, I do receive higher rate mobility. Also, as I said, I have not been told that I have been overpaid or am paying anything back. I have just been sent a recalculated payment letter. I am not complaining about being paid the right money, if I was a dishonest person, why would I have bothered inform them, but what shook me was that after being told it was not important, I had such a large chunk of my payments withdrawn. I was just hoping for a bit of sympathy after the shock, not expecting people to be nasty to me. Obviously us less well off are all scroungers, so lets just leave it at that shall we. Thank you to those of you who were genuinly helpful, without feeling the need to be judgemental. Im sorry if my own first post sounded vindictive, but Im afraid I was rather upset, silly me.

Dizzy_B_2

PS, does anyone know of a pawn shop that will pay out for a wheelchair?
Only kidding.;)