To want to put a curse upon Concentrix (HMRCs third party)

[Elle80]

ARGH!!!!!!!!!

I was asked to send details of my childcare payments to them back in January and have only today received their response telling me that I have miscalculated by £60 per week and that my tax credits will now be reduced and I will have to start repayments.

I have definitely not mis calculated - they have. They have managed to mess up a simple calculation; that I pay £425 for DD1 and £625 for DD2 per month, equalling £262 per week, to tell me that according to their calculations I only pay £206 per month.

I phoned them only to be told I would have to go through an appeal process ( God knows how long that will take) . Also phoned HMRC who were very nice and rather scathing of Concentrix! But they can't help until I have gone through the motions of the Concentrix appeal.

ARGH again! What am I going to do now? £240 per month is supposed repayments is beyond the joke. And I'll still have to find £1050 per month in childcare.

[SheHasAWildHeart]

When I sent all my paperwork to concentrix (letters from childcare provider with breakdown of payments, bank statements with childcare highlighted etc) I also included a spreadsheet and worked out the total amount divided by 52 weeks in a step-by-step calculation for them so they see my working out. Sounds patronising but it worked. You really do have to simplify everything for them clearly. And I wrote down the name of every member of HMRC staff I'd spoken to, the date and time and the content of our conversation.
In the end it turned out that they'd made a mistake with their calculations and have now left me alone.

[Elle80]

Thanks she. When I sent everything off (annual childcare bills from the nursery broken down so simply that a child could understand it) I also provided comprehensive workings out on the application they sent out. I will now try your spreadsheet suggestion and also enclose a bank statement highlighting my childcare payments.

AIU to think that if you work in this kind of job you should at least have a primary school level grasp of maths?

[SheHasAWildHeart]

I found that they lack basic common sense.
It's worth looking at Money Matters forum on MN, I found lots of useful info here & people in the same situation www.mumsnet.com/Talk/legal_money_matters

[crazywriter]

When I was asked, I just printed off the bank statements and highlighted the payments I'd made for the period asked for, plus the one made in March as it covered some of April's fees so wanted to make sure they caught that one. I guess with one child, mine were simple enough to work out or maybe mine went to someone who could actually do maths

[RubbleBubble00]

425 + 625 = 1050 × 12 = 12600 ÷ 52 = 242

Above is how I would work it out. Monthly cost by 12 then divided by 52 to get weekly cost.

Do your costs vary through the year as this really confuses them too.

[RubbleBubble00]

Any chance daycare hasn't provided them with info when requested directly? I was stung like that and ended up appealing.

[Bungleboggs]

My nursery wrote a letter for me to send on headed paper, would that be an option

[Elle80]

Thanks for this. As far as I know the nursery hasn't been asked to back up my claims. I actually had to do the same exercise in Jan 2015 via HMRC directly, and provided the same documents with a letter on nursery headed paper then. Everything was varieties within a couple of weeks back then - it just seems to be Concentrix who is the major F up.

Rubble I gave them the same calculation on the application form, wrote everything out step by step but they still have got it wrong. (I also pay nursery over 50 weeks not 52 because of a 2 week Christmas closure) this has been reflected in the calculation.

It's so frustrating as the calculation really couldn't be simpler. Looks like I'll have to send bank statements this time with everything else redacted

[Elle80]

Verified not varieties!

[HoneyDragon]

They corrected my details and sent it to HRM when I used to be eligible for tax credits.

What they actually corrected was putting my husbands name with my NI number. I now can't discuss my own tax bill without breaking data protection. 10 years later it is still an issue

[Bungleboggs]

They should take copy invoices or a statement of account from nursery

[RubbleBubble00]

get your mandatory reconsideration in ASAP as someone has majority messed up. Once they had received it they sorted it out within a couple of days

[RubbleBubble00]

I ended using overdraft on current account to pay nursery fees

[SheHasAWildHeart]

OP don't lose hope. My situation was much more complicated due to moving cities and home DD had three childcare providers over the year and I managed to get Concentrix to understand the maths! So persevere with them and it will get sorted even if it takes time.