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Original poster

Tax Credit disaster...please please help

76 replies

WhollyShits · 13/09/2018 16:54

SadSadSad

Christol on a bike. I have had my tax credit renewal through. I have been overpaid by approx £3500!!! So, i will not be receiving ANY payments this year

I phoned up because i thought it must be a mistake. But it is true!! Not only will i receive no payments, but also they want me to repay the £3500

They overpaid me because they input my expected earnings for 2017-2018 as ZERO!!!

What the hell am i gooing to do?? This reduces my monthly income by over £300 plus whatever amount i need to pay them

I feel sick

OP posts:
Lostandfound81 · 13/09/2018 18:30

They estimated zero because presumably last year you earned zero.

You failed to update them that there had been a change in circumstances.

Why the heck is this HMRC fault?

Bunnyhop1502 · 13/09/2018 18:37

They buggered up mine as I told them my husband had gone back to work full time yet this wasn’t changed on our claim. £393 down a month! But it’s ok as we’ll get £63 a month starting in April 2019 🙄 maternity/paternity leave seems to mess things up a lot with these guys. I completed the form to say they were causing me financial hardship and they sent me a letter back saying they were taking back the minimum they possibly could already. Cheers guys 👍🏻 This government really helps working parents out...

DianaPrincessOfThemyscira · 13/09/2018 18:40

You can request tapes of calls but it is kind of on you to check the details when your paperwork comes through.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

General money
Lostandfound81 · 13/09/2018 20:01

@Bunnyhop1502

You informed them.
They failed to make the change. Their error.

You carried on receiving the same benefit knowing that this was incorrect. Your error.

Bunnyhop1502 · 13/09/2018 20:14

Yes thanks 👍🏻

Original poster
WhollyShits · 13/09/2018 20:59

bunny no, my earnings were pretty much the same for the 2 years...not zero!
I didnt 'realise' because i was getting approximately the same amount both years and the paperwork was correct. There is no way i could have realised

I dont understand how payments were pretty much the same based on a reasonable income and zero income???
It really is a shit system. This HAS happened to me twice previously, i remember. (Not basing it on no income! But over payment) But i was still married then and paying back wasnt so difficult

OP posts:
Morethanthisprovincallife · 13/09/2018 21:00

I was told to always slightly over estimate money for year coming.

That way when it comes to renewal, they will owe you money if anything rather than you them.

Original poster
WhollyShits · 13/09/2018 21:00

Sorry, that was replying to lost, not bunny

OP posts:
Original poster
WhollyShits · 13/09/2018 21:02

I DID over estimate as it happens more!! I earned more 2016-17 than i did 2017-18. So if they had used the figures i gave them, they would have under paid me

OP posts:
m0therofdragons · 13/09/2018 21:03

We had this. Go to your mp! They are awful but a good mp can help. Luckily we were in the position to pay them as I'd spent 2 years telling them to stop paying us and put the money to one side. They're complete idiots messing with the most vulnerable.

CrochetBelle · 13/09/2018 21:32

Is it child or working tax credit?

Original poster
WhollyShits · 13/09/2018 21:41

Both crotchet

OP posts:
CrochetBelle · 13/09/2018 21:46

So how much do you earn if you qualify for none based on your actual salary but 300 a month based on no income? Confused

Pibplob · 13/09/2018 22:06

Yep. We are in the same boat but not really their fault as ours is due to self employed income going up that we didn’t realise was going f up. Didn’t go up that much but they seem to have overpaid us for a couple of years and now owe about £4K. This is over the last couple of years and we’ve given details of income when the tax year is up and we have our books back so some of it must be their error or we’d have been noticed after the first year that we were being overpaid. We pay back £50 a month. Just as we were starting to get back on track and now that £50 is going to send us back into overdrafts and fees again 😢

Original poster
WhollyShits · 14/09/2018 06:01

crotchet in 2016-2017 they were giving me approx £300/month based on my actual income. In 2017-2018 they were giving me 2018-2019 based on zero income. When i had used the tax credits calculator using my actual income, that gave me a figure of approx £300

OP posts:
Original poster
WhollyShits · 14/09/2018 06:02

Its so frustrating pib..i will also be back in the land of overdrafts and credit cards. And loads of stress

OP posts:
Lostandfound81 · 14/09/2018 06:14

OP

If you qualify for none, you are surely receiving a decent salary?!

reallybadidea · 14/09/2018 06:22

You should challenge this. The rules are that if you could have reasonably expected that the award was correct, then you cannot be expected to repay the overpayment. If as you say the paperwork looked ok, then it's their error and you had no reason to think it was wrong. I think the form to challenge an overpayment are on their website,but if you can't find it then phone them to ask.

reallybadidea · 14/09/2018 06:25

When i had used the tax credits calculator using my actual income, that gave me a figure of approx £300

Didn't see this bit. If you think that you're entitled based on your income, then I still can't see how they've overpaid you. Also worth speaking to the CAB.

Squirelslostnut · 14/09/2018 06:32

The bit that i think is most infuriating is that when they first work out an overpayment they put it on the very final page of a 6 page document and bury it in other figures.

Then they keep paying you at the normal rate for another year or two until the overpayment has grown (usually to several thousand if not more)

Then they finally issue a letter alerting you to the overpayment and requesting it all back.

I owed nearly £3k and received the news just as i commenced maternity leave. The £60 a month minimum they'd accept really didnt help my non existent income

I asked why when i looked back through the letters (once i realised the overpayment was buried on the back page) did they keep paying the same award and driving me deeper into debt. No one can explain that one Confused

BlackeyedPetitsPois · 14/09/2018 06:33

Sorry to hijack this thread op but I’m wondering how overpayments get paid back. Do HMRC ask for the money back - for example do they send you a letter with a payment slip or something?

We had our award notice a month or so ago to advise we had been overpaid by around £900 for 2017/2018. Since then absolutely nothing from them asking for the money back.

Incidentally we do not qualify for any award this tax year.

Squirelslostnut · 14/09/2018 06:47

BlackEyed - they send you a separate letter clearly outlining how much is overpaid to date and telling me to call to arrange repayment. In my case they continued to overpay me whilst i was repaying the original overpayment so the debt kept increasing but my predicted figures were all correct so i couldn't alter it at that point.

In your situation you could either wait for the letter from them (which could arrive tomorrow or next year) or you could ring normal tax credits line and arrange to pay back

BlackeyedPetitsPois · 14/09/2018 06:54

Thank you squirel

They are sods aren’t they? Cannot believe they continue to pay out in circumstances when an overpayment is due.

MaverickSnoopy · 14/09/2018 06:54

If your salary hasn't changed and you were receiving £300 last year, and that was correct, and £300 this year, then I don't understand at all.

First of all I would dig out all paperwork and check all the information is correct. Then I would run the calculator online with your current income. Then if all the paperwork is correct and the calculator says you are entitled then I think you should call and query it again. I'm sort of wondering if a 0 figure has been entered erroneously but not used iyswim.

I'm fairly new to tax credits tbh so I'm so expert at all though!

whojamaflip · 14/09/2018 06:59

I had this a couple of years ago - phoned up to renew and gave all my details etc - pack came a few weeks later and I had an over payment of nearly £8000!

Turns out the girl on the end of the phone had made an imputting error and instead of putting dhs income down as £16,000 had put £160,000!!!!

Took months to sort out as they denied it was their mistake - ended up sending copies of payslips, P60 etc but was only sorted when I requested a transcript of the phone call which proved I'd given the right figure.

Left us bloody broke for months and they were still trying to take money back from us during that time!