Possibly a bit of a long shot, but does anyone work for HMRC or UC?

[RunningNinja79]

If so how do the two companies 'talk' to each other?

I know that HMRC tell UC how much a claimant gets paid in every month, but is this automated or does someone (or a team) ask HMRC every day?

The reason why Im asking is because last month UC were told that I earned over twice as much as I was so this has led to a very significant under-payment from UC.

I rang UC up who then made me an appointment to take my proof of earnings to the job centre. I took 3 months wage slips, 3 months worth of bank statements and an email print out from payroll telling me that there was a glitch and HMRC were told the wrong information that has since been corrected and accepted by HMRC.

My appointment was Friday 12th July so nearly 2 weeks ago. Luckily I had enough savings to cover my bills and food just about. However, I have still been underpaid.

I have, of course, chased this up with UC, but they say that they are waiting for HMRC to confirm my payment. Surely the two companies communicate on a regular basis?

It scares me to think what if I couldn't scrape the money together? What if it happens again? I can't afford to go through this again, financially or mentally.

I have rang and written on my journal (not that my journal ever gets read or answered), but surely I should have an answer by now?

So can anyone in the know shed any light for me? Not on my personal situation, but how often and in which ways do UC and HMRC talk to each other. I am going to ring again tomorrow night so Im hoping for some good advice to go in with.

Disclaimer to say that this is not a UC bashing thread, Im just after some advice. Also it is not a begging thread (Ive been around long enough under various names to know that it does happen) as I dont need anything other than to just get this sorted.

I have name changed due to my other posts potentially outing me but I work for UC. I don’t deal direct with the earning feeds but my understanding is that when am employer logs your earning with HMRC the system scans for your earning feed and it links the two. It’s not an employee calling as they would never be off the phone if that was the case due to number of claims. When there is an issue a specific team deal with the enquiries that can’t access your actual claim only the information and evidence provided so they won’t respond to messages. Usually in my experience they are resolved fairly quick but if HMRC or the disputes team need to get hold of the employer there can be a delay. If your journal messaging put it under payments or service issues as that will go to the team who get the reply. As soon as that team receives the reply they should let you know and release any money owed

Thank you @NoDesireToRun for your answer. Love the name BTW as neither do I, not in this heat.

I do put it under payments. Ive only written on there twice regarding this issue. Once last Thursday and then again this morning. So it could be an employer issue then? Maybe I should check with payroll then.

I just didn't expect it to take this long. The longer it takes, the more I worry that there's still an issue.

Op bumping for you.
I don't think any departments are linked in meaningful way... It's awful.

If I was any new prime mister first all resources would go to making sure this kind of thing didn't happen.

As a small employer, it's really easy to input incorrect information onto the hmrc system. In my case the wages are on an excel spreadsheet, which I then manually enter onto the hmrc basic tools programme, hopefully remembering to enter the pension payments (different tab), if distracted or in a hurry it's easy to mistype - if I mistyped an entry your uc would be messed up basically. Larger employers have a more automated system but mine relies on me being accurate and nobody disturbing me/calling the phone etc during the 30 mins it takes me - if I get distracted mistakes occur, I'm human with 25 things on my mind, especially if it's a funeral being reported.

Real Time Information, the automatic way payroll goes into hmrc isn't infallible either - but because it is built into the payroll software if it goes wrong it can be difficult to unpick. So hmrc could potentially have incorrect information that is almost impossible for your employer to correct quickly.

It could be a variety of things from a late reporting from an employer, incorrect reporting from employer, some sort of glitch where HMRC have received the information twice and it’s been logged separate etc. As it’s cross department and a specific team that deal with it the person that monitors your account and payment may not have a response yet in which case they can’t update you but I would still say to you to chase them every few days just so your top priority. It’s very rare I come across one where the same thing happens month on month. It’s usually a one off mistake but a very frustrating one for the people who are waiting on it to be resolved

Knitted - Thank you for the bump.

Stuck - I totally understand where you are coming from and I really don't blame anyone or anything, I'm just wanting to get this sorted now. I had my evidence and took it in. Its been nearly 2 weeks. I'm just wanting to hurry the process up a bit.
Yes it's frustrating and I'm getting more and more worried as time goes on, but I'm really not holding a grudge to anyone or any company regarding the actual error. Technology messes up from time to time, humans make simple errors from time to time too. Its just life.

Trilby and NoDesire - crossed posts there.

Trilby - payroll told me that there was an error, but has since been corrected and accepted by HMRC so I think everything its OK there. I just need HMRC to confirm to UC now.

NoDesire - Frustrating indeed. Probably for the people on the other end of the phone at UC having to deal with claimants ringing up about it. Thank you for your help I'm feeling a little easier.

It’s good you have had the confirmation from HMRC so hopefully it won’t be much longer and the payment team will get the notification through and release payment on the same day.

It’s good you have had the confirmation from HMRC

I dont have the confirmation myself. The email from the payroll department said "There was a technical glitch in the software from our payroll providers in the monthly return they made on our behalf to HMRC. The revised file was accepted last week* by HMRC, and so please be reassured that HMRC now have the correct figures which correspond to your payslip"

*The email was sent to me on 8th July so last week was anytime from 1st to 5th July.

Actually this now creates a question. My payment period is 8th of one month to 7th of the next month. So my July payment corresponds with my earnings received from 8th June to 7th July. so if HMRC accepted the correct figures BEFORE 8th July then why did the wrong information go to UC? This is rhetorical as I'm really not sure anyone would know the actual answer, but it has crossed my mind now.

They may have accepted the figures before the 8th but if the system was updated on 9th say it would still show the original feed on UC as it would be outside your assessment period. I don’t know how HMRC update or amend records once they are notified or how long it takes but it must have not been updated before UC scanned for the feed.