To want to burn down the Tax Credits buliding in Birmingham and all those in it?

[carocaro]

The tossers at Tax Credits have just totally denied that I had ever made any phone calls to the with my new bank account details.

They have paid my £190 into an old bank account which has been closed and which we can't get back because the account was in arrears and any money that goes into account is kept and they won't give it back.

So I do not have any money to pay bills or buy food. And DH's JSA cheque has not turned up either.

Oh and I won't qualify for an emergency payment as they have no record of me every telling them of the new bank details which I have done twice by telephone. I even have some forms that they requested on my behalf after one of those phone calls.

I can write to them apparently to complain.

And let's know mention the billions that the banks have had to borrow off the government.

Carocaro - all calls will be recorded. Check your telephone bill to get the times and dates of the calls. Insist the calls are listened to.

Have you some kind of plan to pay off the arrears on the closed account? Have you talked to them about getting the money back?

Fucking hell, nice bit of judging from some

OP - you're really best off contacting the bank that you owe the money to and offer to pay back a bit - you might surprised at the low repayment offer they might accept. At least then if it happens again, you won't lose all your cash.

Is there anyone you can borrow a bit of cash from? So sorry I can't help in a more practical way.

fuck some of you are sanctimonious twats! The OP is on benefits, she's broke, and her DH is owed 2 months' wages. Maybe the account got in arrears because the rent and bills were paid from it when he was expecting to be paid the money he was owed for work he did? However they got in arrears, have some fucking compassion - we are 3 weeks from christmas and even skint people wantto buy their kids gifts, the tax credits have fucked them over and they are broke. Do you know what it's like to be broke? Really broke? It ain't much fun.

Carocaro.

How do you close a bank account which is in arrears? Quite simply they won't let you. So I suspect what you mean is you stopped using it and ignored the debt.

So whilst I sympathize with your situation, I can't blame the bank for keeping the cash.

And you just had to point that out, didn't you Niceguy2..... do you not think she's got enough on her plate without having to contend with people pointing out the bleeding obvious?

niceguy, actually, banks close accounts which are in arrears. happened to us years ago.

There are some smug twats on here.
Scrooge is alive and well.
OP hope you get it sorted.

Hang on, if Carocaro and her DH were to ask advice from the National Debtline, they might well be advised to open a new basic bank account and divert any income they were getting into it. Then you deal with your outstanding debt separately (ie through an IVA), but you still have some subsistence money to live on while things are sorted out. It's easy to open a new account at another bank, I helped a friend through bankruptcy recently, and this was the first thing that she was told to do.

Wewish, do you mean freeze them?

I tried to close an account not too long ago and they said sure....pay your overdraft off first.

Like I say, I sympathise but let's face it, if someone owed you money and failed to pay you back then later accidentally paid you some money, would you hand it back?

Niceguy I don't think the OP is annoyed with the bank, it's quite obvious that if an account is in unauthorised overdraft than any money that goes in will be used to pay off the overdraft. The OP is angry with tax credits who did not change her bank details. Jeez.

Dunno whats going on with tax credit hq at the mo but they are much more shit than they used to be, I told them of changes to dd childcare in sept, heard nothing for 2 months and then got a snooty letter from customs and revenue asking for me to ring them as ? my childcare claims weren't right, grrr its annoying as it appears the hour spent on the phone the 1st time was a total waste of time! Hope something good happens for you soon op.

You can't blame the bank for keeping the money as the OP is in arrears to them

Good point Eric.

I just get tired of the whole blame the bankers mentality which seems to be so prevalent nowadays

God damn stuck up mumsnet scrooges,

ah yes cos half of you must be modern day mary poppins yourselves eh, get over yourselves

this place is getting ridiculous

obviously this is not aimed at you lovely mumsnetters who actually have a heart

Did you find the phone number on an online bill, Carocaro?

If you can get hold of the details of the phonecalls you made (date and time), ring the Tax Credits helpline back, and ask to speak to a supervisor. They have a discretionary 'hardship payment' of £50 that they can pay you in situations like this, but they WILL NOT TELL YOU THIS.

It's not much, but it will buy some food, they either send it to you as a giro, or if you have one of their offices in your town, you can sometimes pick it up as a counter payment.

If they tell you they can't/ won't do this, RING YOUR MP. Not all MP's are useless, and your MP has a 'special' number to ring the Tax Credits people, and it usually light's a fire under them.

HTH.

(Excuse the rogue apostrophe!)

The bank dont have to release the tax credit payment, its only covered by the social security act before it hits your account - once it hits a bank account its just money not a benefit payment.

If you had an agreement with the bank to pay x back a week they may be agreeable to releasing some but if you just moved banks and left the debt then its very unlikely.

If you're getting tax credits then you must have children so you'll still have your CB and JSA and probably HB/CTB so not totally without income and your debt is closer to being repaid.

Yes, you are unreasonable to want to burn down the tax credits building in Birmingham and all those inside.

Your not unreasonable for being really annoyed with whoever messed up your tax credit payment, I've been in various situations like this and know how awful it can be to loose out on money you were really relying on. I really do feel for you. Think there has been some good advice, I think on here (as Im not in UK and dont understand system).

That said, its not that the bank "wont give it back", its their money and I agree with those who say try look at the brightside, if you can at all right now, in that some of your debt has being paid off.

How is that looking on the brightside if they have no food to eat?