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Original poster

Tax Credits Overpayment

65 replies

Cuffuffle · 03/06/2018 06:59

I've NC'd for this and posted for traffic sorry!

I've received a letter from tax credits stating I have been overpaid by nearly £4k. It is correct from what I can make out. The only thing is it doesn't demand I pay them back it rather a we'll reduce your payments, however I'm no longer entitled to tax credits.

Anyone any experience of this? Will I get another letter demanding payment? Obviously I don't have £4000 to pay back!

OP posts:
Original poster
Cuffuffle · 03/06/2018 07:00

Sorry for the poor grammar, I haven't slept since 9am yesterday!

OP posts:
HarryLovesDraco · 03/06/2018 07:01

How does that big of an overpayment happen?! Yes you will get a letter asking for repayment at some point, I have just got one as I am no longer on TCs.

confusedlittleone · 03/06/2018 07:02

If your no longer entitled to tax credits then you will need to set up a payment plan to pay it back

MrsMotherHen · 03/06/2018 07:02

I had an overpayment of almost £10000 but that housing benifit years ago yes you do have to pay it back. We pay about £100 a month and have been for years and will be paying for another few years.

GeekyBlinders · 03/06/2018 07:02

I'd hope you'll be able to set up a payment plan though.

almostbutnotquite · 03/06/2018 07:03

I had this and set up a payment plan of £50 a month. I tried appealing and got nowhere.

troodiedoo · 03/06/2018 07:03

I would tell them what you can afford to pay back, they will most likely agree.

Justabadwife · 03/06/2018 07:05

They did this to me last year, but It was an overpayment of £600. I also wasn't entitled to tax credits.
I phoned them up, spoke to a really nice lady who said, we don't want it all back at once, and you can't pay anything back until we send you a demand to pay which will be in September.
Demand to pay came. I phoned them up. Set up a payment plan over the phone of £50 per month the bloke on the phone was also really nice.
Job done.

Bagadverts · 03/06/2018 07:07

Citizens advice/another debt charity may be able to help you to try to make an agreement on repayment.

imsoboredwithitall · 03/06/2018 07:10

I'd love to know how they get these over payments so wrong?

I hope they get it sorted.

DoinItForTheKids · 03/06/2018 07:14

This happens because their policy is to pay you the amount they agreed to pay you are the start of the year REGARDLESS of what you tell them. All these adds about 'keep us up to date with any changes' give a false impression to TC recipients that this will result in a reassessment of the amount of TC being given - it doesn't.

If you start off being approved for £700 a month and then 4 months later your wages go up and you tell them about it - more often than not, they don't adjust the amount down. So you're possibly getting £400 a month more than you should be - and spending it - and in effect, amassing a substantial debt.

It is absolutely ludicrous. There is only one way to avoid it. If you know your income has gone up and they don't adjust the amount they're paying you even when you tell them (they seem to prefer to do it once a year only!) then syphon what you think is the 'too much' you're getting paid and just leave it there because they will be asking you for it back.

As to repaying, sure, they'd prefer a lump sum to pay it off in one go, but just keep repeating that you can't afford it can't afford it and they will put you through to their payment plan people and you can set up a monthly direct debit. The monthly amount will be in proportion to a. the size of the money owed and b. what your current earnings are. It's quite normal to get a payment plan without any need to refer to legal advice or anything like that (sadly, speaking from experience as this has happened to me several times as it will if you're not in a permanent job role on the same salary all the time - sadly their systems think that this is how it is for everyone - permanent role, same income every year or perhaps goes up once a year, all nice and easy to handle but if you have moved around temping, contracting, fixed term, it's too much of a bugger's muddle for them and they WILL get it wrong, they will not be able to keep up with your changing earnings and they WILL insist on keep overpaying you). It's the most insane approach ever.

DoinItForTheKids · 03/06/2018 07:15

*ads not adds

Plus they pay you based on last years income so it's already potentially 12 months out of date!

Yokatsu · 03/06/2018 07:49

Totally agree with DoinItForTheKids.

had several that occurred as a result of changes in circumstances where they've insisted they are paying the right amount and turned out they weren't. One i paid back at £50 a month the rest I did at £10 a month. I would stress over it.

IHopeYouStepOnALegoPiece · 03/06/2018 07:56

A friend of mine had a letter through stating she’s been overpaid by £14k. They set up a payment plan and she’s paying it back £10 a month (genuinely all she can afford), I think I worked it out that she’ll be finished paying in 116 years!
They won’t ask for 4K back in one go so work out what you can afford and go from there.

Original poster
Cuffuffle · 03/06/2018 08:07

Thank you all! I won't worry about It until September and work out what I can afford a month in the meantime!

OP posts:
princesstiasmum · 03/06/2018 08:15

I already posted about this .I think it was in money matters but rhey are taking s!most £50 a month out of my sons Universal credits.he has choice of asking for a reduction I amount.it's disgusting.he only gets £83 a week.yet my daughter is only paying £10 a month and she's working.

princesstiasmum · 03/06/2018 08:16

That should say £73.a month

princesstiasmum · 03/06/2018 08:17

A week.

PurplePotatoes · 03/06/2018 08:21

My friend was told she had a 5k overpayment and is paying it back at £40 a month. God knows how it happened as both her and her DH were on the same salary the entire time they claimed and same childcare costs. She still doesn't know how.

Our TC have just gone down over £250 a month even though their calculator tells me we only earnt 1k more than last year after pensions etc. It's a crap system.

SeaWitchly · 03/06/2018 08:25

Have a look at this website and follow the steps around challenging an overpayment. However be prepared for HMRC to continue harrassing you and not responding to your communication... then approach your MP and ask them to advocate on your behalf [it is part of their official role and they are obliged to help you with this].

This is what I did when I had a £10k overpayment. It was not my fault, HMRC made an error with the paperwork. However they ignored my efforts to reason and communicate with them, even though I followed their official process around complaints to the letter. My MP ended up stepping in and HMRC confirmed I no longer had to pay back the overpayment... and also paid £150 in to my bank account for 'distress caused' to me.

www.taxcc.org/

Good luck OP x

NakedMum33and3rd · 03/06/2018 08:32

This happened to us too. Now they are forcing us to pay £300 a month. I couldn't afford to to a good shopping at the end of last month because they are bleeding us dry. My car broke and I had to make a choice between getting to work or fresh food. We lived on pasta and butter for a week. I feel so angry. I tried to convince them to lower the monthly payment but they wouldn't have it as I am due with dc3 in September and want us to have paid it off before I go on mat leave.
I already suffer with depression and this has made my anxiety go through the roof.
I told them about my wage increase when it happened but they still continued to pay us. I didn't realise until it was too late.

princesstiasmum · 03/06/2018 08:33

Most overpayments are from about 7 years ago.apparently .there was A another thread on here recently and almost all posters overpayments were from around that time .they are trying to claw in all they can.my son is disputing any over payments due to circumstances at that time.also they keep changing the amount and even the year this time they even referred to him add Mrs

mishfish · 03/06/2018 08:33

You need to expect to pay it back but phone them and set up a payment plan. They’re really helpful- they were with me anyway. My overpayment was about £700 and they wanted payment within a few weeks but when I phoned up and explained my circumstances they set up a payment plan. When I mentioned I was having surgery within a few weeks they reduced the monthly payments and extended the period

drearydeardre · 03/06/2018 08:37

I find it difficult to understand why people fail to realise (or ignore) the fact that they are being paid too much and not put it aside for future repayment. If the TC office made a mistake fair enough. Otherwise you are very lucky to get the equivalent of an interest free loan over many years.

NeverTwerkNaked · 03/06/2018 08:45

This happened to me. Was about £3k. The system is awful!

There are ways you can challenge but I was struggling with mental health problems at the time and couldn’t face it. They did agree I could pay it back in instalments though and asked me to suggest what I could afford - I said £50 a month and they were happy to agree that.

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