To think she's being a right CF?

[itchybumhole]

A bit of background first, and I'll try my best to give all the relevant information, but as I don't know much about the workings of the system I'm unsure what I need to include.

My partner split with his wife 3 years ago after 13 years together and 7 years of marriage. They have an 11 year old child together. Their marriage ended very acrimoniously after a series of infidelities on her part.
When they separated he immediately moved out of the family home with just his personal belongings and stayed with his parents until he could find a rental place. Since leaving he has paid her child maintenance by private agreement on a weekly basis.

She has today received a letter from HRMC saying she needs to repay tens of thousands of pounds in overpaid tax credits. The tax credits were paid to her during the time that he had left the family home. (He's always worked full time. When he left she went on to benefits. She hasn't worked in 13 years apparently).
The notice says that if she claimed as a couple then both parties must repay, so she called him today and said he's liable for half. His answer was... but how can I be? I have receipts for rent paid to my own house. I didn't benefit from this overpayment so why should I pay half back?
We're both so confused. What does he do now? I've told him to call HRMC but he's still smarting from the phone call from his ex wife. We're these benefits claimed fraudulently? And is he liable to repay half as she insists?
Thank you for any help or advice.

He is not liable for half. His name was never on a claim for TC. He never received any money from the TC his ex claimed.

Ffs are all the divvys out tonight? Why is it so hard to understand?

The only divvies out tonight are the ones only reading certain parts of the thread and choosing to selectively ignore the other bits.

FFS I'm off to bang my heed against a wall.

They have probably told the ex about the new guy living there as well. But of course, the ex isn't going to mention this. I wonder if the new guy knows she has been claiming fraudulently.

And yes, the loan is a red herring. Sooner or later she would have been caught because she has someone living there.

I'd assume the loan company wrote to him at that address, as is the norm confused

Not if he was declined. And are we accusing the ex of opening his mail now?

The ops dp has admitted the ex didn’t know.

So how comes she knows now?
Tax credits have told her. Because that’s the reason she’s being investigated

It's not a red herring because HMRC said that the loan has caused them to question the legitimacy of her claim. And her claim was legitimate for at least a year - she was single for that time and rightly claimed as a single person.

She and her partner may well be entitled to tax credits now as well so it could be that there is no fraud at all.

And even if there is currently fraud, she should only have to pay back for the time her partner has been in her household. The £3.5k or so she claimed as a single parent when she was single shouldn't be paid back, because that part at least is legitimate. But HMRC are saying it's not, because of the loan application.

So it is far from a red herring.

Timeline
3 years ago he left
Within months he applied for the loan
2 years ago she moved another guy in
A few weeks ago he wouldn't sign something that wasn't true. She didn't ask him for documents to back up when he left.
The award letter dates show the single person claim was made whilst living with a new partner.

Still, don't see how he was responsible for her continuing to make a false claim. Did he force her to not let hmrc know she was living with someone?

I don't know about the loan and whether she would have received a letter about his application? Surely if such a letter had been sent out it would have been addressed to him though, and she would either bin it or hand it over?

Aw smurf the bitter ev wives club has called and asked for you back..

*ex

He's responsible for HMRC wanting to get back £3.5k. If there was actual fraud after the first year, he's not responsible for that. But if they want back the £3.5k she got during the first year, and they've told her that they're asking for the money back because of the loan application, then yes, he's responsible for that.

IfIWasABirdIdFlyIn2ACeilingFan

I'm sure you're right but I didn't have time then and was trying to be helpful. As you probably could have guessed.

Having tried reading it since I'm glad I didn't and I'm not going to bother now.

When you apply for a loan, they will send a copy of a credit agreement in the post to the applicants address.
The address he gave was the family home by the sounds of it.
Therefore it's obvious she has opened the letter to be nosey and that's how she knows.
Unless it's a joint claim with HMRC, then he is NOT liable for it.
The loan conversation is a red herring, he's not liable, bingo bango.

Hes not responsible for paying it! He wasnt living there! He wasnt living there so she was entitled in the first year so if she can prove that she was single she wont have to pay it back anyway!

😂

He's only speculating here, but it looks like HRMC are asking for the tax credits back from the moment my DP moved out. He's offered her the proof she needs but she seems noncommittal.
Maybe because she has been claiming with her new boyfriend living in the house and knows that if she provides evidence of when he moved in it will further implicate her in the fraud. They know he lives there now, but she is telling them he moved in this April.
She's kind of damned if she does and damned if she doesn't.

He’s not responsible for her actions. She needs to take responsibility for her own fraud.

Fwiw, I don't think it sounds like the DP has done anything wrong. Even using the address to apply for the loan is a non event considering he was half living there, owns it, and was probably buying stuff to support his family at the time.

OP, ignore the happiness drains, stand by your man!

The loan application was unsuccessful therefore no credit agreement to send. And of course he's not liable if he hasn't claimed tax credits however if there is a clawback of the first year of the claim as a result of HMRC discovering financial links, which they have, then that clawback has come about because of his actions.

Haha no I’m not an ex wife at all. But my dh has one. And if he put his ex wife and mother of his children in a situation not of her own doing and didn’t help her out then I’d lose all respect for him.

But then again, I’m friends with his ex. She’s lovely. She doesn’t work, is on benefits too. Their dc are a credit to them both.

If the ops dps ex wife was that bad then he wouldn’t have left his children with her, he would have taken them when he left. They were married, he had equal parental responsibility. It’s that simple. As If he would leave his children in a volatile hostile situation where they were subjected to their mum bringing multiple partners home every night and being violent. It don’t add up.

It is of her own doing. She has failed to disclose that shes living with a partner. His loan has just highlighted this to HMRC.

Ugh, more crap just made up to keep the argument going.
She's not violent to the child. She is a loving, albeit erratic headcase, mother and provider to their child. Why would he be a complete cock and drag his child away from her mother? They have pretty much shared custody today.

If she has been fraudulently claiming for two years and legitimately for the first one, I think the best thing she could do is forward proof for the first year to at least get them to write off that, then just not send anything relating to the other two years at all so as not to implicate herself, and just let them take the two years back off her. Your ex could help with this by providing proof of where he was living or signing a declaration. It's in his interest to do so because if they go for the whole three years that's around £10k and for that they will prosecute. She may even get a custodial sentence. I'm sure there's no love lost between them but presumably he doesn't want his child to experience that. If they knock the first year off it's around £7k which they still could prosecute for. Really, if she has been fraudulently claiming for two years she needs a lawyer. A proper criminal one, not just some old giffer down the CAB.

But @itchybumhole you said up thread she was arrested for violence. And you’ve got all these people to back you up on what a psycho she is. Her own dad!

Hang on, so the claim is joint from April onwards? And just the one kid? So that's 1.5 years if the ex gets his act together and she can get the first year written off.

Smurf some people really are psychos you know.....