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.

i'm not talking about the address bit.

I mean, where it details what money you're getting, or what you owe it will say

ex's name - income
boyfriends name - income

deductions bla bla

amount youre getting paid or owe

if its a joint claim, his name will be SOMEWHERE on that letter. it might not be addressed to him, but his details WILL be on it.

@flamingofridays

We don't have the full contents of the letter, do we? We don't know if it is there or not, do we? So we don't KNOW, do we?

We don't actually know much at all. Much of the information on this thread is actually third or fourth hand (HMRC->ex->DP->OP->us).

no WE don't but OP has seen it so presumably she does?

when do we ever get hard evidence on a thread? its mumsnet not court!

when do we ever get hard evidence on a thread? its mumsnet not court!

Agree, it's getting odder and odder.

Haha, I do feel a bit like I'm in a court room. 😆

DP asked to see the full breakdown of her claim and screenshot it all. Once he had the paperwork in front of him there was no denying it. His name doesn't appear on the papers, and neither does the new BF. She's been claiming for almost 2 years whilst living with a bloke who earns more than enough, so I don't know what she was thinking.

*we know she claimed as a single person when she wasn't one

No we don't.*

Yes we do.

On page 2 there is a list of your circumstances. It should say there whether the claim is as a single person or who the claim is with. Has she screen shotted that page?

Yeah, he screenshot about 15 pages in total. Said it took him ages to work out which order they were in.

What does Smurf mean? Something about a tap?

she thinks you're drip feeding..

Oh right.

How can I post about events before they happen, ffs?

you cant!

I wonder if Ex bragged about £££ and was reported or her partnered used her address and it flagged... I really don't think it will be down to the declined car loan application

RamdomMess from what the OP said that the ex knew of the loan application via HMRC and the OPs DP didn’t tell her either it strongly points to the loan triggering an investigation. BUT if she’s been claiming tax credits as a single person with her bf living with her then tbh it was only going to be a matter of time til it came to light to HMRC; a neighbour/acquaintance shopping her up instead - if that were to be the case would she have a right to hassle them for half the money? It’s bonkers logic

@RandomMess I'm afraid you are wrong and saying things like that on a thread like this just further fuels the bullshit of the likes of Smurf and Prick. If you are not or have not been, an Investigator or Intelligence officer for a DWP, LA or HMRC fraud team then don't say things like "that won't have caused it".
She was picked up by a good old data match linking her credit history to another; the OPs partner. Also on that credit check they almost certainly found links between the new partner and her address and THAT is what their investigation will be built on. OPs partners declined loan was simply what matched on a 'joint finances' or 'second name at property' match.
The ex wife is clearly not going to blame her partner for this so she has to blame her ex even though she knows she's committed fraud and has been banged to rights.

@itchybumhole you have dealt with the shit thrown at you in this thread really well. You dp has done nothing wrong and his ex refusing proof from him as to when he moved out simply proves that she knows it's irrelevant because the fraudulent period is when the new partner moved in. I hope her threatening to sell up is all strop.

@itchybumhole

How do you know how much the new partner earns?

How do you know how much the new partner earns?*

Because I know what he does for a living and roughly how much people in that profession earn.
Do I need to provide payslips?

Bold quote fail. 🙈

zeeboo is correct. Ive helped with mandatory reconsiderations and appeals on these sort of overpayments as a CAB adviser. These checks were farmed out to Contentrix and thats when they went haywire. In the end it looked like HMRC could not cope with all the appeals and they withdrew without them getting to a tribunal. I think they don't use concentrix any more but not sure.
However, in this case it looks like a valid overpayment and maybe with a penalty added due to her negligence. All this talk of jail is ridiculous. She can just agree to pay back in instalments that she can afford after submitting an inc/exp sheet.

Hello - ex benefit fraud investigator here! It sounds as though she has been reported for co-habiting (with new partner). The initial part of the investigation involves doing a credit search to see who had credit or has applied for credit at the address and this is were the loan application has been flagged up. If new partner is paying any bills like sky or has any thing there it would have showed too. It could be that she is choosing to blame your dp as new partner is unlikely to support her in the overpayment or going forward without her benefits. A one off application for a loan from your dp would not be enough evidence of co habiting and she would be asking for his proof of his other address to exonerate herself. Are you aware if her new partner has another address? If they had masses of evidence they would interviewing her under caution. It sounds as though they have suspected co habiting and she has admitted new partner lives with her and is stopping claiming which is a result. If it is just the loan implicating her in the overpayment she could appeal that. If it isn't she is lying to dp and trying to have him over again.

Because I know what he does for a living

Right, I thought you said he ran his own business.

You thought correctly, he does run his own business.

What's your problem Smurf?

Your constant attacks are becoming really boring now. Don't get me wrong, I couldn't give a flying fuck about what you think. I just wondered... haven't you got anything better to do? Check the taps are all off maybe?

Off you pop.

Thank you Hoist, good to hear from someone with experience in the field.

DP says new BF owns a house in his home town, but we don't know for sure. Just what DP's daughter says.