To ask is it possible to get tax credits, without ever directly claiming them?

[notlikingthis]

HMRC notified me I’m going to be having £1657 deducted for “tax credits overpayments, “ that I’ve never made any direct claim for, “as you have made a claim to universal credit” and my “award period ended" the day I claimed UC.

(HMRC have been no help and ended the call by saying it might not be all I owed and that if the decision was wrong, I would be able to later reclaim it, but it wasn't likely to be.)

Surely you have to directly claim tax credits? The only thing I’ve been getting before was PIP.

I had a previous claim before UC existed, in 2015/16 for ESA and was put in the support group, but I don’t believe I made any specific claim for tax credits then either, but have been so confused over UC and the difference between 'entitled to' and what you will actually get, I now doubt myself.

Could there have been an ‘award period’ from then, and that ‘award period ended’ now, and this has been part of my PIP or something like that?

Tax credits as in Child Tax Credit or Working tax credit you get a paper pack every year, you would know if you had them, unless you moved or someone fraudulently claimed them.

Surely its more likely an admin error, have you looked at your Hmrc account online? If not set it up and look, their chat feature is also quite helpful.

Thank you for the info, it's what I'd assumed.
Thank you for the idea but I really can't deal with an HMRC online account. I'm beyond incompetent and have very low internet availability.

Call citizens advice

Ring them then. 0345 number iirc.

8times It's CA that got me to claim UC because of the mess I was in with trying to cover my rent, and now they're saying they can't understand that I'm not getting awarded rent help or CT even though I've relayed what I've been told.

JanglyBeads I have done already, they haven't been helpful, and I'll be doing it again on Monday, but I was hoping to understand more about how things worked before round two.

I had assumed it was a mistake but HMRC have said it's not, so wondered if it could be part of PIP, but it hadn't crossed my mind that someone could have claimed fraudulently.

Have you separated and your previous partner made a joint claim when you were together that you didn't realise? My dp is paying back tax credits from 2011 which he was notified about 3 or 4 years back.

Mythicalcreatures No, been on my own decades. Last DC turned 18 before tax credits existed.

(but thank you for suggestion)

Could be fraudulent, someone claimed universal credit with my details, they had my name and national insurance number.

Could also be a mistake. If you struggle with phone calls/internet can you ask a family member to support you? I would be happy to help someone with this.

Make a written SAR application to the tax credits and send it by recorded post. By law they must apply ALL information they hold on you and this will help to get to the bottom of it.

If you can make a mumsnet account ypu can make a .gov account its not that complicated

You can make an information access request but they don’t actually have to tell you everything. Might be worth a shot though.
tax credits aren’t just for people with kids so are you absolutely sure you haven’t applied or someone hasn’t applied for you at some point (cab or someone supporting you with it)

fwiw I closed my tax credits when we didn’t need them anymore, no letters for years then suddenly my partner was out of work for a year and they randomly put money into our bank the year after. What a fuck on while we worked out what was going on, apparently they just silently kicked back in when his income dropped? Didn’t even need the bastard money by that point lol!

cab can help get to the bottom of it if you’re confused by what they say on the phone, they’re trained to know what they’re talking about and are fab at it

Thank you for useful information. I have to go out for several hours.

Twattle I wasn't able to make a mumsnet account, someone's been kind to let me try and help myself.
I dont want to explain whats wrong with me but it's what makes me incompetent, stupid, disabled and already having to accept less than other people get even with CAB helping.

Mangogogogo thank you. I didn't have a bank account, just basic post office benefit only account for people who couldn't have bank accounts, and that was closed.

Im sorry life is tough, is there a charity or adult social worker than can assist you in getting the money you are eligible for?

If not can you pop into a job centre and see if anyone there can give you some assistance. Lead with the fact that you are ill/disabled / have X condition, you are vulnerable and need help.

Another thing to keep in mind is was the letter, text, email however this communication came to you legitimate. Scammers impersonating HMRC are rife too.

You are not stupid OP! Sorry to hear you face challenges.

Can you say what you mean by "they were unhelpful"? If they're writing to you about overpayments then they 'know' you?

Sorry I was taken out, and thought we'd come back before now.

Not helpful is they wouldn't say what tax credits, when I was supposed to have been getting them, or when I was supposed to have claimed them. They just said it was my responsibility to keep proper records and I might owe more than the amount they say I do. I am staying here for the weekend and will try again on Monday.

I would wonder if the hmrc letter is a scam letter.

op if you'd been receiving tax credits the money would be going into your bank. Can you look at your bank statements?

@Twattle not true, it is more complicated