Non payment of tax credits,3 months with nothing!

[bigdumblonde]

Hi all,I'm new here and pretty desperate!
I had been recieving child and working tax credits for a year with no problems,then romance hit!,my new partner moved in and being the honest sort i immediately contacted the tax office,he only had odd days for an agency and they said they would send forms straight out,they stopped our credits immediately,this was on the 30th febuary ,its now the 15th of may and still nothing!!!
No forms came out,they say they have sent them but still nothing,i have been ringing and ringing,being put on hold for over half an hour,then cut off,finally going to the CAB for advice,they finally sent more forms out at the CAB's request,this was 4 weeks ago.
I have had to cancel my childcare,getting my older son to leave college earlier to pick his little brother up. our incoming doesnt cover our outgoings,i have sold all my jewellery and decent clothes on ebay just to buy food,i by no means live an extravagant lifestyle,the bills we pay are basic living bills.
My overdraft has long gone.
Does anybody here have any suggestions of what i can do?,it just seems pointless working and being honest.

Check your entitlement by running your new details - including your partner's income and working hours - through the Turn2Us benefits calculator If you do that, you'll have an idea how much of an award you are due and what the back-payments are likely to be. As a couple, for example, you need to be working 24 hours a week between you to qualify for Tax Credits whereas, for a single person, it's 16.

Keep trying the HMRC helpline 0345 300 3900... they are usually incredibly busy in April as the tax years switch over but, by now, their call volumes should be easing off. If you're really struggling you may qualify for a Crisis Loan

Good luck

That should have been 'Working Tax Credits' above.... Child Tax Credits are not dependent on hours worked, just income declared.

Thank you,i have been on the calculator and have an idea of how much i am entitled to,0H got a full time job but wont be paid for 6 weeks,leaving us even further in trouble,this has been declared to the tax office,have been told we are not entitled to a crisis loan as we are both working,we have nothing left at all,the tax office does hardship payments but we have been told the same thing as the crisis loan.
Child tax credits were also stopped,before we had even found out what OH 2011 income was!

Cab you get to an office to get the forms?

I was going to suggest an office. You could go speak to an advisor in person? Might be more efficient than endless call centre nonsense.

Or can you not print them from anywhere? I'd have been going after a couple of weeks never mind 3 months but I'm really impatient!

We have no office round here,forms can't be printed off,they didnt send out the first set of forms,took me weeks of lunch hour calls and still couldnt get through,we have an office in town with a phone that puts you straight through to the call centre but its only open twice a week on days i cant get off work :(

Can you get in touch with the companies you pay out of your wage and explain the situation? Utilities in particular are usually very understanding, and will allow you to miss a couple of payments then overpay to get back on track once the money is sorted. Virtually all companies will be sympathetic if you ring them and ask for help.

Unfortunately it may be a case of taking a day's holiday from work and going to CAB and asking for advice, they will also call the tax credits line for you just to be a more formal representative (they did this for my DH when he had been fraud victim and a company were trying to mess him about).

Good luck, I hope you get it sorted.

When I had the same kind of problems with my benefits, I emailed my MP and she (or, more probably, someone in her office) sorted it. I send the email on the Monday, got an email reply on the Thursday, got a sheepish phonecall from the benefits people to tell me to pick up a cheque that day on the Friday morning, plus a £50 "apology" payment.

Obviously some MPs are more likely to help than others, but if you just state your story, including dates etc, it is worth trying.

I presume you have tried complianing to management etc at tax credits, how about press etc? It sounds like they have just put your stuff to the bottom of a pile and it is not fair - I think sometimes they forget that there are real people trying to feed their children on the money they are arsing about with.

Also, ring them every day. Even if someone says it is sorted, ring again the next day to check. I always ring at least twice for every change on anything, as there have been so many mistakes.

Tax credits line is open till bout 8ish and on weekends, btw, if that is any help.

Thanks for all the good advice,i have been to CAB,all they could do is get the forms resent out.
I am on the phone every lunchtime,the only time i have available to call (i work weekends too),i havent been able to get through at all.
I have been in touch with utility companies and they have been great but council tax credit office will not wait,just got a court summons this morning for non payment of Aprils council tax,i rang the bailiff who the debt will go to and gave them my incomings and outgoings,they said as your outgoings are more than your incomings,you cannot pay us so we will take goods to the value of the debt.
Sadly i cannot take a day off as i am the manager of volunteers,if they dont turn up,i dont get a day off.
Will give my M.P a go though,he might as well earn his keep lol.

You have a court summons for one months council tax arrears? That seems very extreme and if it hasn't yet gone to court you are a long way from balliff action,the court form from the council should give you the opportunity to make a payment arrangement or as a last resort an attachment of earnings before considering balliffs. If this is not the case I think you should speak to the CAB about it.

When do you finish work? Surely you don't work 8am to 8pm? If you have a speaker phone, just ring them, put it on speakerphone and do your stuff in the house while you wait for them to answer.

I doubt the bailiffs will come (if you speak to the council or the debt collection agency, they will let you pay in installments - the only way it could have got to debt collection will have been if you haven't replied to their letters etc, usually for months - I have previously had much more in arrears for various reasons and basically paid £10 a week for about a year on top of my normal council tax bill. They only contacted me a week after the bill was due, then of course I had a week to contact them, then it would have took them a week to reply as themselves, and they try a few times) (I have had a court summons about ten years ago when I was in my second flat, but that was because they lost us and so couldn't tell us about a £50 underpayment for 18 months, and even them no bailiffs actually came) but if they do, DO NOT LET THEM IN. They can't force their way in. Don't open the door to them, talk to them through the letterbox or window. There is plenty of advice on money saving expert.

April this year? Are you sure? Demand letters can be scary - ring the council to check. As in last month? You got a court summons, with a date for the hearing? Something has gone very very strange there.

Yes the summons was for April this year!!,i have never been in debt and when i rang the council they said i could not make an offer of payment as i wasnt on benefits!
But good news,went to the cash point yesterday and tax credits have paid out yippee,although they have only paid april and may,i have written to them today (registered post of course) and enquired about march payment as the law didnt change about backdating only a month until april,so fingers crossed,i can now pay my council tax.
What a huge weight off our shoulders,thank you everyone for all your help,

oh and p.s,i do work from 8am to 8pm,with travel to and from work :(