Tax credits :(

[JabberJay]

Hi all- need some advice from anyone in the know about tax credits, please.

Friend is a single parent, one ds aged 9x. Got made
redundant in Feb and been claiming job seekers allowance since then.

Her child tax credits have been 5 pound a week only. She told me this today and said she thinks it's due to the changes to the system that were talked about to happen in April.

I got her to call the helpline as it sounded too low. Turns out she she is actually entitled to £68 per week! So since she's been on benefits in Feb she's missed
out on £63 per week! So much money for her, she's really been struggling to get by. :(

Anyway, tax credits people say that the reason she was only getting 5 pound a week was because her estimated income for this tax year Apr 2012- Apr 2013
was still at her full time wage (about 21k I think) and the system was never updated when she stopped earning and moved onto benefits. She says she called them and told them, they have no record of the call.

It was hard to understand the advisor as he had a strong accent and seemed rushed. So does anyone know what happens now? Of course she'll start getting paid at the higher rate soon but what about all the money she missed? Will that be forgotten, spread out over the rest of the year's payments or paid in one lump sum? Can she make a complaint about them
not actioning the call she made to them and denying it ever took place which has cost her over £1000
in benefits she desperately needed.

Thanks for Reading and any advice JJ

I think she will get a (very welcome I would imagine) lump sum.

She will get a one off payment for the missing amount.

I'm not sure about the complaints proceedure for TC, anything on the Website apart from the Appeals process?

Interestingly the exact same thing has just happened to my mum, except they not only suddenly stopped payments after 4 years, but they wanted all of last years money back! When she rang them last week they told her the problem was that their computer system didn't update last years earnings, and when the woman tried to correct it, it still wouldn't update

She'll find out tomorrow if her payments have actually been made... but unless your friend has had a new amended payments awarded statement, or the backpayment is in her account pretty soon, i think she should double check that all is as it should be on their system by phoning.

Oh that would be great- think I'll ask for some comission! :)

My records were not up to date when I spoke to them in June- like your friend they said they had no record of the call... However they were very helpful once they did have all the info and gave me a lump sum to cover what I'd missed. It sounds like she will get a fair chunk- mine was only roughly £20 a week difference but all added up it came to £650.

Always always ask for the person's name and say you're making a note of their name, date and time of the call. Ask them to do the same on your records. I speak from bitter experience. It's shit being told you're a liar and being almost bankrupted because of their mistake.

I think she's learnt the lesson of recording names and ones of calls. Well it's been 63 a week since February which is 23 weeks so about 1500 owing to her. They also didn't change her yearly income for tax year 2011-2012 when she got made redundant in Feb as her income Feb-April was then zero instead of full time wage, so they had her down as 21k instead of about 17-18k, so hopefully she'll get a little lump sum for that too.

Unfortunately, they will only backdate by one month now thanks Dave.

Also, thanks Dave they will ignore the first £2500 drop in income, which means that the first £1025 of extra tax credits due will not be given (tax credits are withdrawn at a rate of 41p for every extra £1 of income). Sorry

Ah but perhaps it's different if they have made the mistake. I also thought the "backdating" rule only applied to new claims not mistakes on existing ones? (been reading up on it this morning)

For example, perriebear states above that she called in June and was bakdated a substantial amount. But yes, the website states they only back date one month.

It seems best to just "wait and see" with tax credits. Once when I was claiming a few years back I got a random few hundread every now
and then, quiried it and told they had "recalculated" mostly. I'll tell my friend to cross her fingers and what the tax credits fairy brings :)

They can't deny calls that have been made as every call is recorded. And to be fair they just wouldn't if they could.

It will depend on whether they believe that she did phone and update them. Presumably they will ask why, if she updated them, she didn't query the fact that her tax credits remained at £5 per week.

I think the new rules only apply from this year on, worth checking. Get your friend to call again and ask.She will probably get a lump sum into her account quite soon.

I've had tax credits for 3 years now and each year I've over estimated my income in-year and recived a lump sum after renewal time in June when they have the actual figure.

JabberJay - love your nn by the way - I'm half way through book three and fully enthralled

Thanks all- will wait and see...

MrsKL- I loved them all too! Once you've finished reading them try a book called PURE part of a new trilogy. Alnost as good! Except only the first one is out, next part is next year!