Tax credits overpayment

[Dejected]

How do they happen when you've told the tax credits office about all changes as soon as they happen? I've had a letter saying I owe them £1248.20 in overpayments and to pay it in 30 days. I am barely making ends meet as it is. I can't afford to pay them back. I've told them everything as soon as I it happened. Surely it is their responsibility to make the changes to the amounts not mine?

What do I do?

Unfortunately because someone assigned this particular benefit to HMRC (an organisation more used to getting money in rather than handing it out) the onus, as with tax, is on the claimant rather than HMRC to make sure the award is correct.

Having said that, they do understand that it's not always possible to pay things back immediately. Do give them a call on the Tax Credit helpline and tell them your circumstances. They should be able to arrange something that recoups the money gradually over a longer period of time. Good luck

They did this to us, I rang them to say we could not pay it in 30 days. We arranged to pay it back over 3 years at £25 a month.

Thank you both. When I am a bit calmer I will ring them.

Your income must have been £3000 higher than they expected or you had a change of circumstances.

I owed a lot because of an issue with an ex and jsa. They allowed me to pay at £5 a week for a couple of years. Don't worry