I have also received a letter from Concentrix claiming they have 'evidence' of a partner living with me - as my husband died in 2001 and I havent even kissed another man since then, I find this particularly upsetting. Concentrix seems to have started as a telemarketting call centre and when I called them, they claim that they have evidence that my address is linked to multiple people (which, they informed me, may be people like previous tenants, my landlord etc) - I am wondering if they have stuck a load of marketing lists in to a computer then entered my address and looked at who has used it to come up with their so called evidence.
A recent Upper Tribunal appeal SB v HMRC (CTC/1824/2014) overturned HMRC's decision to withdraw SB's tax credits when she could not provide what HMRC considered sufficient evidence that no-one was living with her (how do you prove a negative?) and stated that the onus is not on SB to provide the evidence that she had claimed correctly, but on HMRC to claim that she had not. It the decision, the Tribunal mentioned S16(1)(b) of the Tax Credits Act 2002 and that it states that "where at any time duringthe period for which an award of tax credit is made to a person.... [HMRC] have reasonable grounds for believing that [the person] has... ceased to be, or never been entitled to tax credits for the period, [HMRC] may decide to amend or terminate the award." The judge stated that "the starting point was NOT for the appellant to show that the award had been properly made" but for "HMRC to make good the evidential basis for the 'reasonable grounds for believing'".
It looks like a telemarketting company is being used to 'fish' for anything that could be construed as evidence of wrong-doing in the hope of catching one or two people who are claiming incorrectly. Personally, I am NOT going to send any personal information to Concentrix - I dont trust them with it - I will contact my usual HMRC office and insist that they cough up the 'evidence' they have so that I can sort this out.
Hopefully, if we all bat this back to our usual HMRC office (especially at their busiest time of the year) and refuse to deal with Concentrix - and demand that they provide this evidence so that we can actually defend ourselves - they will stop this nonsense.
My providing bank statements back to April 2014, all my utility bills, benefits letters, and tenancy agreement does not prove there is no-one else living here, it just proves that everything is in my name - which is what someone deliberately trying to make a false claim would do, so how can I 'make my case' as Concentrix has told me to do when I dont know what 'evidence' I am actually trying to counter? If they just gave me the list of names (Concentrix has refused), I could tell them who they are (if I know them) and provide their addresses and contact details. Alternatively, here is an open invitation to Concentrix or HMRC, just knock on my door - any day, any time as my son rarely leaves the house - and come and have a look round - I'll even throw in a cup of tea.
Using scare tactics like this against parents who are financially vulnerable is totally unacceptable. I care for my son who is Autistic and am currently fighting HMRC at Upper Tier Tribunal for incorrectly withdrawing his Child Benefit, my local Council who have decided I owe them £1500 backdated to 2013 in Housing and Council Tax benefits for my daughter who they claim is over 25 (when she was born in 1992 and so is only 23 this year), the Student Loans Company who claim HMRC have informed them I should have been repaying my student loans, despite being on income support as I am a carer, and now this rubbish.
I am tired of living in fear and dreading it every time the postman comes to the door.