A letter from Concentrix oh behalf of HM REVENUE

[Howes68]

Hello please help if you can , I am worried sick , I got a letter from the above , the letter states We need to talk to you about whether you are living with a partner , I claim tax credit as a single person , they are saying that they have evidence that there may be another ault living with me , I do have a bf whom stays 3 days a week , they wish me to call , and are asking in the letter for Bills, tent from 06 April 2014 to Jan 2015 , scared they are going to horrible on the phone not sure what to make if it , feel sick , any tips or help would be great thank you

The independent newspaper has an article about concentric today which makes for worryingreading. Sorry can't link. But they have targets and one insider said six out of ten investigations opened wrongly

Just read the Independent article, It's disgusting what they are doing. They have won this contract from HMRC and are accusing as many people as possible as the only way they get paid is by cutting or stopping peoples tax credits. How is that even legal?! They accused me of living with a partner, on my second call to them it turned out to be my landlord, of course he's connected with this address, he owns this house! Of course me explaining that wasn't enough, so I've sent all the proof I have that he is my landlord, my tenancy agreement and my rent book. Also included his home address which I'm sure they wont even check up on. They are supposed to check if the person they think lives with you actually lives anywhere else before they accuse you of fraud. My documents arrived with them today so going by others experiences I wont know anything for a while. I've been reading this thread since I got my letter on the 13th Feb, it's helped me as I couldn't understand how they could have any evidence anyone lived here as no-one has since my ex partner left in 2012. Now I know they are accusing anyone they can.

I received a letter to, saying they had evidence that I was living with a partner. The person they named owns the property and lived here before me. So I have went from a single heterosexual mum, to a lesbian cohabiting with my landlady!!! I sent evidence she was my landlady and proof that bills are in my name. I have asked them to produce the evidence they have, still waiting to hear from them, perhaps I should have put a deadline date on it before I seek legal advice!!!

Hi everyone just an update on my situation. I still haven't heard from Concentrix but on Wednesday, 4 weeks tax credits went into my account. 4 weeks I struggled and borrowed and went hungry and couldnt afford decent food for my son! 4 weeks of hell. As happy as I am that it was backdated and my money went in today as usual. I am still so angry that I had to go through this hell for nothing! And If I hadn't went onto my online banking to cancel a dd I would never have known any money was in.my account. Still to this day I haven't heard a peep from them!! Not to mention my documents that I want back!

Reindeer's link made clickable: www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/people-in-need-at-risk-of-losing-tax-credits-after-being-wrongly-accused-of-cheating-10060745.html

You're doing sterling work, reindeer.

charlie, so relieved to hear that. But so unneccessary you've been put through that.

Charlie am pleased you got it all sorted but appalled your money was stopped for so long,it's disgusting that people are treated this way. Did anyone explain why your money was stopped in the first place? It seems we are being bullied into sending personal documents etc and being told if we don't our tax credits will be stopped,yes I know that some people do give wrong info on purpose but surely these letters that are sent out can be worded differently,not having trained staff is no excuse if staff are not trained then they shouldn't be allowed to deal with the public. As we all know there are plenty of unemployed people in this country so why can't Conentrix and HMRC take on more people and get them trained!! There's so many of us on this forum alone that are worried sick god only knows how many more there are.

Its now 21 days since I sent off my load of paperwork and still not heard a dicky bird or had my papers returned.
However my child and working tax credits are still going into my account weekly.

Does anyone have an address to write to HMRC to complain about Concentrix? I have also wrongly been accused of living with another adult and had all the worry and upset that this has caused plus they have managed to lose one set of bank statements. I have been told that they have essentially found me not guilty,but am left worried about the missing statements.

Not me (I've just been directed here via another thread). A friend of mine recently received a similar letter about being suspected of having a partner living at her address. She is not divorced yet, even though years after separation, and was asked why not, and advised that it might be a good idea to get one. She asked if that was official advice and they quickly tried to backtrack and became evasive. Not everybody does divorce after all...

Hope you all get this cleared up as quickly as possible. Horrible this is, and looks like fishing to me.

That's disgraceful, Charlie.

My friend was threatened with her payments being stopped if she didn't return the info by a specific date. Also, if they found any 'discrepancies'

cows I think there's an address on my letter so I will check and report back in the morning.
I think this thread has been a great support to many. Thanks Howes

AT LAST! We are being given a voice in the papers. The Independent on Saturday 21st February front page!. An excellent article saying just what is going on with regards HMRC tax credits and Concentrix. Needless to say the contribution from the HMRC to this article was a standardised load of tosh! I suggest that people out there use this article as a handy support/backup to any problems with their claims and just like 'itsgoingtoreindeer' did, please report it to your MP and refer them to the Independent article yesterday and/or go the the CAB.

As for complaining to HMRC, I personally wouldn't bother as I suspect their complaints dept has no real substance. I agree that the letter sent is very nastily worded. Interestingly many years ago, I received a similar worded letter direct from HMRC tax credits dept. (accusing me of claiming fraudulently which I certainly wasn't!) because I had changed childminders and they hadn't bothered to check their info on their database. At the time I complained about the tone of the letter and the way I was treated, when it was eventually sorted in my favour. You will never get an apology from HMRC. Clearly the HMRC powers that be, still don't care how nasty their correspondence is or the effect it has on claimants but now they are using Concentrix (see Independent article) to pick on everybody not just a select few.

Just an update on my situation. As previously stated, I am a single woman living with my parents presumably the adults I am accused of living with. I wrote a letter of complaint to both Concentrix and HMRC. So far I have heard back from HMRC who apologised for the way I had been spoken to and awarded me £40 for worry and stress caused and £10 for any costs incurred. So it is worth contacting them. From Concentrix I have only had my documents back - I sent a copy of my birth certificate and electoral register to prove my relationship to my parents. I didn't send my bank statements as so many have had them lost and they prove nothing. I also quoted this judgement which ruled that it is them who must prove you are living with someone not the other way round:
www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKUT/AAC/2014/543.html
The HMRC did say that when you are found "innocent" you can claim back the costs of photocopying and postage from Concentrix. They also said there is 4 week backlog from the time they receive your documents. So I am still waiting for Concentrix's decision but if it is the wrong one I shall be posing for photos with my parents for all the local papers and approaching my MP as I won't be bullied off tax credits when I'm not in any relationship!

Wow, cocacola, that judge absolutely demolishes HMRC, doesn't he? And the First-tier Tribunal.

How anyone had the strength to fight their case all the way through to the Upper Tribunal I don't know, but it shows up the sort of silly buggers HMRC were playing.

I know PausingFlatly - it's a wonder they are still asking people to prove they are single after that ruling. I think I would fight it all the way if they stopped my money.

Hi everyone,I've been busy emailing anyone I can think of who might be able to stick up for us about this,bbc,itv,this morning plus a few newspapers, will let you all know if I get a reply,not holding my breath though.

Morgan and the others on this thread thank you