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

I have been told that I have been found innocent.Unfortunately when my documents were returned there were 2 things missing-a receipt for heating oil and a set of bank statements. So for me the worry is continuing as I feel that I have to check the account daily for unauthorised activity. I have sent letters of complaint to HMRC and Concentrix and emailed the Independent newspaper and the BBC.The lady from the BBC has replied and they are hoping to interview HMRC.

Well done cowshindtail. That's why I didn't trust them with any originals but then I worried they wouldn't accept them. I reckon that if they lose any statements they should have to pay for you to obtain replacements from the bank.

Oh my goodness well done cowhindstail,so pleased you've had good news,how long did it take for them to come to a decision if you don't mind me asking. I'm impressed you've had a reply from the bbc I've had nothing from no-one yet but I've emailed that many people I'm sure ill get a reply from someone one day lol

I had my reply today!
I was asked for proof my childcare provider exists and proof of my payments. I sent the childcare provider number and invoices and bank statements (an earlier poster mentioned about blanking out other transactions showing on statements - I did blank them out)
They had sent me a new award notice. They made mistakes!
I called the usual helpline number and was told to call the number that was on my request for the childcare info. They acknowledged they made a mistake - they had myself and my husband down as not working - even though the yearly figures for our wages were there.
She managed to adjust my details correctly but didn't have any details for my husband and I have to call her back on Monday with a PAYE number for him.
They also had that we had no childcare costs but she was able to adjust that over the phone.
I will be nervous again now as I know how easily they can make an error. So it's still not over for me

I am totally disgusted by this whole situation. I received my Concentrix letter (dated 18th Jan) on 23 Jan. It named my ex as being the partner they had evidence I was living with, he left here 16 years ago & we divorced! Goodness knows what evidence they have to suggest otherwise after all this time, needless to say they refused to tell me.

I phoned the number & gave all details they wanted but they were still adamant I had to send all paperwork to them. I then spent most of the weekend gathering paperwork & sent it recorded delivery on 26th Jan, it was signed for on 30th Jan. To date I have heard nothing & still not even had my paperwork returned. I sent so much in that envelope, bank statements, mortgage statement, council tax bill, gas/electric/water/phone/broadband bills, decree absolute & solicitors letter, CSA letter, they wanted the lot from Apr 2014-Jan 2015.

I read further up this thread that there was a recorded message saying please wait 28 days to contact as there was a backlog, so next week it will be more of my time & money wasted trying to contact them to sort this mess out.

I'd give them a call on Monday maidofkent24, yes there's probably a backlog but no excuse on their part considering their demands for everything to be sent back by a certain date or else!!! I had the same letter but its from HMRC my letter said should hear something after ten working days but i haven't heard anything yet,no surprise there.like you I'm disgusted by this treatment which amounts to bullying tactics IMO. Good luck and keep us all posted.

It's crazy & so unnecessary. An official dept. such as HMRC can easily access PAYE or NI details, CSA claims, Electoral Roll, even maybe DVLA etc, to check addresses of these so-called partners. In most cases these letters would then never have needed to be sent out.
More concerning to me at the moment however is my missing paperwork, more than enough details for anyone else to be 'me' should they so wish.

Very unnecessary maidofkent24,give them a call as soon as you can hopefully they will have your paperwork well they should have it if its been signed for. What an absolute shambles this is and mostly a waste of time and effort. We're all concerned about what's gong to happen and to make the wait just a bit more unbearable most of you on here have received your stuff back with a letter saying you will be informed of their decision at a later date.!!! Disgraceful. When I get a reply from someone willing to help us I shall let you know and hopefully some of you will help me put something together so we can stand up for ourselves.

I have no idea where my paperwork has gone - no mention of it in the decision letter. I will have to ring them next week to ask where it is.

I never got my paperwork back either. Also they made mistakes. but I am too worried and scared to say anything as they have all the power

Finally heard back & everything's ok they don't need to change my award. Got the letter today but dated 13th feb. I've been waiting since 12th jan. Although I knew I didn't do anything wrong it's very worrying. So don't worry all if it's taking long, it's probably in the post.

There was a good item about the letters on BBC Radio 4's Money Box today. If you missed it, it can be heard on bbc iplayer:

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b053rz5m

Neither HMRC or Concentrix wanted to be interviewed!

After listening to Money Box, if you want to comment, go here:

ssl.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qjnv/contact

Has anyone been successful in claiming expenses back the cost of sending proof?

I'm thinking of sending along the lines of ' due to your evidence that I had another adult living with myself and I have sent proof to confirm this is not the case then I would like the cost of photocopying and special delivery postage refunded as your information was inaccurate '

It's going to be hard to prove I used a full ink cartridge already bought in my printer other than me saying look at the amount of stuff I printed for you.

Maybe I should try a leaf out if their book and put the onus of proof on them!

Dear concentrix it is up to you to prove I didn't waste a full ink cartridge on printing priced at approx £35

exmrs,all you can do is try,the worst they can say is no. It's disgraceful they get away with sending nasty letters scaring the life out of people then sending letters telling people it's ok no need to change anything,or we have to change your award and you owe us thousands.

i had my paperwork back yesterday after sending it on the 31st of jan , the letter said we will write to you in due course about your tax credit claim , no mention of the adult they say i am living with as there isnt one, they are obviously not listening or reading to what i have said as i havent had any tax credits since last june !

On again on Radio 4 right now.

Hello ladies, my ex partner has got one of these letters and last weds she was found on the kitchen floor surrounded by mountains of paperwork and she had self harmed quite badly, she has suffered a complete breakdown from all of this, and her crime is she has support from me and her family as she is chronically I'll with constant pain and ME and our middle daughter suffers mental health and we have endured this for 4 years now banging on every door for help, we spilt up 4 years ago but not divorced, I have never seen so much paperwork that she was found with and now thanks to them they have pushed her to this breakdown! I'm furious she has not done anything wrong and all I and her family have done is support her as best we can, but I am back at the home now as social services advised ME to do so as my ex is acutely ill and will take quite some time to recover from this, so I have moved in so I can look after them to get her back to her old self, so either the kids went into temporary care or I moved in, you know what I want HMRC to investigate because I want her time in front of a judge, how many more have been falsely accused? And yes she is vulnerable, I want to tell you ladies this as I'm sure my ex is not the only vulnerable claimant. I am now getting authority to speak for her on this and other matters and I'm ready to fight for her, I never knew the extent of what she was trying to cope with, the MP is furious and we now have teams around her to take the load off, my advice keep on at these people and boy are they going to regret there nasty letters. Good luck and keep going, Dan

Hi Dan i hope your ex partner is ok and getting the help she needs. Yes a lot of us are stressed and worried about this. It's disgusting how they ask for so much,I rang as soon as I got my letter was told no don't send bank statements just send the receipts you have,I've rang again today they told me they received my documents on the 19th feb but they were signed for on 12th of feb,now it turns out I HAVE to send bank statements in and they've kindly given me til 15th feb to send them. So more expense,more worry and how can they possibly tell if I'm living with someone from my bank statements? I'm so frustrated now. Does anyone know if you can blank out bits of the statements in case they fall into the wrong hands.

I blanked out info from my statements.
for your ex-partner Dan.

EtenalBeauplate,can you tell me what info you blanked out please and did they query it at all. I'm so annoyed I've spent oner 2 hours trying to get through only to be told I have to send bank statements in.