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

Not called yet , but I will , just emailed him back

I will email him over the weekend.

Hi everyone,I emailed Dickon Hooper this morning and he replied asking me to ring him him on Monday hopefully someone who will listen and actually try and do something constructive. I've noticed a few ladies on here haven't been around for a while hopefully they have got everything sorted out. Has anyone else emailed Dickon and got a reply?

I'm still following this thread as I'm interested to hear from everybody's outcome . I called concentrix last Monday and the person confirmed My tax credits didn't get amended or stopped as they were satisfied but a letter was apparantly sent out two weeks ago confirming this and I've not received it. So until I have it confirmed in writing I'll be 100% relaxed. Surely it can't take two weeks for a letter to arrive . I also had a very slight pay rise just after new year (£16per week extra) . Does anybody know if I have to call concentrix to tell them or HMRC .somebody told me as its a pay increase of less than £3000 I don't need to inform them. Any advice would be appreciated .

Still waiting for my 100% confirmation - sent birth certificates over 2 weeks ago and not heard anything formal yet. Was told all they needed was proof of kinship. I've not contacted the BBC researcher but would be interested to know what he's planning to do.

They are backdating the dates on the letters so it looks like they handling the cases within a certain timeframe or they leaving letters lying around not posted.

I can prove they not sending things out as quick as they should.

I was told mydocuments had been sent 24th February , this was 4 th March and I said I had requested on the paperwork I sent they must be sent back special delivery .
Guy on phone couldn't tell me if they were sent special delivery and I was saying it doesn't even take nearly two weeks for normal post so where are they?
Next day I get special delivery guaranteed by 1 0 clock my documents in a ripped envelope so you could see inside the letter.

The date on the enclosed letter was the 24 th February and it was 5 th March! Guaranteed special delivery. By 1 0 clock is a next day service, they posted my documents after I had phoned and asked where my documents were despite being told they had been sent weeks ago!

They have blatantly lied to you exmrs it's disgusting they get away with this,I've sent an email to the bbc researcher he's asked me to call him on Monday so watch this space. Incidentally I still haven't had my documents back been five weeks now and both sets of documents have been received and signed for.

I have complained to HMRC and concentrix as the envelope was ripped due to amount of paperwork , bizarrely I sent stuff in folders to protect the documents and annoyingly they sent the paperwork back on top of the empty folders to protect my documents!!! .

If the paperwork was sent in the protective files then the envelope ripping wouldn't have meant Royal Mail could peer inside the envelope and see my bank statements .
I just can't understand the logic of not putting the paperwork in the folders they came in rather than just send them back underneath my paperwork which was wet and creased.

I too received one of these threatening letters and went through the rigmarole of sending hundreds of confidential documents to a company with no proven track record of data protection. About five weeks after the documents were sent I got the all clear no adjustment letter and my documents returned.

The initial letter did actually name somebody as suspected of living with me. I do know this person and of course wondered how Concentrix had made the mistake of trying their name to my address. Conclusions I have come to is that Concentrix may have used the NHS computer system, this person visited the doctor from my house as a temporary patient whilst visiting. My other line of thought is that my visitor used my house as a delivery address for Amazon and this fact has turned up on one of the commercial mailing lists that Concentrix has access to.

The upshot of this is that I had a blazing row with this person and consequentially what was quite a nice friendship is now ruined. As a single parent it can be hard to integrate a new person into one's life and unfortunately HMRC\Concentrix with their heavy-handed approach may have actually managed to do the opposite of what they intended. What may have developed into a situation that would of happily decreased my eligibility for working families tax credit is now very unlikely to happen.

I have had a letter back from my MP today over Concentrix's treatment of me and them losing my heating oil receipt and bank statements. He says that he will be contacting HMRC on my behalf. I have already done this last month and am still awaiting a reply. I'll have to wait and see whether they take any more notice of an MP than they do of a poor person.

My documents are still missing too, want to ring to complain but can't be arsed to sit on hold for hours. When my identity gets stolen I kow who to blame!!

Looks like the pile of reply letters are stuck in a pile then . This is unacceptable as we were given a deadline to hand in information , they said we would hear soon. . This isn't soon. It's over a month now for me.

Been five weeks for me Katy69, I had to send bank statements despite the fact I was told on my first phone call I didn't have to send them(second phone call to them told me I had to send them) and was given till today as my deadline! They give us deadlines but take their time in replying absolute shambles

Over 6 weeks since they received my information and they have not made a decision. I have been in touch with them re. Errors they made but STILL no final decision!

Well I have had a letter back from Concentrix saying they are not going to amend my award but I haven't received any of my documents back!
It has been about 5 weeks since I sent them in.
Incompetent Arseholes!!

I was told to call back if I hadn't received my decision letter (which was apparantly two weeks ago ) so looks like they are aware that people aren't receiving letters , this is a shambles. I want confirmation in writing that my case is closed. I can't get through to them. I can't put mysef to lis ten to that music again .how difficult is it to reply to a letter? They are lying to us. I don't beleive letters have ben sent out. They know that. We shouldn't have to go through this waiting for the brown envelope arriving . My case is closed. So they say .... I think I will write to them asking for my letter. Why can't they email us ? Most people have intermet now. . The council seems to be able to email . This would be so much easier. And faster !!

I have posted on here previously regarding the letter from Concentrix stating they have evidence that I may be living with somebody. After several phone calls to both Concentrix and HMRC to ask what this evidence is I still have not been given an answer. This must be due that as I have lived on my own for 8 years and there is not any. I contacted my MP regarding this who contacted the HMRC and after a month has received a response. The response is saying its a standard letter etc etc and I just need to send the information which I am not happy with as the letter basically targets single parents and accuses them of fraud. I have contacted Concentrix tonight to ask for another extension on my deadline while my complaint is investigated. ( I am not prepared to send confidential data to Concentrix ). They told me the could not do this so I called HMRC again to speak at a very rude and patronising lady that told me it doesn't matter who I complain too and if I don't me send the info by the deadline my money will stop. When I asked questioned what evidence they had I was informed she couldn't comment but her concern was why I was being so defensive and couldn't just send the information. I will be contacting my MP again tomorrow as he wanted my thoughts on the H MRC response and said he would be happy to contact a Minister. I will also be making him aware of the treatment I have received today when i have done nothing wrong. Something really needs to be done about this as it looks like despite all the complaint these letters are still being sent out.

Helen I have requested the information under the freedom of information act as I am intrigued as to who they think I am living with!
I haven't had a response but I put it to them that either someone is using my address fraudulently or they have made a mistake and I would like to know which it is as it cost me a lot of money to print out all the information.
I think another poster on here said they requested the information but not sure if they had a response yet.

I too think they are sending letters to try and catch people out, I also don't agree with the checking everything in one persons name proves they live alone. If anything this fishing exercise has told me to commit fraud all one has to do is make sure everything is in my name if someone was living with me.

exmrs this is exactly what I asked them. I asked what bank statements in my name prove.They said its not because its in my name its so they can check my day to day transactions to decide if I live alone. Surely that is not legal unless I am put under caution for fraud !!!! I have said I wll send the info to HMRC but will not be sending it to Conentrix esp after I have read about so much info not being returned. The helpful woman at hmrc suggested I send it recorded delivery !!! Thanks for the advice. They don't understand the complaint that when you have done nothing wrong you should not be getting that letter. I asked them why you sign an annual declaration and she said she couldn't answer that either

Please can anyone that has not sent the info let me know if their money has been stopped and what reasons you have been given. I am quite happy for HMRC to look at whatever they want but not to send original documents through the post. I work in an accounts / payroll environment and this goes against any training I have ever had regarding confidentiality.

Helenbbb111, I was accused of having a partner, even though I have been single for over 2 years. When I first phoned they wouldn't tell me anything and said just send everything. I also felt very wary of doing this as I have done nothing wrong and knew they couldn't have any evidence. I phoned again a few days later and said to them they cant have evidence. I said the only person connected with me at my address was my ex who moved out in 2012. They said it wasn't them. I then said the only other person I could think of was my Landlord and they confirmed it was them. They still wanted everything even though I explained to them who it was. I only sent my tenancy agreement, rent book, council tax bill and housing benefit letter as they state the number of people in my household. I also provided them with the home address of my so called partner! I got everything back last week and there will be no change to my tax credits. I have also seen people on netmums get it all sorted on the phone. They can threaten all they want but if you have done nothing wrong then they shouldn't be stopping tax credits. They clearly have no data protection rules either because loads of people have been told who they are accused of living with. They are a bunch of liars. They only get paid if they catch people out so are accusing as many people as possible with evidence so tenuous its disgusting. Hth!

Helenbbb111 - I’ve been away from this thread for a while due to serious illness within my family which has taken all my time. I have just come back the last few days to update myself and am trying to find the time to write a proper update. Saw your message and couldn’t help but respond with at least a reasonable reply.
Without going into massive detail, I did refuse the information required. My reason was:

1. I did not know who I was providing the information to. Concentrix is a general trading name for an American Corporation made up of numerous companies. The HMRC contract was given to a ‘worthless’ UK company owned by Concentrix Corporation who sub-contracted to another one of their companies – which is a secret (for commercial reasons?). My point is I have every right to know exactly who I am providing my personal information to. HMRC nor ‘Concentrix’ know who the actual sub-contractors are!!!
2. Having spoken to the ICO (Information Commissioners Office) you can submit an ‘Subject Access Request’ to find out what information they hold. They may not comply but I don’t know if this has been tested...
3. You have a legal right to ‘Raise a Concern’ with HMRC. They are the Data Controllers not Concentrix. This is a warning that you require an answer before reporting them to the ICO with formal complaint. (Template letter on their website).
4. Your reasons for a complaint to the ICO can include, excessive information, misleading information, unwarranted accusations without appropriate proof, abuse of power, reason to believe that your information is not being held (or used) securely...the list goes on.....(and there is plenty of evidence). Not to mention that HMRC did not issue a ‘Fair Processing notice/ or equivalent’.
5. Citing case: (SB V HMRC (CTC/1824/2014) – worth a look....Mentioned here a few times before.
6. Much more.....

Concentrix staff (caseworkers) are poorly trained and on minimum wage. Their team leaders are scared if they are challenged. My advice is don’t be bullied. Be informed - the law is on your side but it takes courage. HMRC/Concentrix are banking on people being desperate and in fear of payments being stopped. I am pretty sure I have been buried in the hope I will go away!!!! (Another story)

If all the information, legalities and horror stories were collated properly (factually) and presented, it may help the many currently under ‘investigation’ or awaiting letters that are sure to come.
They are in a mess and they know it (so do HMRC). I know they are trying to ‘cover up’ their mistakes and while it is just individual cases, dealt with one at a time, they will get away with it. A united approach is required!

Just want to agree with what Limes61 has said. They can threaten all they like - if they stop your Tax Credits (very unlikely) sue them. They have no legal right unless they can prove it. Data Protection is there for your benefit not theirs!!!

I've been watching this thread for a while and have contributed my own story too,am I the only one who has received this letter from HRMC and not concentrix? The letter I received is exactly the same as those of you that have received a letter from concentrix. Incidentally I received the exact same letter two years ago and that was from HRMC too

Thanks Suzy914. I again now and will start the process that you have listed as I am not going to be bullied by call centre workers.