Concentrix wrote to tell me they had "evidence" there may be a partner living with me. (There most definitely is not)
I rang them immediately. Their computer system was down. I asked what the evidence was and they said "Under the D.P.A. (Data Protection Act) we cannot tell you." I asked if I had any rights under the F.O.I. (Freedom of Information Act) to find out what this so-called "evidence" might be, so that I could refute it. They told me I did not.
They then said the only thing I could do was send them original copies of Bank Statements, Benefits, Mortgage or Rental Agreements, Household bills, Legal docs pertaining to my marital status, Council Bills from April 2014 to Jan 2015. I said I was not happy about doing this because of the inconvenience, postal expense and my concerns in case the documents were misplaced. They told me if I did not comply "we will stop your tax credits". (not we may not be able to make a decision accurately and it might affect your credits, but we WILL).
Now, I suffer from acute clinical depression (which I try hard to fight) and also vertigo (which leaves me exhausted sometimes) and Chronic Fatigue Symptoms, so I work from home and do the best I can to do as much work as I can, but I am limited. I felt I was being unreasonably threatened on unfair grounds and unsound "evidence", so I complained and asked for my case to be escalated to speak to a Manager which they duly did and we basically went round in circles getting nowhere and just repeating the same information so I asked them to please make a note that I was unhappy and wanted to complain and to enter that on the system when it was working again.
I was obviously stressed and worried so I spent most of that night fretting and looking up the internet. Thankfully a friend suggested Mumsnet and that was very helpful - so I am returning to add my story and possibly provide some more helpful advice.
I picked up some useful information;
The Information Commissioner's office ico.org.uk/
was helpful and had instructions and a template for a complaint letter where you can add your own details. ico.org.uk/for-the-public/raising-concerns/
I also checked the Data Protection act and found I have rights to ensure information is accurate and up to date. (which clearly it is not)
I also have rights to know (roughly) certain details about the information held about me and how it is being processed. (sections 7)
www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/29/section/7
There is also a Government Charter tinyurl.com/qyyhmj2
Which says they will "help and support me to put things right"
"Do all we can to keep the costs of dealing with us as low as possible"
"put mistakes right as soon as we can"
(etc.)
Having had no joy with Concentrix, I checked the paperwork and found a number for HMRC and rang them directly. Again didn't get much joy, so asked to speak to a Manager who said he couldn't do much about an external organisation, but would put me onto Complaints dept, who duly discussed my issues and concerns and raised a complaint and said he would ring back to update me.
I then rang Concentrix for the second time and this time their computer was working. The chap was perfectly nice and polite, apologised and discussed things sensibly, but, again, could not and would not share any information. Though he did explain it may be that a previous resident still had accounts registered with this address. I knew the name, because I had been returning any mail to sender and the Housing Association were able to confirm this name but Concentrix operator said he was not even allowed to confirm or deny this.
I felt that one simple document could end this grief, my rental agreement with the housing association, but it seems I am still obliged to send off ALL these ORIGINAL documents, which obviously I need to copy just in case they misplace them or go missing in the post.
Today HMRC Complaints dept. rang back, apologised Concentrix had not responded and offered me compensation for the distress (£40) and expense of phone calls (£10) if I agreed to close the complaint. I explained it was not about the money, but the principle of the thing if, according to Mumsnet (etc.) there were other people being distressed by this ridiculous process and some frantic with worry. (as detailed in this very forum)
Coincidentally Concentrix e-mail to him arrived during our chat. They said they had spoken with me, we had come to an agreement that I would send documents and I had not made any reference to a complaint with them. (wrong!)
Just after that Concentrix rang and it was their complaints department now, so I listed 7 reasons I was unhappy and the nice man took notes. He said he had also listened to the recordings of my previous calls to them. He was very nice and apologised and seemed to understand my issues entirely and was kind and helpful. He also promised to ring back - and said there might possibly be compensation involved. Again I said it was not about money - though this will cause me a loss of time and some expense, but the principle of sending out letters accusing people of fraud and threatening taking away benefits to which they are entitled.
Furthermore, I don't feel any of the paperwork they have requested would ultimately prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that I have no partner living with me. For example, several years ago I had a good friend down on his luck so I let him stay with me for about 5 months till he got sorted out. I was employed and had my own house, so it was nobody's business (at that time) but in no way would my bank statements or bills reflect any difference whatsoever that would indicate someone was or was not living with me.
It is not over yet - I AM still obliged to send the paperwork. I am still not happy and ultimately I still have to wait for them to make a decision, so I am left worrying over them taking away a part of the income I depend upon.
Nevertheless, I figured if I shared this information perhaps if more of us complain they might change their procedures to something more reasonable and stop frightening people. Perhaps they might even change the wording of their standard letter and the way they respond to telephone callers trying to sort things out.
The crazy thing is I keep 100% honest records and if they had simply said "Mr B, we are carrying out random checks and it would help if you could provide information" I would have complied - not happily, but I have nothing to hide.
I do understand there are those who may be making fraudulent claims, I really do, but I'm not one of them and I resent being accused and threatened on the basis that some other person has not been keeping their accounts up to date at my address. It is crazy and a waste of time and money. There are bad days in my life when I might not have been so able to deal with all of this and I still need to get into town to get some paper to print out those accounts which are now "paper-free" and I probably need another ink cartridge to do it.
Frankly, I'd rather be online trying to get more work in so I can earn more and pay yet more tax to finance the government and fellow citizens, but I have to stop and scan in copies off multiple accounts for several months for my own protection and spend this time on the phone trying to get to the bottom of this so-called "evidence" (which has still not been made clear to me) It is insane, exasperating, frustrating and, in my view, completely unnecessary.