Tax credits issue

[Aarrgghhhh]

I hope someone can help. I'm a single mum of 4 soon to be 3 at home and my tax credits have been stopped. I have been separated from my husband for 4yrs. Our finances and everything are separate. He has no fixed address as he's a long distance HGV driver so lives out of his lorry. Due to this I've allowed him to use my address for his drivers licence and car insurance as without these he can't work or see the kids. I tried to appeal their decision but received no reply until I got a letter saying my appeal was declined. I only work part time so I am financially stuffed. Any idea where I can go from here or what I can do as living on beans on toast gets boring

Is he registered at your address as well? Where does he stay when he's not living in the lorry?

Well , he must be living somewhere. Where does he go when he takes time off ?

You must be able to see how suspicious it looks to them if you hae his mail coming to your home? It is also very dodgy ( and against the law I think) to have his insurance registered at your address as it is fraudulent if he does not reside there. I would get him to redirect all post asap and get the insurance changed. HMRC are really clamping down on 'lone ' parents who have links to another adult at their address. have you sent them as much eveience as possible that you are single - bank statements etc? Perhaps get everything in order as far as getting his post / insurance removed and then re- apply as a new claim and hopr you are successful then? There are lots of different threads on similar problems where HMRC are disputing 'lone' parent status - maybe you can find some more useful advise on some of those threads from others who have gone through a similar thing.

Good point forever - where does he live when he has holidays/ days off etc? Does he have relatives he could have his post sent to? Not sure how he would get around the insurance though. If he spends his days off/ holidays at your home then this would make it look suspicious that you are a couple.

HMRC have a lot of resources at their disposal. They'll have found out that his licence and insurance policy are registered st your address. They'll have checked the address his employer/contractor has for him. They'll have looked at credit cards, bank accounts, loan agreements, even things like magazine subscriptions and loyalty cards. They will have ascertained that you are not divorced. They simply won't believe that he sleeps in his cab and never has time off in a house somewhere.

I am not suggesting that you're a scammer, but pointing out that they had a strong case for rejecting your appeal. They're currently clamping down on not-so-lone parents; unfortunately, the cheats have made it tough for people like you.

Once he's changed his home address with everyone, and the divorce is through, apply afresh.

Good luck.