Has ANYONE has a good experience with Tax Credits!?

[Tikitiki2]

At the moment I am not due any money from them.
In a couple of weeks, situations are changing and I will be due money from them, except I'm in the middle of a chat cancelling my claim because I can't handle the stress of claiming again.

I used to get money from them until a mistake they made meant I had to pay back thousands, still in the midst of paying it back.
I tried to fight it, sent letter after letter but in the end lost every ounce of energy I had and gave up, so started paying it back.

Has anyone has a good experience with them? Got their money, and never had countless overpayments?

I'm beyond irritated because the hundred a month I'd be due from them could help but I don't think my mental health would survive more stress!!!

Well we used to get lots of money in tax credits many years ago when my children were small and most of the time it was problem free. However we did run up overpayments because I could never accurately predict how much I would earn because my wages could vary so much each month. When we started earning above the threshold we still had £800 in overpayments which they demanded back all in one go but they eventually agreed to £25 a month for 3 years. I do remember feeling very stressed by it all at the time and I'm glad we don't need to claim anything now. I think overall though for the help we got it wasn't too bad. I guess it depends how much you need the money. It is a very complex system and urgently needs reform.

Also I would say keep records of every phone call that you make to them ( take names etc) and letters so that you can prove what they said and that mistakes were theirs.

I remember the feeling well OP.

I've claimed them 2/3 times I think.

And I've had 2 over payments. 1st was my own fault as I left it more than a month to tell them I had split from DP.

2nd was there fault, I rang up to close my claim and they continually paid me, I was calling them every week to say I had closed the claim etc, in total I'd received a couple of hundred pound over paid and luckily saved it till they requested it back around a year later.

I think if you need the money then you've gotta stick at it, but be as accurate as possible with giving them information, and repeat things back to them several times, record dates you called & who you spoke to etc.

In the couple of years after they were set up, when they had enough trained employees and could even (gasp!) tell you what your entitlement would be during the initial phone call, great. Once they started reducing staff, giving the ones left fewer responsibilities and so less training and generally becoming less and less approachable or accountable as a body, not so much...

I mean seriously, having a department that even the advisers aren't allowed to speak to in person doing the calculations for awards in their own sweet time? In what world is that acceptable?

My experience has been pretty straightforward. I don't work though (just get carers allowance and income support) so I don't actually have to supply information about my income, it's just a tick box to say I'm on IS. I don't have any childcare costs as DCs have SN and can't cope with being in childcare. I've been on tax credits for over ten years and never had an overpayment.

They're hideous, they won't let you update a change until after it's happened then take ages to process it & overpay you in the meantime, say nothing then demand it all back years later. Actually on phone in tears earlier to them & had the bloke on the phone laugh at me & tell me it's not his problem !