I wasted 2 weeks waiting for a from !!

[desire2017]

So I cancelled my single claim online and requested to be changed to a joint claim. I was told my HMRC online chat that I couldn't do this change over the phone and I had to wait for a form. I waited 2 weeks and it didn't come so I rang on Monday and the woman said I didn't need a form and she could do it for me there and then on the phone. Now I have to wait for it to be processed and I don't know how long this will be now. I am literally living off child benefit as partner doesn't get paid his wages till the end of the month. ( yes I am looking for work and have an interview soon) So why did they make me wait 2 weeks for a form which I was never going to receive ( 2 and a half weeks now) when I could do over the phone and I probably would be getting payments by now!! so how long could I be expected to wait?

It is an error, mistakes happen all the time although I can understand your frustration. HMRC advisors are not the best trained, it might have been someone new who gave you wrong information. I believe a single to joint claim takes longer than the other way around, it can take a good few weeks to sort and should be backdated. I think it may only be backdated to the day you apply now on the phone but if it was their mistake you could ask if they will backdate it to when you were wrongly advised about the form.
In the meantime, prioritise bills (rent and council tax) and use his wages ( presumably he got paid last month and still has some wages left? and cb. I'm not sure whether there might still be some kind of crisis loan that you could apply for in the meantime, hopefully someone more informed will come along and confirm that soon.

Thanks babyroobs

My partner had no wages left as he had to pay his costs for where he was living and other bills so by the time he came to mine he had nothing.
I was really hoping tax credits would backdate until the date my circumstances changed instead of from this Monday. I was relying on that to pay rent arrears so by time my partner is paid we will be in Track for rent. It's very stressful and it's my birthday on Friday, not going to be a fun one lol

I would suggest that you ring asap to complain about being misadvised, and ask for your new claim to be expedited due to the time you've wasted.

Thanks again

I am so stressed out! So it's been 3 weeks since changing my circumstances with tax credits and I've just rang them to ask the progress of my claim because after waiting 2 weeks for a form to be sent which never arrived she did it on the phone for me and told me to ring Friday which is today so I did and the guy told me That he had to tidy a few things up with the claim as the person who updated the claim has made a 'mess' and she 'could have done a better job' he said that me and my partners date of birth have been put down as the same so now a letter has been sent to me and I have to respond to this letter before the claim can progress. He said he couldn't override this on the phone. I am so fed up because of this problem didn't arise it would have been dealt with by now. He said 'I'm going to have to have a word with my supervisor about this' presumably he meant how the info of the claim got so wrong. But now this letter could take up to a week or two to arrive before getting payments. We are really struggling. I got a £50 loan from my 'cash plus credit builder' account to see me through thinking tax credits will be sorted and it's due to be paid back next week and I can't pay! 😢

Ring your bank and explain the situation. You're likely to find them much more helpful if you tell them the situation before your payment is late rather than having to default.

Good luck.

I'm really stressed out about this. They said it will take 2 weeks to receive the letter but I didn't receive the form so there is no guarantee I will receive this letter. I'm so stressed out because I can't live another 3 weeks without tax credits. That's 6/7 weeks altogether. This wasn't even my mistake! How can I make a complaint? This is going to put me in massive financial difficulty

I'm actually panicking because my partner has now told me that he can't give me much towards the rent when he gets paid and he said I need to make sure tax credits is sorted by then so I can pay the rest I'm really stressing out all because a woman didn't put the correct info

The tax credits helpline opens at 8am tomorrow. Call it and insist on speaking to a team leader. Then, say that it's a formal complaint.

TreeTop7 thank you

I will deffo call tomorrow because this isn't ok!

I rang up and the guy said he will email a referral to the 'team' whoes dealing with my claim to see if there is a quicker way to sort this issue out instead of waiting for a letter. Hopefully they do something.

So they emailed the 'back office' to ask for them to change my partners date of birth on the system but I have to wait another week before this gets sorted. I got a letter asking for loads of details about my partner but not sure I need to fill in now because they emailed the correct date of birth. But they are asking for all his details again and for his 2 previous addresses but I don't see how this is relevant. He lived with his friend for the last 4 years so this address wasn't really his house he was just lodging so not sure that will appear on any 'System' I'm just so stressed out because I can't pay nothing. I have to go sell my phone tomorrow for money and I will have no phone to contact anyone or my kids school can't contact me. How can it take 7 days to change one date of birth in a system?

Do you think they might suspect that you were already living together before you made the joint claim and that's why they are checking his previous address etc?

I'm not sure what they suspect. He didn't live with me before then. I even had one of those random checks they give to single parents about a 1-2 years ago and I had to send In bank statements and bills and everything and they sent me a letter saying they were satisfied with everything I sent. When I rang up they told me it's because they have put my date of birth the same as his date of birth so I don't know. Now after what you said I'm even more worried but he didn't live with me, he lived with a friend.

Sorry I didn't mean to worry you, it's just that I don't understand why they need proof of his previous addresses and just wondered if it could be an investigation as shouldn't normally take this long to sort. Hope you get it sorted.

Also it should be easy enough to prove his previous address as surely he would have been registered there for his work and would be on the electoral roll etc and would be registered at that address for Gp and dentist .

He's not on the electorol because he's not entitled to vote as he doesn't have British citizenship but he does leave to remain and is allowed to work and allowed access to public funds so he's not entitled to vote so he's not on the electorol. He's been here 14 years and worked every one of them and never claimed nothing so can't understand why things are so difficult now! It doesn't say provide evidence it just says to write the addresses in the form

It's still not been sorted. I can see this taking months. I am going to get evicted for sure because we can't pay our rent all other bills as well as buy food without this money. On Tuesday it will be 5 weeks since receiving any payments. That's including 2 weeks waiting for a non existent form. All this because someone put a wrong date of birth on. I'm so stressed out I don't know what to do