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Original poster

Random HMRC error? Please help

43 replies

PumbletonWakeshaft · 10/10/2017 15:08

My husband has just had an HMRC payment taken from his credit card out of the blue. He phoned his bank and they said it was for some kind of child support and they couldn't get it back. He is in full time employment, we have one child together, we claim no benefits (apart from basic child benefit, which goes to my account), he has no other children. We are totally baffled by this! Unfortunately he is unable to call them from work to find out what is going on and will have to wait until his day off to call them.

Has anyone else had this happen to them? The only explanation we could think of was that as he has a common name (think for example James Smith) it might be mistaken identity?

Either that or when he recently did the government portal to see if we were eligible for any help with nursery fees, he triggered something? Although that doesn't explain why he would pay them and not the other way around...

All very confusing. Any shared experiences would be welcome. I'm twiddling my thumbs in frustration that I can't sort it for him! Please no comments that he might have a child elsewhere - he doesn't. TIA.

OP posts:

happymumof4crazykids · 10/10/2017 22:18

Hmmm none of this rings true and all. Hmrc cannot debit a credit card that they would have had no details for. A bank cannot debit a credit card without your permission. If your husband was sent a cheque for ppi it would have been paid into your bank account, the bank could possibly have charged a bank account for tax ( not without writing to you and informing you first! ) but not a credit card!

LoveProsecco · 10/10/2017 22:40

Sorry but I also think this sounds

Original poster

PumbletonWakeshaft · 10/10/2017 22:45

I don't disagree with things not adding up - but to be fair to DH, he has only had an answerphone message from the bank, he hasn't had a chance to look into it properly yet. He can't use his phone at work so it's difficult for him to call them in the day - hence waiting for his day off as in the original OP. He has said he will try and get a call in at lunch tomorrow so (hopefully) can get a straight answer then.

He's pretty tenacious with things like this so he will get to the bottom of it. He's the kind of person who will complain when things aren't right (and usually wangle some kind of compensation), he will negotiate with sales people, get us money off things or upgrades - he has no fear! Unlike me, who gives in straight away and would probably say sorry too

OP posts:

LineysRun · 10/10/2017 22:51

Would you normally have access to his credit card or online credit card statement? Because you know this is all made up. You must do.

fridaseyebrows · 10/10/2017 23:04

If I recall correctly there was a recent change in law which requires banks to deduct tax at source on the interest element of PPI refunds, even though tax is no longer deducted at source on savings as a PP mentions. So nothing necessarily odd there. V odd though that they would have sent a cheque and then debited the tax separately, i would expect there to be something in the correspondence re the refund that explains their process. Prob worth looking at that before speaking to the bank to clarify. Was the credit card that was debited one that the PPI refund related to?

Original poster

PumbletonWakeshaft · 10/10/2017 23:10

Just because the situation is weird doesn't mean DH isn't being honest @lineysrun. It's really not helpful to imply that he isn't. All that has happened is some money has come off his credit card, we don't know what it's for and we are talking about it as that's what couples do.

The bank haven't given a straightforward explanation for the money being taken off the credit card, so we will hope to get more info tomorrow. That's it really. There's no big conspiracy here. The problem is that so far we've had two separate stories from the bank, neither of which make much sense, especially in the light of what other people have been (helpfully) saying about how tax and PPI work - if it even is for that as god knows what kind of story we're going to get tomorrow from whoever it is that answers the phone.

In short - the bank have the explaining to do. Not DH. And we want the money back!

OP posts:

Original poster

PumbletonWakeshaft · 10/10/2017 23:13

@fridaseyebrows thank you for that, it would make sense. And yes it was deducted from the credit card that the PPI claim was made for. I wonder when the changes came into play and if this might be a factor? Will see if we have the letter that the cheque came with (not holding out much hope there though!).

OP posts:

WitchesHatRim · 10/10/2017 23:14

In short - the bank have the explaining to do.

No it's whoever has taken it does, not the bank.

It all sounds rather.....odd

MyDcAreMarvel · 10/10/2017 23:18

Bank can't charge a cc without consent.

LineysRun · 10/10/2017 23:42

Well exactly. They can put money on it, but not take off it. Not without consent.

LillyLollyLandy · 11/10/2017 19:53

Did you get to the bottom of it, OP?

LineysRun · 11/10/2017 20:22

Sorry OP, if I upset you. Apologies. It's just that it sounds like fraud or bullshit.

Barmaid101 · 12/10/2017 10:53

Can a bank even leave a voicemail? Would that not go against data protection. Sounds fishy to me!

LoveProsecco · 12/10/2017 20:51

Did you get to the bottom of it?

scrabbler3 · 12/10/2017 23:23

How did it come to light? Did you open the statement and ask him to investigate? Or did he bring it to your attention?

HMRC don't deduct monies from customers' credit cards without permission.

It could be fraud or it could be that you are being misled.

Hope everything turns out ok.

gamerchick · 12/10/2017 23:35

Sounds like your husband is telling fairy stories to me OP. Anyone could leave a voicemail and that’s assuming you actually heard the message.

I’ve never heard of a ppi claim being taxed on some random credit card.

Original poster

PumbletonWakeshaft · 14/10/2017 23:24

Hi, yes all resolved. I wasn't upset, just a bit baffled, but taken a while for us to find the time to sit down and properly sort it out.

It was a credit card company, not proper bank, my mistake. Yes is tax for PPI payment. Credit card company v apologetic as should have been deducted at source but wasn't so they just took it off the card. We insisted they explain formally in writing.

So - be warned if you have claimed PPI refund recently this could happen to you if tax has not been already deducted, although you would hope that finance companies would have their processes sorted by now.

No funny business. Very happy marriage! Finances back on track :)

OP posts:

MotherofA · 15/10/2017 09:05

This will most likely be a scam by the sounds of it.

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