Writing a STRONG worded complaint to the tax credits

[MrsSnape]

In a nutshell...I made a claim as single parent in January 05. Didn't recieve any money until May 05. "Computer Problems" prevented my claim from going through properly so all payments had to be made by Giro.

All this was 3 YEARS AGO and I have been recieving the same amount every 4 weeks in giro form since.

They have also ignored one complaint letter.

I was phoned today by a bloke from inland revenue telling me he's looked at the claim and I've been treated poorly and should write a strong worded letter complaining and also asking for the money I missed from the period Jan - March 05 plus seek compensation.

But I'm so annoyed I want ALL of what I'm owed. This includes the money from Jan - May 2005, all of the difference of what I SHOULD have been getting paid for the past 3 years which I think is about £10 a week more than what I HAVE been getting paid PLUS a number of payments they missed last year whilst they "sorted out my new claim".

So, how exactly do I write a good enough letter to get what I want and realistically, do I have any chance of ever seeing this money or seeking compensation?

I've got to write and complain to tax credits too.

Will be keeping my eye on this thread - sorry I cant really help.

I hope you manage to get it sorted.

You know, Ive worked out that if I get what they actually owe me it totals up to more than £1k. That could buy me the car back that I had to get rid of because I had no money due to tax credits' "computer problems" grrr

Oh I've owed them money since DD was a baby. THey've made fuck up after fuck up and I'm sick of it. Even today a little came addressed to DH when it should have been addressed to me. They've had my initial appeal for 10 weeks so far nad done nothing with it.

They ignore letters. They have been overpaying me. I wrote to them. Nothing; I phoned them twice, they changed it a bit, but are still overpaying. It's all quite clearly stated in the letter. If they would fucking read it.

I don't know what the answer is. Perhaps I should give you my overpayment and we could write to them and tell them we sorted it out amongst ourselves as they're so crap

I only wrote to them because thy were so bloody unhelpful when I rang them initially to tell them they'd got it wrong.

Good luck.They overpaid me & despite phone call after phonecall from me telling them & asking how I should repay it.They refused to believe it,until a few months back,when it finally sank in-now I've got to pay it back again & its £100's of pounds.

oh I think that is what is going to happen to me too FG- are they letting you pay back in installments or does it have to be one big lump sum? (If one big lump sum I might be better leaving them to work it out in their own time as dh should get a bonus in April). They are utterly useless.

set out serise of events at start - your chronological version of what has happenned.

paragraph stating what you think is wrong

paragraph stating the effect that this has had on your family

summary paragraph asking for it to be sorted and financial recompense for the stress/worry/inconvienience they have caused you.

final sentance, you expect reply within 28 days.

copy it to your mp, asking them to chase it up for you. in my experience you don't get anything from tax credits unless your MP is involved.

I owed them several thousand in overpayments because they chucked £1500 and £1700 in overpayments in one go into my bank, and then continued to pay me £10 a day in WTC - which I clarified - twice - whether I should get. They said yes. Then, they realised they should have said no. I've been paying back the overpayment for soooo long now. They then cancelled my claim without warning - claiming not to have received the renewal notice

I'm so sick of it. Got another letter yesterday - addressed to DH instead of me (we get mailed separately). Saying thank you for your query blah blah - it was me they spoke to (different surname and everything).

I think I will CC in my MP this time. I've been waiting 9 weeks for them to respond to my appeal.

when I tried to ring them to get throough security I had to give my youngest child's DOB- I was told I had failed to answer the security question properly - they hadn't listed ds3!

The mistake they've made was originally to have dropped the final zero from dh's salary this year. They've now corrected that, but have now dropped the final zero from dh's salary last year.

Thanks, how do I find out who my local MP is and how to contact them? also do I simply send the mp the same letter or send then a personal one addressed to them explaining what has happened and a copy of the one I've sent to TC?

I remember them telling me I had failed their "security questions" and would have to end the call after I'd been sat on the bloody phone for over half an hour waiting for someone to answer my call (turns out they simply misheard me

AND when I was with my ex they started paying us about £400 a week which was obviously way too much...I contacted them over and over again saying they were overpaying us and they insisted it was right until months later the penny dropped and they asked for it all back god they make me so bloody angry.

mp finder online

good luck mrs s.

If you can get hold of a copy of their service charter (which may be online actually) you can quote exactly which bits of it they have failed to meet in your case.

Also state that you wish to 'escalate the matter to a formal complaint' and for them to send you details of their formal complaints procedure within 28 days.

You should also address the letter to the director of WTC - can try and get this info for you if you need it.