Claim back money that was entitled to me

[Cr20]

This is a long shot but thought I'd post here.

So back in 2018 me and my sons dad split up for 7 months and I was getting child tax credit , when I got a statement asking if I still wanted to claim but me and my sons dad spoke about getting back together so I never bothered filling in the form as I thought I'd I don't re-apply then I won't get anything which I never since not re-applying. I end up getting a phone call saying I owed the government everything back that I was entitled to as o was suppose to send the letter back ticking that I didn't want to claim anymore which wasn't explained on the letter that it had to be done.

I've just came across a letter from a few months ago saying that's it just been paid off. I feel angry at this as it was money I was entitled to and feel like I want to speak to someone about it to try claim back but don't know how to go about It. Has anyone had this or similar situations to this before ?

Not sure I understand the sequence of events here.

You claimed CTC as a couple but then separated for 7 months. Did you then get back together and stay together?

I guess the form you mentioned was the year end review as HMRC need to check whether any changes in earnings or circumstances during the year mean you have been under or overpaid.

Is that right so far?

No sorry I never read over before posting , so I claimed when we split up and I moved back in with my mum as a single parent , then when I got the letter asking if I wanted to basically keep going with child tax credit I started getting things back on track with his dad 7 months after we split up and I thought if I didn't reapply then the money will just stop and they will know that I don't need it anymore , what I never actually knew was that it's a procedure that had to be done as government rules if I was reapplying or not to fill in regardless and send it back in post (I never knew this until I spoke to someone about it on the phone back in 2019) I was only 21 and couldn't afford to pay what I was told , I tried to speak to them and tell them I didn't understand that it was confidential to fill out but they had none of it and told me that's the way it works. Which I find pretty unfair as it wasn't explained that way on the letter

@Bromptotoo

Were you still receiving tax credit payments during the period you rekindled your relationship with your child’s dad? Were you living together as a couple? If so then needed to return the form stating a change in circumstances. You weren’t entitled to what you were receiving, hence why you owed money. Even if you thought the money would stop if you didn’t return the form, you will have noticed further payments still being made to your bank account, and so can’t deny knowledge.

If you didn’t receive any further payments and didn’t live with your partner during the period in question then it’s unclear what you had to repay or why. If you repaid tax credits but don’t believe you were actually overpaid in the first place then why don’t you try and get an appointment with Citizens Advice so you can explain it more clearly in person with your letters and bank statements and get advice.

@ComtesseDeSpair nope we weren't living together and was separated when I applied and was getting money for my child , when the letter came out at end of year asking if I still wanted to continue , I never sent the letter back as we had started texting again and things looked good but we weren't back together and I was still living with my mum and was still pretty much single so I didn't owe them anything , I was all money which I was entitled to when I was a single parent and was getting for being a single parent at the time. I owed nothing. I was on the phone to them when it happened and I asked why and their reasons were that the piece of paper that was send out to me to re-apply was not sent back and it was a confidential government thing to do which I never knew so there for because I failed to give this answer I owed every single penny back which I received

@ComtesseDeSpair also if there was futher money in my bank after that which their wasn't but if their was then it wouldn't have been that amount

Okay, I’ll reiterate that you might do better to speak to somebody in person, at Citizens Advice or the like. It’s unclear what you mean by a “confidential government thing” thing: HMRC can be pretty opaque at times but they wouldn’t have described a tax credits review/reassessment/reapplication with those words.

Do you mean "compulsory government thing" rather than "confidential"?

I think it's the annual declaration form you're referring to where you have to give details of your income etc for that tax year. Not sure whether you'd be able to go back to 2019 to submit this, but hopefully someone else might be able to help.