Tax credits query

[wrinklytum]

I recently have statrted back at work following a career break.Am the main earner on fairly low income and dp is unable to work cos of chronic illness.

I obv informed TC people of my circumstances change and have recently had £1,400 paid into my account on top of usual weekly money.Surely this is a mistake?I am struggling to get through to them at the moment to query it.Obv I am not going to spend it as it seems a bit iffy to me.Any ideas as to WHY this would have happened.(Totally mystified emoticon)

wrinklytum my colleauge (who is in a similar financial situation to you) said that the amounts have gone up and the TC department are currently updating people's claims. She had an extra £30 ish last week, unexpectedly. She said she has been in regular contact with them wrt changes so she thinks that's why hers was a relatively small amount.

I had almost £400 paid in (again unexpectedly) after I phoned them with a change in circumstances.

Might be best to separate that money from your usual account until you get it confirmed, that's what I am doing. (I suspect that in my case I slightly overestimated our income last year, as I was too scared to underestimate it with the risk of getting too much/being accused of fraud)

colleague I mean, I can spell really.

Blimey it would be nice if they have increased the amounts...anywhere we can look this up?

i amconvinced it is an error,I mean..£1,400!!!That is a lot of money.

dp says bank it and claim the interest then give it back if they ask for it,but I would feel a bit guilty doing this.

Gahh,have tried ringing them several times and lines busy.

wrinkly any chance you could try them on a weekday afternoon? - lines might be less busy They have either made a few mistakes overpaying people, or lots of people like us are trying to get through to clarify unexpected payments.

Also others are trying to do their claim for 2008-09 and are ringing them with the details.

On the subject of ringing TC I have found a cheeky little loophole phone number which gets you through everytime in a couple of rings.

When you get to the 3900 bit of the phone number at the end, do 3600 instead.

Works a treat!

Be careful though because I know a few people who've had extra money and then had to give it back even up to a year later. May be OK though but needs checking.

Good luck.