TAX CREDIT CLAIMANTS OF ANY FLAVOUR - C'MERE. <Shouting to get your attention, not in irritation>

[snigger]

Right.

A bit of outreach work here.

As a current advisor, can I just sit you all down and give you your best shot at a trouble free renewal period?

I know there can be errors/bad advisors/renewal packs eaten by dogs, but if you follow this advice you have every chance of things going smoothly, and perhaps my colleagues and I will get a moment between calls between now and September.

(1) Your renewal pack will be issued before 30th June. Go write that on the calendar. If you haven't received it by then, phone up. Don't join the 1000's who clog the phone lines saying "Have you sent me mine yet? Didn't I do this last year?"

(2) If you've phoned up and given an estimate of your 2009/2010 income - THIS IS NOT A RENEWAL.

You've only done your renewal once you've received the annual review pack, checked that your details are all up to date, then phoned in with your income.

(3) Following on from that - PLEASE CHECK YOUR DETAILS ON THE ANNUAL REVIEW. So many people call three years later to tell us they're married/their childcare stopped a decade ago/their kids are all in work of their own. Check.

(4) Write down the date you phone in with your renewal. If you haven't received TWO award notices, (one for 2009/2010 saying finalised award, one for 2010/2011 saying award notice) within three weeks of your call - PHONE BACK.

(5) If you get an automatic renewal that asks you to check your income is within set bandings (eg "Was your income for 2009/2010 lower than £28000 or higher than £75000?") you don't need to call if nothing's changed and the income's within limits. If something has changed, or income's out, PHONE BEFORE JULY 31st - if you don't, it'll auto-renew, and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

(6) If you've claimed with a partner/partners, then on your own, at any point between April 6th 2009 and April 5th 2010, even just for one day, you have to renew each and every claim for them to be finalised. Make sure you mention it to the advisor - we're supposed to check, but it's crazy busy, people call in with a years worth of changes, and it's easy to forget.

OK. That's me. I honestly, sincerely, hope that this helps, and if it prevents even one avoidable overpayment, or frees up the phonelines from unnecessary calls, it'll have been worth all the typing.

Best of luck.

MrsMorgan - some renewals can take a few weeks, as some are being dealt with by specialist teams, and there's a fair workload at the moment. If you are at all concerned, by all means call the helpline and have them verify your renewal has been received - if we need more information, we'll usually contact you quite quickly.

Please, when you call, have your income details and information regarding any changes of circumstance to hand when you call - it's rotten when someone calls to ask if we've processed their renewal, we say no, want to do it now, and on the other end of the line you get a resounding "Urrrrrrr" - if you have your details there and it's not on the system, it can be done in moments.

Leannet84 - I refer you to MrsMorgan's answer. Some claims are being handled by specialist teams this year, if you've called the helpline and they've confirmed the renewal is received it should just be a matter of waiting till the renewal is handled by the team.

One exception - did the additional payment arise from a ceased joint claim? If so, is there any possibility your ex partner has not completed their renewal? And, if this is the case, have you checked which bank account any additional payments are set to go into? Yours, or his?

Hi Millie1 -

With regard to the shares, were they bought as part of a Save As You Earn scheme? If so, any interest can be disregarded.

Again, I need to get into work and check the specific guidance on this, or failing that check with a team leader. I'll come back to you tomorrow with answers.

Sorry snigger I had this in threads to watch but had not checked back! Thank you for your response - I will call for a pack tomorrow and take it from there - THANKS!

Hi Snigger

I renewed and its been confirmed via a provisional award within 2 days 7 weeks later i have enquired about why my award is not final. Th advisor kindly said he couldn't see why there was an issue and is referring my case over to the 'technical team'?

What does this mean?

Hi Snigger,

Is there anywhere I can go to get someone to go through my tax credits figures and check they are correct. In previous years my claims have been quite straight forward but this year I am going on Maternity leave halfway through and I'm not sure I have given the correct figures estimating this years income. I have two children one who qualifies for the severe disability element and will have a third child in December. I have put my figures in the online calculators but they are giving different figures which are not the same as the award.

hi there a quick question about the maximum you can have as savings before you are not allowed to claim working tax credit and tax credits.
tia