Hi,

I’m very worried,

I have received a 2nd letter from LCS this morning demanding £10,303 on behalf of HMRC.

I cannot beleive that I have ever had an overpayment as my circumstances have been pretty much the same for 20 years. I am a single father of 4 children, one of which has a number of disabilities and for whom I am a carer.

I am in receipt of benefits (Carers & IS) which barely covers monthly costs of the home and this has very much been my status for those last 20 years. Obviously my older children have now grown but I am still caring for my youngest daughter and there is no reason to beleive that will change.

I’m lost as to how or where this debt has come from and if it is by some miracle correct then I have no disposable income whatsoever with which to service it.

Can anyone offer me advice on what to do, I am lost

Thanks

Ignore. No DCA can do anything for HMRC. Deal with HMRC direct.

Please do as below, send to HMRC / Tax Credits. Note this is from another thread where I advised to do this and it was written off.

The Tax Credit's own COP26 Code of practice is on the internet for all to see. For your own reference here is the extract from the COP 26 most relevant to you. I would say your circumstances fit this exactly for a cancellation. I have also included the link for you, page 15. and yes, you should offer to send them a note from a GP /consultant re your daughter . For good measure do what another poster did, look up your local MP's surgery, make an appointment and explain everything.

If you need to discuss financial hardship with us, phone us to

explain this.

When you phone we may ask you about any family circumstances

that may lead to extra living costs. For example, if you’re looking

after someone who is chronically ill or disabled. In some exceptional

circumstances, we may cancel an overpayment altogether

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...too-much-cop26

Here is the link to COP 26 for your own reference

read the above post

but WHATEVER you do you ALWAYS TOTALLY IGNORE any DCA!!

they are NOT BAILIFFS

and have

ZERO legal powers on ANY debt.

Many thanks for the speed of your replies and the advice (particularly London1971), my anxiety levels just dropped significantly.

I will jump on this first thing in the morning and keep you informed.

Its very easily sorted so stay relaxed. HMRC dont like to deviate from their script until you throw something in their faces.

I couldn't get the link to COP26 above to work. It may just be my computer/browser, but just in case, here's the one that works for me:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/695915/COP26_03_18.pdf

it might pay you to goto the HMRC site and fill out their sar request form.

get the info FIRST before you ring and poss commit to anything??

Actually, The SAR is a very good idea too. It took me about 2 minutes to find a phone call that never happened with false information about my salary.

Also with the COP 26, notes from GP's , or consultants will help you too.

Take note, I rang them many times, about the 12k or so that I owed them, most of the time I ended up speaking to a complete b*stard. But on one occasion I spoke to a lovely person, who said not to worry, and that Tax Credits will always come to a reasonable arrangement, in a worst case scenario, she threw an example out there of 50 per month, and not to lose sleep over it ( I lost a lot). In the end I only ended up owing them 60 pounds though.

The DCA, is actually (IMO) a good sign, because they are powerless. The real time to worry is when HMRC want to drag you in for an interview under caution, and suspect fraud.

Thanks again, I’m sure most of you have experienced the worry that I’m going through and therefore will understand the sense of relief I feel after reading your advice

You never should worry about a powerless dca..ever