I was in similar position this year got my letter in june I was overpaid by 4K I had estimated it to be 5K so dont panic as it may be less than expected. I was distraught and its been no where near as bad as I thought. They did still contact my childcare providers even after sent letter and reciept which was fine as they confirmed what I had said. TC did not tell my childcare providers anything they just asked for facts. Please dont worry to much most of threads i have seen they just seem egar to collect money back.

I was wondering if anyone could off any advice as I have £150 worth of charges coming out on the 20th Aug from Santander. These are for missed debits of 2 x £5 3x £7 and one for just over £8 I am getting charged £25 each missed debit. Last month was hard as my tax credits where all up in the air and did'nt go in like normal so I missed debits. I have in passed missed debits nd paid charges and I have also in last year had 2 refunded so this is something I struggle with. Now I have spoke to them this morning and explained I have no spare money to pay this there is a fiver in my account and the money that goes in next week from tax credits barley covers my childcare costs. Is there anything I can do to try and get them to refund some of this all they are saying is they will give me 3 months to pay it back but i wont be able to use my bank accounts so I could not pay my car ins etc (which i need my car to get to work) so this is really not a possibility i feel sick they are just taking money and will not cooperate in anyway to help me i feel really annoyed that by missing a £5 dd i get charged £25 !! Any advice asap would be so good as I just dont know what to do. Thanks for reading

No i did renewal over the phone about a week after I had sent in letter confessing to things but it seemed like they took no notice of the letter I sent in and worked with what they knew so i called once I realised info was incorrect and spoke to lady and explained everything that was in my letter she had to call my childminder to confirm details (even though i had sent in contracts and reciepts) however she did that within a couple of hours and called me back to confirm info i had given was correct and she was updating the system. So I am now just waiting for all paperwork to come through.

Just a warning to all you out there maybe its a good I idea to call as well as send letter as my renewal was wrong as they never took into account my changes I sent them on letter they just used info they already had which was incorrect so do double check everything. I did manage to call up and get it all sorted and as far as I can see I am paying back about £30 per week on a £4000 overpayment. I am waiting for final confirmation but it seems very fair as I was expecting to loose tax credits all together while making repayments. The people I spoke to at office where really nice and its been delt with me fairly and quickly. I would just say to everyone who is not updating changes regularly please do its really not worth all the stress just call them and be honest they seem happy just to get money back and I honestly feel like such a HUGE weight has been lifted of my shoulders I have been worrying about it for months lost so many nights sleep over the fact I had not updated changes and was so worried about what would happen when I did come clean and I worried myself into a state that I didnt need to be in.

Ok a little update as i can see on these posts no one seems to update as to whats happening with tax credits I am still very scared I sent all of childcare info back and letter explaining that had to be in by end of last week I have now already received response all documents returned and I have a letter asking me to call in and complete my renewal with them rather than through main hotline which is probably good thing as will avoid huge waiting times i now have all info to go ahead and renew so will do so tomorrow. The letter states they have amended tax credit award as childcare was incorrect - which obviously I knew so does this mean they wont prosecute if they have already amended award or would they do that anyway. It says I will received a new award notice - however i am guessing until i call tomorrow and confirm incomes that i wont get an accurate award notice. I feel really anxious that I was delt with so quickly as other threads have had to wait a while for response. I am grateful they have been prompt as not sleeping just sitting up letting my mind run away with me however spending lots of time freting.

Hi hope you dont mind me being nosey but I am at an early stage with mine I only just sent back my letter and reciepts as I have been over claiming for 6 months childcare at around 105 per week. I am so nervous it would be great to hear when you get a letter what % they take from you. I am so grateful for this site it has calmed all my worries of going to prision as it seems tax credits are more likely to just want money back. Do you know if you will be charged fine or anything yet? Anyway sorry for picking your brain just hate the not knowing part.

I would consider sending out letter maybe get legal aid and get it checked by solicitor as send it to neighbours I know its tough and embarassing but 30k is a huge amaout of money and it may be worth it i am guessing if you have your children even if you where out all day you must have had to come home early eve to get them settled for bed and also doing the school run in morn I am betting people noticed you leaving to take kids to school as lots of people are up and about at that time. I would be very very very careful what you do write if you contact neighbours but as long as its not trying to influence people I am betting at least some will help. I would if something came through my door and someone was going to get into trouble and I had seen them. I dont know how things like that stand in court but I would try and do everything I could.

Hi just a couple more questions I am sending off letter today I have admitted to failing to contact them with changes through the year and apoloigised is this advisabe to admit I was wrong I have also higlighted the fact I had not renewed and was going to make them aware when i did renew ( i am awaiting copy of P60). Also if anyone has been through this how long have you waitied to hear anything back once letter was submitted ?

Hi ya I dont really have any experience in anything like this but it does sound very serious I am guessing you could get legal aid so I would get solicitor asap. However if I was in your situation i would start collating as much proof that i lived at address as I could I was thinking have you ever had anything delivered through post that you had to sign for that would be proof you where living there although not sure how long post office holds info for, also did you have a landline surley calls in and out would def proof how often you where there. Did you have visits from midwifes or health visitors to your address ? Basically visits from anyone who could confirm they saw you in your own home. If you have bad debts where the bailiffs calling did you ever open door to them if so I am sure that would be logged somewhere. I know you say some neighbours reported you where their others that noticed you coming and going that would be willing to confirm. Litrally if i was you and i had been living at that address then I would know there must be proof I would go knocking on doors just explaining situation making sure your clear not to try and pressure people but just saying if you have seen me regularly would you be willing to sign something to say this. I would explain the school thing honestly and I would also contact the school and make them aware of whats happening and apologise for misleading them about where you lived explain what lead you to do it and I am sure they will understand you wanted what was best for your children. I hope your successful in proving your case and wish you lots of luck with it.

I am getting into a state as I can see lots of people have viewed and no ones replied no matter how awful its going to be i really really would appreciate some advice please.

did they specify a date on letter for info to be in? Thankfully my childminders have been excellent and sorted out everything i needed quickly

just getting it all together needs to be in by end of week not really sure what to write in letter though i am taking copies of everything i send and sending recorded delivery. How about you when is yours due in by how much time did they give you ? I only had a week.

Hi unfortunatly I have one of these as well the address is : Tax Credit Office Benefits & Credits, 63 College street, St Helens, Merseyside WA10 1TN

the first thing i want to do is apologise I feel like a compete waste of space for letting this happen i have been such a fool. I claim childcare through tax credits and have for many years however I changed jobs at the end of aug and didnt need childcare any longer but did not notify Tax credits I was claiming my childcare was £140 per week - i am unsure how much of that they give me I think its around £105 towards childcare. I kept meaning to call but bills came then xmas and I kept thinking just one more week and I will call then n jan I knew I would have to go back to using childcare so could not afford to do that if tax credits messed up so i thought just a few more weeks well I got new job in feb and started in march however my costs are only £80 per week however i still did not contact them i just decided i would do it when i renewed well I have had my renwal pack sitting here been so scared to renew and come clean its just gone on and on i know you may not believe but i promise i would have come clean when i called and renewed i had no intention of lying on my renewal however a few days ago i recieved a review letter and I have to give them all my childcare reciepts and contracts i have spoke to childminders who are getting info for me as I hve not kept copy of receipets and whilst talking to one of them discoved that the tax credit office had called her so they obviously know what i have been up to. I feel like i have ruined everything my husband had no idea i was still claiming as it goes into my account i am scared i am going to loose my friends and job if i get prosocecuted. I am going to renew once i have all info together and then send in letter with all required info explaining what i have done i am so ashamed i just wonder if anyone has been in this situation who can let me know what will happen ie timescales and will i have to go to police station or anything ?