Fair enough - well thanks again. Will post on here after the decision has been made to help anyone else who finds themselves in a similar predicament. BTW were you aware that the petition group 38 Degrees is currently running a campaign about our voting system? In case anyone is interested check out https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/

Thanks - yes that is helpful (although not quite as encouraging as I was hoping!) TBH the LA in question makes mistakes with my benefit on such a regular basis that I never know whether it is correct or not. Every time there is a change in my circumstances (which happens quite often due to my self-employed status) they send pages and pages of "calculations" which are supposed to show how my benefit was worked out. I have never been able to make head nor tail of these - would this qualify as "ignorance of the system"? Also, at no point did they explicitly state that I was receiving 100% CTB, just the weekly amount. I assumed that the amount I was receiving was correct at the time as I had provided them with details of my income, my tenancy agreement, and spent hours on the phone and in person confirming everything with them, as they seemed unable to update their own systems. Not that I'm ungrateful for the help I receive, but I am consistently amazed at the level of incompetency from this department (is this common amongst LA's?) Thanks again.

But both names were on the CT bill.

No, I was paying it on behalf of both of us. They were responsible for other bills.

It's a joint tenancy - the council tax bill was in both names and I provided details of the other housemate. After providing all the correct information a number of times they still calculated the my CTB at 100% (although it never actually stated this as a percentage in any of their correspondence, just the weekly amount I would receive).

Hi, I hope someone can offer me some advice regarding the following: I am due to attend a tribunal hearing tomorrow to appeal against a decision to recover overpaid CTB. Although the council in question have admitted it was an "official error" on their part, they maintain that it was "reasonable" for me to have realised the error at the time. The error in question is that I was awarded 100% CTB when I should have been awarded 50% due to me sharing the property I live in with another tenant. I did not question the decision at the time as I had provided them with all the relevant information (on more than one occasion), and trusted that their calculations were correct based on what I had provided. I am also self-employed and consequently the benefit and WTC I receive fluctuates throughout the year, so when I received a letter telling me it had changed again I did not believe anything was amiss. Their argument seems to assume a detailed knowledge of how CTB is calculated that I could not possibly have unless I actually worked for the department! (although it seems this would still be no guarantee... ;-) Having taken some legal advice I have decided to continue with my appeal and am due in court tomorrow. The solicitor has advised me that the Tribunal will take an "inquisitorial" approach, requiring me to give my version of events which I have outlined above. I would like to ask if anyone has experience of these kind of Tribunals and what I can do to give myself the best possible chance of winning the case. Many Thanks in advance!

It's Camden Council btw - anyone else had similar experiences of their incompetency?

Thank you! This is exactly what I was looking for - they have clearly made an error which lead me to believe I was entitled to the full award for the year (and I have the letter to prove it!) Thanks again = )

Hi All Would be very grateful if someone can advise on the following: I share a flat with one other tenant who works full-time and receives no benefits - I receive WTC and in 2012/13 was awarded 50% Council Tax Benefit (Both our names are on the Council Tax bill). In July 2012 I received a letter telling me I would be receiving 100% CTB for the rest of the year. "Great!" I thought... Come May of this year I received a letter from CT saying I owed them backdated CT for 2012/13 to the tune of £600!! When I asked why they said someone had reviewed my claim in February and had consequently reduced my CTB to 50%. I had received nothing to tell me of this and immediately contacted my local benefits office by email to ask why they had changed the award and why they hadn't notified me. After 4 weeks with no reply I went down in person to speak to a benefits officer - after scrolling through the history he seemed unable to explain why they had readjusted the benefit but put a note on their system for the officer dealing with my claim to contact me. Again, I have heard nothing. Whilst he was going through the notes I noticed that at the time they sent the letter saying I was entitled to 100% benefit I was actually only receiving 50%. I have since spoken to the CT division again who have put a hold on the account for 2 weeks, and advised me to make an appeal against the benefits department. It seems someone has made an error, either by awarding me the wrong amount in the first place, or by sending a letter with the wrong amount. They also seem to be at fault for not letting me know in February when the claim was reviewed. I am not in a position to pay the bill and do not wish to receive a court summons. If anyone can advise me of my rights and/or how to proceed I would be very grateful. Many Thanks

Thanks for the advice - my concern is that the invoice numbers I have sent to clients will not tally up when I add in the new ones. Does HMRC check this kind of thing when they do their checks?

I am self-employed and in the process of gathering information to prove my earnings/hours worked for the last tax year. Would really appreciate advice from someone who has experience of some/all of the following: Re breakdown of hours worked per week - Do I need to provide details of hours worked every day or just a total for each week? (I am also providing a diary of my work) Some weeks I worked over the minimum 30 hrs, sometimes less. Will this be averaged out over the month/year? Or do I need to have worked at least 30 hrs for every week? Re invoices - I have invoices for most of my jobs, however some were *ahem* cash in hand and I didn't produce invoices at the time but still need to declare the hours. Would it be risky to make invoices for some of these jobs now or would I potentially be getting myself into trouble if HMRC checks them out? (NB I would have to change the invoice numbers on some of the existing invoices to fit them in) Does HMRC accept electronic records? Thanks in advance for any help!