It must've been a physical written application because the copy I received was in my ex's handwriting (EDIT - At least I think so - if this was done online, would someone hardwrite a version of the online form and send me it? Guessing not, guessing it would've been a print out of the online form?). I never received any of this money he's gotten, nor did I know he was doing this for the past year, nor was I living with him. Considering the lack of the above, plus the lack of my signature, how can they possibly be chasing me for this money? If that's the case, disgruntled partners/ex partners could be screwing each other over for Tax Credit money left, right and centre (or maybe they are?).

Hi folks, So I'm in a bit of a complicated situation, I'll try to sum it up as briefly as possible. I guess I'm just curious what people think/advice/am I doing the right thing/anything else I could do? Last year I split up with my ex. I knew he had looked into some sort of tax credits scenario a few months before we split, however I never filled in any forms and never saw any money, thus thought no more of it. In June of this year I discovered he's been claiming joint couples working tax credits under both our names since last year. When phoning the HMRC about this they "fixed" their records, and proceeded to inform me that "overpayment letters" would likely be sent out. I told them I'd never received any money nor signed a form, nor knew he was doing this, they told me that I "must have" signed a form. I got C.A.B advice and did a Subject Access Request for the initial application forms (as I disputed the existence of a signature), and while waiting for these to arrive I asked a solicitor for help and also (on a particularly stressful day) phoned my ex and told him to get this sorted out. He said he would, unforunately he uh... doesn't believe in working. Seriously. I don't think he works at all. So I can't really see how he can pay this back, and if he can't, they'll still chase me, right? Even though I never got the money and work hard every week to pay my bills! The solicitor was skeptical about the lack of signature on the form, and I was even starting to doubt myself as to whether I had inadvertantly signed the form as the last few months of our relationship were pretty horrible/a bit of a haze of stress. Solicitor suggested he would send a letter to the HMRC explaining that I did not know about the claim, received no money, and for them to only chase my ex for the money. This letter was sent over a month ago, still no response for HMRC. The past two weeks - letters start flooding in. Firstly, the fruits of my Subject Access Request labour - a massive envelope containing, among other things, the initial application form. It is entirely filled out in my ex's handwriting, and there are NO SIGNATURES on it at all. Not his, nor mine. I can't see why these would be redacted (perhaps his, but why mine? Especially when I asked for it specifically?). Finally, this week I've received two "notices to pay" for overpayments to my ex totalling about £4500. They have been sent to him too (he's told me in an email he's dealing with it). I just don't trust that he will when he thought it was ok to do this in the first place, and also where is he getting £4500 from?? The deadline for re-paying this is in October! If he has no money/offers a tiny monthly repayment, they might still come after me? I've thought of phoning them to say "hey guys, no signature, why are you chasing me?" but I thought it best to wait and see what the solicitor thinks. So that's pretty much where it's at. I've told my solicitor about the S.A.R news and am waiting to hear from him... what a mess! Hope I'm approaching it the right way.