Please help me with this mess!

[sar2004]

I know because he loves to brag and he has told someone he trusts at work. That person told my friend to forewarn me that he has been into police station and also tax credits office to say dates we split up etc etc etc and that they were looking at "building a fraud case" against me

The physical impact of this worry is terrible I've been sick got the runs and don't know what to do first. Do I need a solicitor? Etc can't stop crying want it to be over can't talk to anyone thank god my son is in bed and can't see me like this x

[ErikaPNP]

I thought it might be something to do with him.

 

He cannot possibly know that Tax Credit intend to build a fraud case against you, because Tax Credit cannot disclose this to a member of the public.

 

Whether he has been to the police, tax credit or written to Jack Straw is completely irrelevant. They don't open a fraud case upon demand from people and are very much aware of how people will cite mallicious allegations for their own enjoyment.

 

Tax Credit know you have been overpaid. They know you and your ex were not a couple for that period of time. They have written to you asking you to negotiate repayment arrangements. They have not asked you to attend an interview under caution, they have not asked you to provide documentation for the period you were over paid that would indicate investigations, and have not made any indication that they intend taking you to court.

 

Until such a time as they do, ignore the innane ramblings of your ex. Let him get on with being the prat that he (very obviously) is. You do not need a solicitor at this time and you do not need to "hand yourself in" - they already know you were claiming as a couple when you were single and trying to negotiate with you to repay this.

 

Have you contacted Welfare Rights or the CAB yet?

[Zamzara]

It's probably just banter. If they do contact you let us know, but I doubt it. Your entitlement as a single person is probably similar or higher anyway.

 

Have you made a new claim as a single person yet? Have you asked for 3 months backdating?

[Ripoffasyouview]

It sounds like this low life is trying to get you worried, remember he knows what buttons to press to make you worry and is to blame for a huge portion of what your going through IMHO.

And as had been said before NO company or goverment for that matter starts any cases on some joe publics say so.

He has sent nasty emails and is really loving the fact of the turmoil your going through.

Could you get one of your friends or family to ring TC on your behalf to see EXACTLY where you stand with them?,better the devil you know and all that, then you will not have your mind runnnig riot imaging the worst.Ive been there and i know what its like.The waking up in the middle of the night panicing and gasping for air, heart racing, head pounding, but you CAN beat it.

[sar2004]

Well one thing he could say to them when he went to the tax credit office perhaps is that I signed his name on the form - he did throw this is my face once but its not as it sounds. I remember having a renewal pack whilst we were together and I filled in the details and he was sat in the lounge I was in the kitchen. I remember asking him to check the form and he needed to sign and he said its cool sign for me but also asked if I'd remembered to include his overtime and I said I had. I'm thginking about every little thing I could possibly be in trouble for and that popped into my head although he hasn't mentioned it. I'm paranoid and scared amd will be back at the docs on monday as I need somethin to help me through this how can I function at work with this hanging over my head?

Surely if police were interested they would have been round and also what is jack straw to do with it? The more I think the worse it gets. Shame I can't drink on these pills as I need to right now x

[Guest wino]

sar2004 I know you feel terrible at the moment but you have to step back and look at this as it is.

 

Your ex is a sorry little scro*t he is sick in the head playing his power games. He may well be spouting off in work but believe me most people in listening range will know he is a low life. No sensible person would behave the same way he has. You need to forget about him he is a nobody.

 

As EricaPNP says in her post and she knows what she is talking about,

You have been asked to repay overpayments. You need to fill in the I&E form when you get it and make arrangements to repay at an amount you can afford. You have not been accused of fraud or interviewed under caution.

 

We all know how you feel it is that feeling of being out of our depth and wondering why we try to go on that brought most of us here. AND we are all still here. With the support of our CAG freinds we can gain control again.

 

The Tax credit people just want their money back.... so give it back

Your Ex wants to immitate you and have power over you....give him nothing!

[sar2004]

Thanks for all your replies...i have to say id be lost without this site!

 

I have every intention of paying the money back. I posted the letter..think it was last friday so they prob will have received it monday but i havent received an income and expenditure form yet and that worries me.

Is it likely they have stopped all that as they are lookng into my exes fraud allegations....?

Im too scared to call them i will just go to bits and hang up. cant tell anyone i know too much im jst too ashamed...esentially i have nobody - well thats how it feels.

 

If it does end up as a fraud case..well ive never been in trouble in my life. Completely clean record unless you count an sp30. At the time of all this i had serious personal issues. Surely a court would listen to all that..x

[sar2004]

one question.....

i sent them a letter explaining in small detail my circumstances and requesting an Income and expenditure form.

Now as this info relates to a joint claim ... well could they show that to my ex. After all he is entitled (i think) to see any information that relates to the joint claim and my letter relates to the joint claim.

I dont want him to see it....i dont want him to know about my mental health state at the monent obvioulsly that info is sensitive!

Worst case scenario and im looking at a fraud charge of some kind..well im hoping the tax credits will agree to let me pay it off and perhaps some kind of fine/penalty as well rather than court.

If I go to court and get a record i will loose my job. My security clearance for work is renewed every june so it wouldnt take long for me to be out of work and then i cant pay them a penny really. I hope and pray that they can see the logic in that and I just have to hang on to that hope.

[Guest wino]

Firstly may I appologise in my last post I said your Ex is trying to immitate you......You know I meant Intimadate didn't you?

 

Secondly You are worrying yourself ill about something that hasn't happened and probably might not.

[sar2004]

Hey Wino

 

yes i knew what you meant. I wonder if all my messages makes sense as im typing all my thoughts in so fast.

 

I know my ex very well. he is the type of person that will go to the absolute ends of the earth for revenge or to inflict emotional pain on someone he thinks owes him somehow.

He never got over the fact that I finally plucked up the courage to get rid of him and not put up with his abuse any longer.

 

Obviously tax credits have contacted him about repaying the money as they will do with it being a joint claim. He has gone "i dont know anything about this" and has jumped to allthe wrong comclusions but becuase i know him so well he will put an advert in the bloody paper to cause me grief as that makes him feel good.

 

I feel a little bit calmer now - i guess there is some type of therapy in putting it all on here...

I suppose i just have to accept that there is a chance they may pursue a fraud case against me.

I think my best option then is to be totally honest with them and tell them about my health and my circumstances at the time and my complete willingness to pay back every penny.

I will tell them if I go to court and am punished i will loose my job and i know my boss will put this in writing as he has done it recently for another team member due in court for a driving charge.

They can write to my doctor and get proof, they can see the terrible things in my divorce papers and have a copy of the domestic violence report from the police so they know im not making it all up. They can have proof from the educato authortity that my son was also out of school at the time of all this due to the school not being able to meet his care needs so this all paints the picture of my pretty sh*t life.

I mean i ask you not many people can keep all their paperwork in order with that going on!

[Kouros]

If things procceed against you there are two levels *knowingly* and *dishonestly*.

Medical records are useful when faced with the greater charge of dishonestly (section 111A SSAA 1992) to get it eased to *knowingly*.

Pushing DV as a reason is not smart unless you can show the assault is *actual bodily harm* (missing teeth for example).

It is better to understate this just imply that your partner was less able to cope with the needs of the child than yourself.

Further the DWP should have checked any other benefit premiums based on the child.

[Shoelover]

Your ex can go to the Police as much as he likes. They will tell him to naff off, it's nowt to do with them the TC office investigate allegations of TC fraud.

[ErikaPNP]

The DWP have nothing to do with it. Tax Credits are not administered by DWP.

[mkb]

I understand that it's easy for us to tell you to ignore your ex but honestly, until you do, he's still winning the fight against you.

 

On your email account, mark his email address as 'Junk' so his emails don't even land in your inbox.

 

So what if he's telling his work colleagues that he's done this & you've done that - I suspect they know enough about him to take what he says with a big pinch of salt.

 

My ex used to mentally abuse me but, with the help of friends, I survived his many threats after we split up & I can honestly say that it wasn't easy but it was truly worth it. In time I met a new man who put up with my baggage & we've now been married 10yrs (yesterday) & I have never been so happy

[sar2004]

Hi again all.

 

Feel a bit calmer today.

The only way I can actually deal with this is to keep pushing it out of my mind and saying to myself "one day at a time" and "deal with things when you know for sure". I sometimes get the odd panic attack but am trying to cope.

had a long chat to a friend about this that did help. She was shocked but more shocked that im trying to go through every crisis on my own. She said worse case scenario they make some kind of example of me and want to prosecute. She said the court will look at my circumstanes (something called a pre sentance report) and the fact that i have a clean record...in other words its completely out of character. She said if I say consistently that i will pay back every penny that wil also help.

Also she said its not in tax credits best interests to take that approach. I will certainly be sacked as i wont pass my next security clearance and then with my debts bankcruptcy is the only option. She is certain they will be more concerned with getting the money back.

Ive told my mum about my financial situation and she has said she will give me 100a month to help...i cant believe that really i feel very lucky to get that help. So i can use that, my own 50 and something from a new award and potentially i can pay 200a month off this tax credit money owed.

Im thinking they would be happier with that perhaps?

 

Kouros.. just to respond to your reply. I didnt either knowingly or dishonestly make any of these mistakes. I might have a job to persuade them of that though.

And also Kouros the DV did result in a prosection....I had a broken bone and serious bruising to my neck which was all photographed by the police.

Im not saying its an excuse for my stupidity in any way but its just another factor which resulted in my depression and inability to cope.

Hope that makes sense anyway.

[MIKEY DABODEE]

Hi

Cant offer you any advice on tax credits but it looks like you have excellent support here

but just like to wish you well and hope things turn out ok for you.

You sound if you were married to a monster thank goodness you found the strength to leave it.

 

Good luck with everything, worry is like a disease it can take over your life, its hard to face something head on but it looks like you have good friends and a supporting family.

I wish you well

 

dont take any notice of negative comments on here, am sure most people hope you come through this ok

just take it a step at a time

Edited October 17, 2009 by MIKEY DABODEE

[sar2004]

thanks for your kind words.

It really does helpto know people are on your side.

Not much else I can do except wait and hope they send income and expenditure form through very soon...the longer it takes to come through the more worries i get!

[TCman]

A couple of points to hopefully put your mind at rest.

 

You mentioned that you sent a letter to the Tc office about your personal circumstances in relation to the situation. The TC office will not share that info with your Ex even if he submits a SAR request. The details contained have nothing to do with him.

 

The TC office will not generally go down the fraud route with your case. They will simply look apon it as an overpayment. Even if the investigation team (compliance ) look into it. They are simply looking for return of the tax payers money.

 

If you have been honest with the office over your situation and are willing to repay....even if it is only a token amount per week/month they will accept this. This will also have no impact on any single claim you make afterwards as well.

 

If you have a copy of your "notice to pay" letter that would be issued when they are looking for recovery of the overpayment. There is a number on it for the "payments helpline", if memory serves it is 0845 302 1429..but double check that. That is the debt recovery office. If you call them they can help you to complete an income and expenditure form on the telephone.

 

Remember the tax credit office will not put you in a worse financial situation just to recovery an overpayment. As long as you are willing to make the effort to repay they will help you set that up.

[sar2004]

Hi TC Man

Many thanks for your reply - it means a lot that people like you take time to respond to me and others like me

I hope you are right and I hope they just accept my willigness to pay back the debt. Frankly I want to pay it off as quickly as possible so that the whole affair is over and done with.

Im actually even happy to pay which most people wouldnt be...i just dont want to end up in court with a record.

I decided to put my request in writing to them as dealing with phone calls isnt easy for me at the moment. Ive tried to call them so many times and just hang up - im not a confident person and this doesnt help.

They will have received my I&E form request just under a week ago so i really hope i get this soon.

If i havent heard from them in another week I will send again but i guess they have lots of mail to deal with anyway so maybe any correspondance takes a week to respond to.

If they accept my offers of repayment and i dont have any further action then as far as im concerned I can move onwards and upwards like I was trying to do before!

 

xxx

[Shoelover]

Good luck SAR2004. I really do help you get this sorted.

[sar2004]

Hi All

No mail today for me so another day of waiting..does anyone know how long they take to respond to written correspondance, send out I&E forms etc.

Thanks xxx

[Guest wino]

Can you ask your friend to ring them to see if they have sent the form out?

[sar2004]

She is only back on thursday - away with her OH for a few days break so I dont want to interrupt that...she might not be my friend anymore if i do

[Shoelover]

I would paste you a link, but i ca't work out how on this laptop!

If you google "Tax credit overpayment income and expenditure form" it brings up the guidence about recovery, including the income ad expenditure form. Could you print that and fill that in?

It also covers who is lible for overpayments on joint claims.....!

Have a look- it's called how HMRC handle tax credit overpayments.

Maybe someone brighter than me can put a link on for you.......

[sar2004]

Hi Shoelover

Thanks for your reply

I understand I am liable for the overpayment - even as its a joint claim. Technically for most of the time it shouldnt have been a joint claim so im to blame and the money did go into my account and I did spend it so cant blame the ex for that one.

I havent been intentionally dishonest in anyway....just a fool that let personal problems get on top of her.

Have every intention of paying back every penny of this money and dont want the ex to have anything to do with it. Wil be grateful if it ends at that and not further action.

Thing is though i was thinking before...as my claim wrongly was a joint one in actual fact that means i have diddled myself out of moneyt doesnt it. The joint salary figure would put the household on more money wheras if id got my paperwork sorted (and my head) and sorted this out sooner it would have been on my single wages and i would have got more!

 

I will be the only person to get done for fraud when ive actually ended up worse off...that will be just my luck!!!

Im ok with getting an I & E form off here but really wanted the TC office to send it to me as they will be acknowledging my letter then...the silence is worrying xxxx