Child Tax Credits DELAY.. 18 weeks so far

[Psycho Bob :o)]

Hi, I'm asking this question on behalf of my sister as she cannot get 5 mins to ask herself ( battling with a tantrum toddler currently )

 

My sister claimed Child Tax Credits back in Feb 2011 to seamlessly follow on from previous years payments.

 

She's a single mum (divorced) and has a disabled child, plus looks after ( has legal custody/charge of etc ) her 2yr old grandson ( long story but not required here )

 

To the point now,

 

As of today, she is STILL waiting for her Child Tax Credit award/payments. She rang again this morning and they said they will start paying on th e13th of this month, but will only be backdating it 8 weeks.

She told them that was unacceptable as she has a letter off them dated 25th May 2011 saying they would be paying her from 2nd March 2011.

 

The woman on the phone said call back in 2 weeks. That seems a LONG time for someone to just look at their screen ( all current data should be available ) to correct the issue, and it sounds more like a delay tactic to me.

 

Where does my sister stand? and what can she do about them having taken 18 weeks and 3 days to giver her a decision/process the child tax credits?

 

I know there was an early delay at the start of this as the Child Tax Credit people wanted a letter forwarded to them from the DWP Child Benefit department with regard to the 2yr olds custody/status, and that probably took 2 weeks to get to them as my sister had to first request it from the Child Benefit people so she could forward it on.

 

In the meantime, she has been living off income support, and borrowing money off friends and me to pay for diesel ( she lives 5 miles out of town in the country with no public transport ) and to cover her regular usual DD's at the bank, and she has on plenty of occasions incurred overdrawn charges due to those payments going out ( car insurance, phone line rental, ISP fee etc ) as what she is getting does'nt cover anything when she's got 3 boys at home with her ( 17yr so not included in Child Tax malarky ) 16yr with Learning Disability and Soto's syndrome ( he's JUST been reawarded DLA , again after quite a delay due to his consultant/specialist taking his time to send evidence or something ) and finally the 2 yr old grandson she has legal custody over and gets child benefit for.

 

Sorry this is a can of worms..

 

We should just concentrate on the main question on where my sister stands with regards to backdating payments, and whether she should accept another 2 weeks delay before phoning them back.

I'm out of cash to help her, and I think her friends are giving her a wide berth too now.

She's had her allocation of emergency loans from DWP this year due to this situation, so no help there now either.

 

Rock and a hard place.

 

Sorry it's a long post, but thought I'd best put all the circumstances and detail in to save time.

Also, she's had to park her car up on th edrive now as her MOT has run out and as the car needs some work, and she's no money coming in to cover it, she's stranded in the stix. ( although she has managed to get into town twice since losing use of the car from begging for lifts of people in the village )

Edited July 8, 2011 by Psycho Bob :o)

[loolol]

Personally, having dealt with tax credits people before, I would get your sister to call again and again until she gets someone actually knows what they are talking about. You can be told one thing by one person and something else by another. She may also have to really stand her ground and say that this is not acceptable. She has been kept waiting far too long already. If needs be, demand to speak to a manager. It can be surprising how payments can be fast tracked if you really stand your ground. If that doesn't help, she should go to her MP. Hope that helps somewhat.

[Psycho Bob :o)]

she's called them twice a week every week and it takes around half hour to get through each time, she's at her wits end now that they've said they're only backdating 8 weeks ( it's not enough to cover all the loans she's had off her friends and me etc )

[loolol]

That is terrible - in that case, her MP needs to be contacted. x

[loolol]

This may help if she has not tried this yet:

 

I am not allowed to post the link but if you or she goes to the inland revenue website and click on tax credits there is a link to complaints.

[Torque15]

Ive been waiting 13 weeks so far and all i get when i do get through is "Its being processed", im just so fed up know .Im getting more and more down hearted and depressed, im constantly in tears i use to be such i bubbly person and everyone has seen a change in me.Ive wrote to my local MP Austin Mitchell but nothing , not even an acknowledgement so i dont know what to do know .Any advice would be gladly welcome .

[Nystagmite]

This may help if she has not tried this yet:

 

I am not allowed to post the link but if you or she goes to the inland revenue website and click on tax credits there is a link to complaints.

 

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits/things-go-wrong/complaints-appeals/how-to-complain.htm

[siennasmummy]

This is terrible, I agree with loolol she needs to get her local MP involved. I did this with a problem I had with the council and it's amazing how once the MP gets in touch with them, they can't do enough to help you. Tell her to see if the MP has a website so that she can email them or even a surgery where she can go in person. The sooner the better. Good luck and please let us know the outcome.

[shalan]

Hi, I'm asking this question on behalf of my sister as she cannot get 5 mins to ask herself ( battling with a tantrum toddler currently )

 

My sister claimed Child Tax Credits back in Feb 2011 to seamlessly follow on from previous years payments.

 

She's a single mum (divorced) and has a disabled child, plus looks after ( has legal custody/charge of etc ) her 2yr old grandson ( long story but not required here )

 

To the point now,

 

As of today, she is STILL waiting for her Child Tax Credit award/payments. She rang again this morning and they said they will start paying on th e13th of this month, but will only be backdating it 8 weeks.

She told them that was unacceptable as she has a letter off them dated 25th May 2011 saying they would be paying her from 2nd March 2011.

 

The woman on the phone said call back in 2 weeks. That seems a LONG time for someone to just look at their screen ( all current data should be available ) to correct the issue, and it sounds more like a delay tactic to me.

 

Where does my sister stand? and what can she do about them having taken 18 weeks and 3 days to giver her a decision/process the child tax credits?

 

I know there was an early delay at the start of this as the Child Tax Credit people wanted a letter forwarded to them from the DWP Child Benefit department with regard to the 2yr olds custody/status, and that probably took 2 weeks to get to them as my sister had to first request it from the Child Benefit people so she could forward it on.

 

In the meantime, she has been living off income support, and borrowing money off friends and me to pay for diesel ( she lives 5 miles out of town in the country with no public transport ) and to cover her regular usual DD's at the bank, and she has on plenty of occasions incurred overdrawn charges due to those payments going out ( car insurance, phone line rental, ISP fee etc ) as what she is getting does'nt cover anything when she's got 3 boys at home with her ( 17yr so not included in Child Tax malarky ) 16yr with Learning Disability and Soto's syndrome ( he's JUST been reawarded DLA , again after quite a delay due to his consultant/specialist taking his time to send evidence or something ) and finally the 2 yr old grandson she has legal custody over and gets child benefit for.

 

Sorry this is a can of worms..

 

We should just concentrate on the main question on where my sister stands with regards to backdating payments, and whether she should accept another 2 weeks delay before phoning them back.

I'm out of cash to help her, and I think her friends are giving her a wide berth too now.

She's had her allocation of emergency loans from DWP this year due to this situation, so no help there now either.

 

Rock and a hard place.

 

Sorry it's a long post, but thought I'd best put all the circumstances and detail in to save time.

Also, she's had to park her car up on th edrive now as her MOT has run out and as the car needs some work, and she's no money coming in to cover it, she's stranded in the stix. ( although she has managed to get into town twice since losing use of the car from begging for lifts of people in the village )

 

I know how you feel I made my renewal at the start of may and I am still waiting. I call them every second day before I go to work and I get told the same this it is being dealt with. I have made a complaint both in writing and over the phone but still nothing. I called the ombusman today and they cannot do anything untill I get a reply from tax credits. xx

[shalan]

I know how you feel I made my renewal at the start of may and I am still waiting. I call them every second day before I go to work and I get told the same this it is being dealt with. I have made a complaint both in writing and over the phone but still nothing. I called the ombusman today and they cannot do anything untill I get a reply from tax credits. xx

[Nystagmite]

This is terrible, I agree with loolol she needs to get her local MP involved. I did this with a problem I had with the council and it's amazing how once the MP gets in touch with them, they can't do enough to help you. Tell her to see if the MP has a website so that she can email them or even a surgery where she can go in person. The sooner the better. Good luck and please let us know the outcome.

 

The following website gives you details of who your MP is. You just need to type in your post code. http://www.writetothem.com/