Tax credit compliance letter - scared

[northerngirl74]

I received a letter from tax credit saying that they are looking into my single claim for 2011/12 as they believe my husband was living there. I want to be completely honest with them and admit my guilt but am terrified of the consequences.

My husband and I decided to separate in 2007. We was affected by the floods that year and was living in a caravan. I applied for tax credit as my husband was going to be moving out. To cut a long story short as there was a lot of things going on with the flood claims, builders etc and my husband couldn't afford to pay for somewhere to live he didnt move out officially. I didn't cancel the claim because I didn't think the marriage would continue as we had had a couple of turbulent years, topped off by the stress of money and the floods, my husband was diagnosed with depression at the same time which he received counselling for and we felt we wanted to give the marriage another go.

 

I am very ashamed as I stupidly carried on claiming tax credit as we have a lot of loan and credit card debt going back years and years and the money I was receiving was basically keeping us afloat and keeping up debt repayments.

 

This year I cancelled the claim as we wanted to finally face our problems once and for all. I am now on an iva and my husband on a dmp and in a few years we can see an end to this mess. This is a fresh start for us all.

 

I have now received this letter I am so scared. I am not eating or sleeping and crying at the drop of a hat. I have never been in trouble before (hence the state I am in) and i'm terrified of being prosecuted, although I know its probably what I deserve I have got a place at university for next year to train as a nurse but if i get cautioned or prosecuted that wont be a possibility, I cant believe I have ruined my life.

 

I understand honesty is the best way forward now and i've read a thread of someone in a similar situation to me ( CAT2212) who wrote a letter and got it sorted. I am happy to arrange repayment of it somehow i just don't want to be prosecuted, I have learnt my lesson, i had long before the letter came

 

They only mention on the letter 2011/12 do i just refer to that at the moment and how do I word it?

 

I have been to CAB and they said they couldn't help me and referred me to community legal advice, I spoke to them and she was very abrupt with me and said basically i'd been sat on the money for the past few years and couldn't help me. She told me to go back to them if tax credit decided to prosecute and she could refer me to a criminal solicitor.

 

 

Please help me

[northerngirl74]

bump

[northerngirl74]

thx, sorry if i'm impatient, im just frightened of making things worse, if thats possible :o( I have been reading cat2122 thread on a similar situation but i cant contact them or anything to see how they worded the letter, how much info they told them etc as it seemed to work out ok for them in the end.

[northerngirl74]

please please please could anyone help me with the wording in my letter admitting my guilt, I want to get this sorted as soon as possible i really want to send it off tomorrow. I understand that I should only refer to the year they are asking about at the moment, I am hoping that the fact I cancelled the claim myself and have received no money since august, way before the letter was sent might help my case in some small way.

[northerngirl74]

I refer to your recent letter regarding my tax credit claim for 2011/12 tax year.

Thank you for your help, does the following sound ok ?

 

 

I have tried to contact the department unsuccessfully. I understand you must very busy at this time but I am conscious of the upcoming deadline. I would like to disclose that I should have made a joint claim for the above period as I reconciled my marriage.

 

I would like to sincerely apologise for not informing you of this until I cancelled the claim in august of this year.

 

I would like the opportunity to put this right and arrange repayment.

 

 

x

[northerngirl74]

jadeybags, thank you so much for your help, sorry if i am panicking. I really hope things do work out. I feel much better now the letter is sorted out, cant do any more. i'm just not sure what to say if they ask for a date when we was part of a couple as it was hit and miss for quite a while until i accepted he was staying.

 

xx

[northerngirl74]

Hi I received 2 letters in reply to the letter i sent. It is an overpayment letter for last year and also for the bit of this year before i cancelled the claim in august. I am happy with that as it would seem that they just want repayment for that period. I just need to contact them to try arrange a repayment plan. thanks for your support

[northerngirl74]

Hi i'm still trying to get hold of them, they are a nightmare lol. overpayment was £8000 i can only afford £50 a month at the moment but with a view to paying off as much as i can when i can, I'm hoping they will accept that as we are on an iva at the moment and things are tight as it is

[northerngirl74]

I know how you feel its terrifying. they did say in the original letter that they may go the criminal route but to be honest its very unusual for them to take that route, they would rather have a fighting chance of recovering some money. obviously i dont know your situation but, i was told through various posts on here that honesty was the best policy. I wrote to them as i struggled to get through on the phone. i kept the letter simple (draft a few posts above) and they just replied with the overpayment figure. I suspect if they decide to investigate they will stop the payments until its sorted. What makes you think they will investigate you? I have to say once i got the letter back it was such a relief, i know i am gonna be paying this off for a long time as long as they accept my offer but at least i wont be prosecuted that was my biggest fear. I already stopped the claim a few months before the letter came and entered into the iva, we are well on the way to financial freedom just need to sort the payment plan out.

 

 

x

[northerngirl74]

I told them i could only pay £50 a month which would take me about 15 years to pay off. they were really nice and helpful, I had to ring a different number as its gonna be longer than 3 years and said they were not intending to cause hardship to anyone and understood my situation, but needed to go through a incomings/outgoings thing with them and to ring back when i had the info. they did say its better to offer a low amount and pay extra as and when you can. Now as i'm on an IVA i thought it best i speak to payplan 1st who are managing my IVA and they said i should be able to add it to my IVA plan rather than pay them direct. so they have the details and i'm just waiting to hear from them if its a possibility or not.

 

To be honest i just want it all sorted out now, hope you get sorted soon.

 

x

[northerngirl74]

I dont mind at all, I am surprised how many people are in the same boat. i have never been so scared in all my lif, I lost loads of weight cried constantly and yes i felt ashamed but at the time its about surviving day to day isnt it. thats why i cancelled the claim and sorted out the IVA. I am now on top of financial things, then this letter came to be honest it is a relief that its out in the open its just trying to deal with it now. I couldnt get hold of them by phone originally, i ended up sending them a letter (extract above) and a few days after my deadline date i got a letter with the overpayment amount, the 1st time i spoke to them was to speak to the about repayment. They have never mentioned fraud, prison or anything, that was my biggest fear as I'm going into nursing and if i get cautioned or convicted of anything thats it for me, I would rather be paying it off for the rest of my life. I really hope you get sorted out, just be honest with them, answer everything they ask but dont offer too much. i dont think they are in the habit of prosecuting people, maybe just the ones who carry on lying, i was told if i hold my hands up and be honest, offer to repay they are helpful and to be fair that has been my experience so far. i know they are within their right to have taken it further but they havent and i am very grateful. taught me a valuable lesson i can tell you.

 

xx

[northerngirl74]

hope so too keep us updated x

[northerngirl74]

Just an update from me. I received a letter today to say that HMRC have completed their checks and I am being fined £2040 for deliberately not informing them of my circumstances. I dont know where I am going to find the money from. Pay plan who manage my IVA are helping me with the overpayment and the fine as i dont want my IVA to fail. I have been lucky really but i just want to sort this out now and move on.

 

Does anyone know if the penalty they are charging will show up on a crb check? there is no mention of prosecution and i was never interviewed under caution or anything.

 

xx

[northerngirl74]

hi Please dont think of harming yourself, your daughter needs you around and they will look at outgoings/incomings and work with you.To be fair they have been really good, i know it could be a lot worse and they seem to have only looked at the year they wrote to me about. i contacted them by letter because i couldnt get through on the phone line and it was actually easier. when i spoke to them about repaying the overpayment they did say they arnt in the habit of causing hardship and where prepared to arrange repayment over 15 years, its just with me being in an iva now i needed to speak to them about it. i am happier than when i got the original letter. they are much easier on you if you admit any wrong doing. i am hoping they will accept a monthly payment for the fine too.

 

I felt much better when i started dealing with it. This fine has just knocked me back a bit but i will get back on track :o). Good luck xx

[northerngirl74]

I have finally today agreed a repayment plan with them and will be paying it off for years, till I retire but once my IVA finishes I am planning to get it paid off quicker and in the meantime will try pay extra amounts along the way. I am so relieved and I hope that is the end of it, its been a long 3 months and i can honestly say its been the scariest thing but HMRC have been more that reasonable, more than they need to be. There is light at the end of the tunnel and i can hopefully get back to getting my life in order.

 

I really hope that is the end of it now.

 

x

[northerngirl74]

2055 i will pay it off that is if i carry on paying £20 per month but when my car is paid off next year i have to increase the payments and when my IVA is finished i have to increase payments again so it will be well before then. I would like it paid within 10 years but will have to see.

 

I don't know about your situation but I am on an IVA and i suppose that proves my financial situation is not the best. They went through an income and expenditure with me last week, its very comprehensive and they could quite easily see that I couldnt realistically afford to pay more. I dont think its a set rule as to how many years but as quickly as possible but they want you to be able to afford it without defaulting on it. so I would try offer something you know you can realistically afford and try pay more as and when.

 

Good luck and keep us updated.

 

xx

[northerngirl74]

let me know how you get on

 

x