Child Tax credits 'overpayment' demands

[GlenUpNorth]

Hi CAG this is my first post.

 

My wife received a letter today regarding £532 which the Tax credits says she is due them because of an overpayment.

 

When we first got together in 2011 I signed on to JSA which we did as a joint claim etc, everything above board and we specifically asked if we needed to tell CTC about it and they said that no, the info goes on the computer and all agencies get to know so that was fine.

 

5 weeks later we get a letter from CTC saying that there had been a change in circumstances and that we needed to get in touch to continue to receive entitlement, so we called immediately and spoke to a nice chap who took the details and told us that they'd received info from JCP about the new claim etc but needed us to call, which we now had done, everything hunky dory.

 

Now we are asked to repay the money that we got for my wife's children during those 5 weeks. Its not even as if with the new circumstances we weren't entitled. We haven't had a penny that we weren't entitled to, just that we were late (by a week since they give you 4 weeks leeway) in telling them about a change that didn't even affect our entitlement.

 

While on the phone today the irksome character on the other end of the phone cheerfully informed my wife that she also has over £2k overpayment that was made back in 2006 when she was with her ex, which she had no idea about and they have never before attempted to collect although again there had been no periods where she/her ex had earned over £50k to preclude them from receiving CTC.

 

Is there any course of action we can take to try to get someone with a sense of reason so see that we are not guilty of wrong doing and haven't taken any money to which we were not entitled?

 

Or is it just a big money grabbing austerity con?

Edited June 19, 2014 by GlenUpNorth

[blondebubbles]

What date have they ended the single claim from and what date was the new joint claim backdated to?

[GlenUpNorth]

Thank you for your quick reply,

 

They ended the single claim on 25th april 2011, not sure when the new one started from but as I understand it, there was no backdating done.

[Lapsed Workaholic]

Hello GlenUpNorth and welcome to the Consumer Action Group. As an ex-patriate from the glens up north myself I yearn for the day when I can return.

 

You have not mentioned what change to your circumstances occurred that brought about this demand for repayment. Not being nosey but members may be able to make sense of and build up a reasonable case to support your argument if they knew a little bit about it.

 

Is “just that e were late” Yorkshire-speak or what does it mean. What were ‘e’ late for?

 

 

 

 

PS. Not sure what I pressed to cause this to post twice. Not sure either what to press to delete one of them.

[blondebubbles]

Thank you for your quick reply,

 

They ended the single claim on 25th april 2011, not sure when the new one started from but as I understand it, there was no backdating done.

 

Any money paid on the single claim after 25th April 2011 would correctly be deemed an overpayment as she was no longer single.

[GlenUpNorth]

Thanks for the welcome LW

 

The change was my moving in with my partner, although I wasn't working at the time (hence signing on for JSA).

 

'e' should have been 'we' (edited now) but its funny you should mention both the glens and Yorkshire since I'm from Yorkshire and now live quite near the glens of Scotland!

 

Blondebubbles: if this is the case, then perhaps the problem is not the debt but the lack of backdated pay for the new 'joint' claim which would offset the overpayment and the fact that we were misinformed by JCP advisor.

 

But the fact remains (to any reasonable person) that previous to 25/04/11 she was entitled to ~£100 a week for her children in CTC and after 25/04/11 she was still entitled to the same amount.

Edited June 19, 2014 by GlenUpNorth

[blondebubbles]

Thanks for the welcome LW

 

The change was my moving in with my partner, although I wasn't working at the time (hence signing on for JSA).

 

'e' should have been 'we' (edited now) but its funny you should mention both the glens and Yorkshire since I'm from Yorkshire and now live quite near the glens of Scotland!

 

Blondebubbles: if this is the case, then perhaps the problem is not the debt but the lack of backdated pay for the new 'joint' claim which would offset the overpayment and the fact that we were misinformed by JCP advisor.

 

But the fact remains (to any reasonable person) that previous to 25/04/11 she was entitled to ~£100 a week for her children in CTC and after 25/04/11 she was still entitled to the same amount.

 

I'm not denying the amounts that she (or both of you) were entitled to. It's the fact that it was paid as a single person when she wasn't.

 

I'm not here to discuss my personal feelings on the rules, only to provide you with advice based on what the rules are.

 

Tax credits will be of the opinion that it was her responsibility to report the change to them at the time. The rules regarding reporting within 1 month is to avoid possible penalties, rather than overpayments.

 

If when you submitted the new claim you had requested backdating then this should have been done. You should check your awards from that time and see what date they started your claim from.

[GlenUpNorth]

Thanks again for your reply.

 

I wasn't aware that Tax Credits could issue penalties!

 

When we submitted the new claim, we were confused as to why we had received the letter from CTC saying that our claim would stop because we thought JCP were updating our details with CTC as we were told. When we spoke to the advisor at CTC to update the claim (5th June) there was no mention of backdating because we did not know that there had been an overpayment (in their eyes) we just thought that we had been getting the right amount of money and to continue doing so we needed to update our details as they hadn't been by JCP as we'd previously been led to believe. The guy on the phone said everything was fine now and that was that, for almost 3 years!

[Lapsed Workaholic]

So, the situation as I see it: On commencement of the joint claim the JSA part of it went without a hitch and no queries are raised about that. The alleged discrepancy arises from the CTC claim.

 

You were informed at the time that no further action on your part was necessary regarding CTC since the system itself took care of that side of it.

 

There was no overlap of the CTC. It continued to be paid after at exactly the same rate per week as before, and no change in your circumstance occurred that could make a difference. Unless they are saying that your joint claim for JSA affects your wife’s CTC.

 

Seems reasonable enough, even I can understand it. Surely it would be easy enough to calculate what you are entitled to and check if that is what you actually got. A letter of explanation to the authors of the letter received by your wife should suffice to convince them that if there is a discrepancy the error is theirs.

 

The issue going back to 2006 sounds like it is a different issue entirely. Can’t comment on that except to say that the 50k cap you mention is a fairly recent innovation, I think.

[antone]

 

 

 

PS. Not sure what I pressed to cause this to post twice. Not sure either what to press to delete one of them.

 

Just a glitch in the forum software - it happens. Only moderators can delete posts, and I've taken care of it. If you need a moderator's help for any reason, you can click the black "!" triangle under the relevant post - this will send a message to the Site Team.

[GlenUpNorth]

What I have learned: Don't listen to anything anyone tells you on the phone/JCP, check facts yourself!

 

OK We have bitten the bullet and arranged to pay them back, very slowly (no interest so I'm in no rush).

 

The 2006 balance was not even mentioned when my wife called back and so we shall let sleeping dogs lie and perhaps tackle that one at a later date if need arises.

 

Thank you to everyone that posted to try and help/make me see sense

[abc123def]

Unfortunately to my cost, information and claims reported late cause payments to be deemed as overpayments even if you would be entitled to it had information been submitted on time. The system sucks in my opinion! I too was told all was fine and not to worry by the man on the phone at the CTC department. He lied.