Never claimed Working Tax Credits

[Cheeseybob]

Hello.

 

 

My husband has been receiving letters from DWP asking for repayment of £318.42 since about 2006 for Working Tax Credits.

 

 

My husband has never claimed working tax credits.

He even checked with his accountant, who checked through his paperwork and agreed with him that he has never claimed it,

so he wrote my husband a letter explaining that this has never been claimed, which he forwarded to the DWP.

 

 

Every 6 months or so, we get the chasing letter,

my husband phones them up and explains yet again the situation and they say they will put the account on hold!

 

 

Today came the letter .... he has till 03/07/2015 to pay or they will pass it to a collections office.

We have been in France since 2011 (the letters are sent here so they know where we live).

 

 

He explained again that he has never claimed working tax credit and the girl said that it had gone to a tribunal

and that the case was dismissed and that the money is recoverable.

We weren't even told it was going to a tribunal.

 

 

In the end my husband told the girl to come and collect the money in person !

He kept asking the girl who he can talk to about the credits but she wouldn't move away from her predicted notes. So very frustrating.

 

 

If we claimed and owed it fair comment.

Does anyone have any ideas who we can speak to.

Many thanks in advance.

[blondebubbles]

As mentioned, tax credits are administered by HMRC and not DWP. Can you clarify who the letter is from?

 

You can make a subject access request to see any relevant records of the claim.

 

Tax credits debts cannot be taken to court after 6 years although can be recovered by other means eg tax code, future benefits, direct payments etc.

 

What line has he been calling? The payment helpline? The tax credit helpline?

[blondebubbles]

I'd have thought one of the questions to ask is who is ACTUALLY sending these letters? - Some of the (expletive) I've had - particularly in the early days - sailed VERY close to the wind in terms of misrepresenting itself... The casual observer might well think they're delaing with the DWP when in fact those responsible are just cowboy collectors... The TC helpline won't be accessible from France???

 

I did ask to clairfy who the letters are from. That was my first question.

 

The tax credit helpline is available from France, there is an overseas helpline for claimants who live abroad.

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/tax-credits-enquiries

[Cheeseybob]

Hello Blondebubbles. The letter is from DWP, Camberley Surrey,

I did re-post but I can't find my replies.

 

 

There is a problem with the telephone number on that website, we tried calling it tonight.

 

 

As this goes back to 2006, it is now statute barred,

but surely the letter from my husbands accountant would have been enough for them,

or call the accountant if they weren't sure.

 

 

They had told my husband once before that he was living in Dagenham, Essex, we paid to do a search on the property

and it is a block of flats that has only ever had foreigners living in it.

 

 

We sent them this too. Either way, they are not going to get any money!

[blondebubbles]

Hello Blondebubbles. The letter is from DWP, Camberley Surrey, I did re-post but I can't find my replies. There is a problem with the telephone number on that website, we tried calling it tonight. As this goes back to 2006, it is now statute barred, but surely the letter from my husbands accountant would have been enough for them, or call the accountant if they weren't sure. They had told my husband once before that he was living in Dagenham, Essex, we paid to do a search on the property and it is a block of flats that has only ever had foreigners living in it. We sent them this too. Either way, they are not going to get any money!

 

In 2006 tax credits were administered by HMRC and not DWP. There is no reason why DWP would write out about this. Are you sure it's not for some other kind of benefit?

 

The helpline closed at 8, but would have been busy before this as this is their peak period. What was the problem on the line?

 

HMRC can only speak with an accountant if they have authority to speak to them, has form 64-8 been sent to tax credits?

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tax-agents-and-advisers-authorising-your-agent-64-8

 

A letter from an accountant saying that the person never claimed wouldn't be enough to drop the overpayment. This would mean that someone would have hijacked their identity (or records as been mismatched some how) and checks would need to be done on this.

[Cheeseybob]

My husband spoke to a girl tonight from the helpline who said it was for Working Tax Credits..

... It said there was a technical fault and to try later !

 

 

What is form 64-8. He has never been involved with or received any tax credits, so we don't know where they have got his name and this amount from.

 

 

This is what we keep saying.

We want proof of any forms/payments received by my husband but they keep telling him that he lost the 'tribunal' and that the debt id recoverable.

 

 

They need to prove that he received and filled out the forms for the working tax credits.

 

 

I think we will send a letter stating fraud on their behalf and see what happens next,

 

 

if they won't help us then too bad.

 

 

Are there any letters on here that I can look at please.

[blondebubbles]

My husband spoke to a girl tonight from the helpline who said it was for Working Tax Credits..... It said there was a technical fault and to try later ! What is form 64-8. He has never been involved with or received any tax credits, so we don't know where they have got his name and this amount from. This is what we keep saying. We want proof of any forms/payments received by my husband but they keep telling him that he lost the 'tribunal' and that the debt id recoverable. They need to prove that he received and filled out the forms for the working tax credits. I think we will send a letter stating fraud on their behalf and see what happens next, if they won't help us then too bad. Are there any letters on here that I can look at please.

 

1. You need to first establish who is sending these letters as DWP don't deal with HMRC debts. There are some spam letters/emails that go about.

 

2. If you want an accountant to deal with this then a form 64-8 is required (I included a link earlier). This form gives an accountant authority to discuss these matters on your behalf. Without this they cannot discuss your claim with HMRC.

 

3. Make a subject access request to HMRC for all records relating to this tax credits claim. This should then show what information they held at the time of the claim and any contact either way including details of any appeals/tribunals.

 

You can do this here - https://online.hmrc.gov.uk/shortforms/form/DPU_SAR

[Cheeseybob]

Thank you blonebubbles, will do this tomorrow, need to clear my head a bit now ha ha . Have a good evening.

[caro]

Send a sar and you'll get all the information about any dealings you have, or are alleged to have had with them.

[caro]

Oops blondebubbles beat me to it!!

[Cheeseybob]

UPDATE.....

 

Husband rang HMRC last night and spoke to a very helpful girl who put his account on the screen and said ..."We asked the DWP not to pay this amount as the address and other details didn't tie up with my husbands, the DWP took no notice and paid the amount in to god knows whose account - whoever is living in Dagenham. She told my husband to hold on while she spoke to her Manager. She came back about 5 mins later and said her manager is going to call the DWP straight away and ask them to cancel the debt from my husbands name and that an internal fraud investigation will be filed. She is going to put everything in writing to my husband and send copies of everything, so that should the dodgy DWP write again, we will be prepared. We will now be doing our own letter of complaint to the DWP as well. Many thanks all of you for answering my query, you just feel like you are going round the twist sometimes.....

[caro]

Well done cheesybob. Make a note of the date and time of phone call just in case the letter doesn't materialise so you can get phone records checked.

[Cheeseybob]

I have made a note of everything, thanks again.

[caro]

[blondebubbles]

Did you ask them why the DWP are dealing with an HMRC debt?