Ј8900 overpayment!!!

A question about : Ј8900 overpayment!!!

i was receiving tax credit as a single parent until 28 june 2003 when i re-married. on return of honey moon all officials who needed notifying were sent a letter telling of change of circumstance and a copy of marriage certificate. i had hurt my back around the same time, went on sick leave, in and out of hospital. constantly receiving different awards but all working out about same amount i was receiving while single. i then got this weird letter i rang to querie and i was saying bla bla bla before i was married and woman said hold on no mention of you being remarried on the computer, i said i had written and enclosed marriage cert. this was in march. she said that it could have been received in another office, she said claim should have been stopped and would send out new form and they would be in touch if any overpayment was due and a new claim would now be set up as it should have been done back then. sick leave turned into long term sick leave 61 weeks in total which resulted in me being admitted 3 weeks ago for spinal surgery i have just been discharged, then today completely out of the blue received a paying in slip with a letter saying i had to pay this amount by 6 jan 05. i rang hysterically and was told it was due to the overpayment that i had been paid during june 03 to march 04. repeated that i had notified them at the time of marriage, and had no recollection of being overpaid!! he is now going to send an appeal letter and i am terrified, had no idea i had been overpaid that much. it became very vague at what would happen now. at the end of the day i guess it comes down to my word against theirs. so what will happen to me, struggling as it is on dla, just husband workingno idea even when i will be fit to return have not even started rehab programme. will they charge be tons of interest, will they expect it all at once, because we dont have it, please advise i am desperate!!!!

Best answers:

• homealone,
  Sorry to hear that. That's all you need really, especially just before xmas. But.... don't panic about it, just write them a letter asking them to clarify which award is correct as you have received these different ones (enclose a copy if possible) and how they have worked it out. Explain that you notified them and sent marriage certificate (did you have to send the original? in which case they must have sent it back or have they still got it?).
  If you do end up with an overpayment you will be able to pay back in instalments.
  If you are unable to get out of the house at the moment, you could try your local Citizens Advice Bureau to see if they will do a home visit (depends on resources of the local bureau) or from anyone else involved in your DLA claim that can negotiate for you.
  Fill in your appeal letter but put something simple like "I would like you to look again at the decision you have made about my Tax Credit award of ..... which says I have been overpaid by xxxxx, because I have informed you of all changes in circumstances in xxxxx month and xxxxx. (Enclose copies of your letters if you have them.) This leaves it open for whoever you get to negotiate for you to do it in the way that they think best.
  I would also email your MP about this. (Can't get the link at the moment, will try again in a bit.)
  Then sit back and forget about it until after christmas. I hope your back is better soon.
  Fran
• Sorry to hear about your troubles.
  The overpayment sounds extremely high for a part year overpayment. ???
  There have been many instances of the IR overpaying customers and underpaying so its easy for them to make a mistake in HOW much you have been overpaid.
  You have technically been overpaid as your claim should have stopped as soon as you got married (regardless of husbands income). You should then have reapplied giving details of both incomes.
  In all honesty it is not going to be sorted in the next few days. Once a claim goes wrong, in my experience, things continue to go wrong.
  Keep a copy of every award you have been sent, visit your local CAB as soon as possible (after christmas is fine) and they should help you.
  You will not be expected to pay it all back by next month - typical IR heavy handediness - more used to dealing with tax payers (some possibly dodgers in their eyes?) than customers receiving benefits/tax credits.
  Usually overpayments (once sorted) are deducted from future payments of tax credits. If the deductions are excessive in your view then you can apply on hardship grounds for them to be reduced and therefore receive up to 85% (I think) of your proper TC award. This is of course presuming you are still entitled to tax cerdits since your marriage. (Joint income of less than approx Ј55k?)
  Hope this is of some use.
• thanks for your advice, i too thought the amount a bit excessive considering the period of time involved!...at the moment i am awaiting an appeal form where as i said earlier if i can prove none of this was done as a effort at making a fraudulent claim they may look favourably on me whatever that means, some have been squashed apparently. do i really need to see the cab if going down the appeal route with them directly????
• I would definately contact CAB or similar and they will do a calculation to make sure what your award is (Inland Revenue seem to be making so many mistakes, you want to be sure where you stand - and for your peace of mind). They will also help with any appeal and negotiate on your behalf.
• Emmacw
  The standard rules of IR reducing future awards to get back the overpayment do not apply in this case. That only applies when the overpayment is due to an increase in income reported late (perfectly acceptable).
  This is a case of error - either homealone's or IR's - but I don't think we've got enough information here to fully determine whose error it is.
  It is within IR's gift to allow payment over a longer period of time, and there are compelling circumstances here. But I'm not sure Mr & Mrs Homealone would be allowed to have their award reduced to pay off Miss Homealone's debt - they are two completely separate claims. It could be that they have to receive their full award and pay some back to IR.
  As to whether they would they would write off the overpayment - IR would only do that if it was their fault and that Homealone couldn't have reasonably have known that IR had made a mistake. Records of correspondance and phone calls will be important here. Ј8,900 is a lot of money to not realise you weren't supposed to be getting. But Homealone's counter-argument is that her mistake was not to realise that she needed a new award. It's not like she was receiving two awards (which would undoubtedly be seen as fraudulant).
  I'm not trying to scare you Homealone, because I think you have a very good case for being treated leniently by IR, both because of your circumstances and also because IR have made at least some mistakes here. However it is important to be clear on what grounds you are appealing. There is still a lot of misunderstanding around about overpayments - yes lots of people have got an overpayment, but no they aren't all due to IR mistakes. The vast majority of overpayments are a legitimate feature of the system which come about because someone gets a rise in income.
  IR are writing off a very small proportion of overpayments - which mostly relate to computer problems early on. This doesn't apply to you - in your case it was human error because the correct action of closing your single award and starting a new couple award was not taken. You need to argue that you took all reasonable steps to inform IR that you had married and that it was their fault that they didn't take the appropriate action and give you the right advice when you sent them your marriage certificate.
  Sorry for getting a bit anal about this, but IR are prone to think that people appeal against overpayment becauses they have seen a story in the papers or know someone who knows someone..... They assume that you don't know the rules and are just trying your luck. An appeal based on the rules is likely to work better. CAB should be able to help you with this.
  irs
• thanks for your replies. i have still not received my appeal form yet but should imagine it would be here today. doesnt surprise me thought when they sent this demand it said we have contacted you many times about this overpayment!!!!!!!!!!!!! the demand was the first i heard from them!!! as you said there is no way i would have been entitled to so much money in so small a period of time!.. at this time i was in hospital as it turned out that my back was definitely a slipped disc and i was completely immobilised. in fact since my wedding day i have only workwed a few weeks back in mid 2003. i had little sometimes no access to banks, shops, statements and being on as much pain medication as i was and still am following anything was a struggle. large doses of morphine make me a bit foggy. truth be known still am. even though i was operated on a few weeks ago i am on higher doses than then. in short the fact i went to the trouble of copies of marriage certs and notifications to ir i feel bloody annoyed that it has come down to my word against theirs, anyhow i will call the cab and arrange an appointment for the new year, i think in certain cases they can come out to you. as even with a carer i would have trouble getting there on my own. as soon as i receive my appeal form i will no doubt be back on here looking for more advice
• How to appeal against a tax credits decision or award WTC/AP
  The above guide contains an Appeal form.
  COP26What happens if we have paid you too much tax credit? contains their statement of practice which you may find it necessary to remind them of.
• thanks ted. they look like interesting reading. i have tonight gone through my bank statements and would you believe am only one short to complete the whole period of time they are talking about! what i have found though is this from 26/8 /03-11/3/04 i received similare monthly amounts to what i received as when single , the damage seems to have happened before that. the from 1/8/03-11/3/04 they did pay me Ј5294.13- meaning the difference in cash supposedly being paid from 28/6/03-1/8/03 approx Ј3500 i would say a little unlikely however upon further digging in the month of august alone i received Ј1664.67 a definite error i would say. i know you must think how did she not notice it, well i was really laid up with slipped disc at time so was not really checking statements or anything else, was bed ridden. have contacted bank for copies of the missing month but find it hard to believe it will hold credits of Ј3500 or similar, anyway will get in touch with cab for appointment in new year and thanks again everyone for your advice