Thread: Any help on this???????????????????

Tax credit woes

I have moved this here as I am hoping for some advice. I am fed up of the tax credit people, it was bad enough when I was at home. Now I am abroad this will be a nightmare. I was paid tax creds for years at home, and found them a great help when on low income. I always informed them of changes in my, and the wife's circumstances and they would adjust my payment accordingly. Suddenly I owed them 2,000 but I knew this would be a pain to sort out so I stupidly let it ride as they were only taking a small amount per month. Now they want more money off me and want a big lump, or 12, monthly payments.
Does anybody know the system involved in this. I am worried in-case they can go into my bank account or force me to do something with my house. Below is my original post.

While in the Uk I was on tax credits, I decided to move abroad and did so to Thailand. I have always given uptodate info to these people but now that I have moved abroad (1year+) they have told me I owe them £3,000. They want me to pay straight away, or in 12 monthly increments starting now. I do have a bit of money in the bank but it is for emergencies for my house which I still have a mortgage on but that is being paid by tenants. I am worried that thay will take the money from my account to pay themselves off leaving me with no money. I only earn enogh here for my family and that's about it. I could definately not afford to be paying this off. Has anybody had simular problems, or any advice for me

Cheers in advance

I don't think they would be able to take money out of your account without your permission so I think you are safe there. I don't know how the system works but I'm assuming what they pay you is in advance so if you move overseas it would need to be paid back ? That's just the way I interpret it, I'm sure there is someone here with some knowledge of it.

Originally Posted by ophidian

I don't think they would be able to take money out of your account without your permission so I think you are safe there. I don't know how the system works but I'm assuming what they pay you is in advance so if you move overseas it would need to be paid back ? That's just the way I interpret it, I'm sure there is someone here with some knowledge of it.

Thanks for this. I just hope they don't start taking money off me as my money at home is for emergencies where I may need to fly home or for things I need to do on the house. I have just paid a grand on pvc bits and pieces that needed doing, a couple more things like that and I will be skint anyway. Thay will need to sell the house then.

Cheers

Hi Nelly, can sympathise with your concerns. Is it possible you can give us a bit more info on the subject? I'm of the same assumption as Ophidian that you were credited a certain amount of money and this needs to be reimbursed? If you can let us know what you were doing in UK and how things have altered (if at all) in Thailand we may be able to do some research for you and hopefully come to some resolution.

With respect to them gaining access to your bank account, again I agree with Ophidian - am sure nobody has authority to do this, however, to put your mind at ease I suggest you email/telephone your bank in UK and pose the question. You don't have to tell them why you're asking, just say that you're a little concerned as to whethere ANYBODY can gain access to your account and hopefully they will verify that YOU are the only authorised person to do this.

Yes I agree, we need some more information I think to be able to be any more help. I am 99.9% sure that a Government agency can't just access your bank account and remove funds but as Yummy says just confirm with your bank.

Originally Posted by yummybrummy

Hi Nelly, can sympathise with your concerns. Is it possible you can give us a bit more info on the subject? I'm of the same assumption as Ophidian that you were credited a certain amount of money and this needs to be reimbursed? If you can let us know what you were doing in UK and how things have altered (if at all) in Thailand we may be able to do some research for you and hopefully come to some resolution.

With respect to them gaining access to your bank account, again I agree with Ophidian - am sure nobody has authority to do this, however, to put your mind at ease I suggest you email/telephone your bank in UK and pose the question. You don't have to tell them why you're asking, just say that you're a little concerned as to whethere ANYBODY can gain access to your account and hopefully they will verify that YOU are the only authorised person to do this.

You are quite right, I was credited too much money, I think this happened while I was self employed and happened a few years ago. The only circumstances that have ever changed has been my income which I always alerted them too as soon as it happened. As stated the original overpayment was not addressed or queried by myself as (stupidly) I was not concerned, as they were taking a minimal amount to pay it back. I do not understand how the amount has now gone up again. I will need to dispute the overpayment now, and understand that they will need to do research to see whether their information was correct and that it was applied to my account straight away. They will also have to send me the papertrail as I will need to confirmj the information and dates. This is going to be a night mare of lost post and long phone calls. Be cause of the time I believe this will take I do not want to be in a situation where I am worried about my house and savings.

Thank you and Ophidian for your reply

Morning Nelly, I was wondering whether you'd initially set up a standing order account with the tax benefits peeps or direct debit? If it's the latter then they can increase the monthly payments even without advising you - it's only picked up when you check your bank statements (this happened to me in the past and I went bollistic) but I then discovered when DD is set up the recipients can increase the monthly payments more or less to whatever they want. The former has to remain what was agreed initially and to alter the payments, a new agreement has to be raised and signed by both parties. Hopefully it's the former.

Should your new payment be calculated correctly by them, I am sure you can appeal and come to some mutual monthly payment. Is easy for me to say, but please don't beat yourself up about this. The one positive about UK is that they're pretty understanding/sympathetic when it comes to repayments, especially when the debtor is willing to comply and proving genuine.

Keep us posted Nelly and try not to stress too much over this

No news on this yet. i have been on the phone to them and they have accepted that I am going to dispute this. i have never set up any method of them taking money from my account so they cannot alter what they take. i have to return the disputes form which i downloaded from the net. this I have to send back stating my case to them. i will also be requesting all inforation they have acted on since i was given any kind of overpayment. god knows how long this will take, hopefully about 7 years so that it will still be ongoing when i return to the Uk

Cheers

Thanks for keeping us updated Nelly. Sounds a right pain what you're having to go through but hopefully will be worth it and eventually give you some peace of mind.

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