| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| rocket88 |
Posted - 06/08/2008 : 17:44:11
i dont know if anyone as had this problem before,
the last 18months we have been on manual payments with no award letter..this is really getting me down,we are currently living on very little money and we are unable to get council tax benifit as we dont have the award letter,so the council phoned up the tax credits for them to tell them that we are receiving over £300 a week tax credits!!!!we are not receiving that at all...
my husband went self employed last september,we put his earnings down as £10000 but sadly only made £560,ive told the tax credits that we may be owed some money but still months after teling them we are still receiving the same amount of money..
i want to start college but without the awards letter there is no chance of proving what we are getting!!
i am just starting to make a complaint..any advise anyone!!!
this is really affecting my health
emma.xxxx |
| 7 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Alan the Geordie |
Posted - 12/09/2008 : 10:42:54
Write to Gordon Brown our unelected leader & architect of Tax Credits.
He said publicly that he would "listen" so test him on this.
It's my bet that you won't even get an acknowledgment to yor letter but this is good because it gives you another piece of ammunition to add to your arsenal. You can then complain to your MP and the media about yet more hollow words from the hollow man.
Fight dirty to win!
"Dave Anderson (Labour) MP for Blaydon for Prime Minister!!" |
| whitevanwoman |
Posted - 12/09/2008 : 07:56:53
Absolutely get back to your MP. Tell her that whilst you are on manual payments you can't get free prescriptions, dental treatment, council tax/housing benefit, access to reduced fees for adult ed, and all the other entitlements. Let her know as well if manual payments are causing other difficulties (I live in a rural area so it is a 26 round trip plus the cost of parking to pay the cash into my bank account). Once they have got you on manual payments, its easier for them just to keep you in manual payments limbo instead of sorting out the problem. You need to chase, chase, chase. Chase your MP, make them realise the difficulties and additional stress still being caused. Chase the person who has sent the letter. My mistake was to allow it to just carry on, partly because I stupidly thought that this would just be for a month or two whilst they sorted it out, and partly because I was ill and not able to keep chasing so it dragged on for 2 years. However, once I got my MP involved again, it was sorted (although it did take another 3 months and it was actually a result of a phone call from me during which I was lucky enough to get a very sympathetic, helpful and efficient member of head office staff). All it took was for someone to put an "end it" on my claim and start a new one. She also arranged for my 3 month backpayment to be authorised the same day, although it took another week or so for it to actually show on the system but it was in my bank account within about a week.
Send in a complaint letter and send a copy to your MP, but ring your MP first to give them an update on your present situation. Ask your MP to make enquiries as to the progress on getting you on the computer system and for the reason for the delay. Also send off a SAR request to get your information back as you may need to prove that there is an underpayment owing from last year. Reiterate the difficulties its causing you, this may help you claim a compensation payment once its sorted out.
Don't forget to keep careful notes of each telephone call - date, time, who you spoke to, what they said etc - not only will you be able to claim the cost of these back, but you may well need to refer back to them, to prove your case regarding an over/underpayment.
Keep plugging away at them, good luck!
Instructions for life:
1.breathe in
2.breathe out
3.repeat ad infinitum
"Realise that if you have time to whine and complain about something then you have the time to do something about it" (Anthony d'Angelo) |
| Ali M-W |
Posted - 12/09/2008 : 07:48:03
Hi Emma. I agree with you 'its time to complain now..enough is enough', and think your idea of going back to your MP to tell her that things are no better than before and that you are at the end of your tether is a great idea. I don't know whether your MP has had no real success with this because she has not done everything she could have done to prod the right people and get things moving, or because the system is so appalling that even MPs can't get decent service out of it! Whichever is the case, you will probably need to spell out to your MP the devastating effect all of this is having on your life, not only meaning that you are living hand-to-mouth, but that you can't properly access your entitlement to other help, and that it is threatening your college course. Your MP needs to see the whole picture so that she has the determination to sort it out for you. This may mean being brutally honest about how miserable and stressed this is making you feel - things we don't usually tell people in officialdom about, but which they do need to know. I believe that once she gets to realise that this is more than just a case of having to chase up a bit of money, she can start to apply some firm pressure to those officials who have the power and knowhow to get this sorted, but for some reason haven't.
Up to you, but whilst you are talking to/writing to your MP about this, you can drop in (if you haven't already) that you have joined this pressure group made up entirely of victims of the tax credit system and ask what she is prepared to do to to improve Tax Credit Casualties' experiences of the system? At one time a third of all claimants were underpaid, and a third overpaid, and not having the money you are entitled to is as bad in its own way as getting paid too much by mistake and having it grabbed back.
The more people who take their grievances to their MPs, the more MPs of all the main parties will cotton on to the idea that the tax credit system is, as you say, terrible. And maybe then something will be done, not just to get your money paid properly to you, Emma, and overpayments like mine written off, but to get everyone receiving their correct, and only their correct, entitlement, with no awful repercussions for those who don't get given the right awards through no fault of their own.
Keep fighting, and keep smiling!
Trinity: The answer is out there… and it's looking for you, and it will find you if you want it to.
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| rocket88 |
Posted - 11/09/2008 : 23:12:13
hello again..
well i contacted my mp...i have received a manual award letter and thats about it really,im still getting paid by giro!!!!
i dont know what to do next??should i contact my mp again and tell her that nothing as really been sorted!!!apart from the award letter..plus i was expecting an underpayment from last year but nothing!!!
i cant beleive how terrible the tax credits system is,i can speak to an advisor one day to be told something completly different the next!!
any advise would be greatly appreciated..
i think its time to complain now..enough is enough
emma.xxxxx |
| rocket88 |
Posted - 07/08/2008 : 01:17:03
thank you so much for the replies..very much appreciated..
i will keep you up to date with hopefully progress...
emma.xxxx |
| Alan the Geordie |
Posted - 06/08/2008 : 21:18:33
>>I am currently spending hours going through all my bills calculating what it has cost me over the years - to date I have done 598 miles just to pay the cash from the manual payments into the bank, then there are bank charges, late payment penalties and like you, I have not been able to get council tax benefit properly calculated without an award notice & I suspect that I may have missed out on 3 years of additional council tax benefit. I now have to go to the council tax office (a 42 mile round trip)and sit down with them to try to work out what I should have been entitled to and then claim that back together with all the additional penalty charges, additional mileage etc. To date I am up to 84 telephone calls but haven't yet calculated the cost of those yet. Its taking hours and hours to do this, but I'm determined to get back every penny (or as much as possible) that their errors have cost me.<<
That's the way to do it - hit them where it hurts most, right in the wallet!!
>>I would also suggest that you threaten to go to the press, even if you don't intend to. The threat might be enough.<<
This is an excellent tactic too. HMRC do not like bad publicity!
"Dave Anderson (Labour) MP for Blaydon for Prime Minister!!" |
| whitevanwoman |
Posted - 06/08/2008 : 21:03:42
Hi
I've had exactly the same problem - click here http://familytaxcredit.forumco.com/topic~TOPIC_ID~952.asp for my posts about my situation.
My new claim is now sorted and in proper bank payment - what a difference it has made to my life, but I don't think it would have been if I hadn't involved my MP.
I think it all stemmed from problems with my claim in 05/06 which were never properly sorted out and I have now had 2 letters of apology and £200 compensation for the problems incurred with my new claim.
However, I have been told that I have been overpaid for 07/08 by about £300 & am disputing that and I suspect that when they resolve the problems from 05/06 there may well be an overpayment from that which I will need to dispute.
I am currently spending hours going through all my bills calculating what it has cost me over the years - to date I have done 598 miles just to pay the cash from the manual payments into the bank, then there are bank charges, late payment penalties and like you, I have not been able to get council tax benefit properly calculated without an award notice & I suspect that I may have missed out on 3 years of additional council tax benefit. I now have to go to the council tax office (a 42 mile round trip)and sit down with them to try to work out what I should have been entitled to and then claim that back together with all the additional penalty charges, additional mileage etc. To date I am up to 84 telephone calls but haven't yet calculated the cost of those yet. Its taking hours and hours to do this, but I'm determined to get back every penny (or as much as possible) that their errors have cost me.
The fact that you're on manual payments should mean that they recognise your entitlement so try to get something in writing to the effect that they apologise for the problems with your award - you really need to involve your MP, so either write or go to a surgery with all the background info. I had a letter from my community nurse expressing concern about the effect this was having on my health and I suspect that made a huge difference to try to get written confirmation of the effect its having on you from GP or other medical person / support worker.
I would also suggest that you threaten to go to the press, even if you don't intend to. The threat might be enough. I haven't had to do that yet but am keeping that option up my sleeve for later if I need it. Another member, Willow, went to the press anonymously and her overpayment was written off within days. Willow's posts are in the new members section, posted during June 08.
I hope this helps, I'm sure there will be other people along soon with more advice about putting in a complaint. Keep us posted how you get on.
Good luck
Instructions for life:
1.breathe in
2.breathe out
3.repeat ad infinitum
"Realise that if you have time to whine and complain about something then you have the time to do something about it" (Anthony d'Angelo) |
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