| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| duchess |
Posted - 10/10/2008 : 16:52:20
Hello, just looking for a little advice on my case please.
We were apparently overpaid for 06-07. It was only when we renewed this year that we realised the extent of this and managed to clarify when the over payment was from. To be honest I've never fully understood all of the award notices, hence the reason it took me so long to pick up on it.
They are saying we were overpaid by nearly £2000 due to a change in my husband's income during 06-07. Now I know I rang them approximately 3mths after he started his new job (outside their 4wks), but during this phone call I was advised that it wouldn't have any effect on the current years award due to the income disregard (which I believe to be £25000?); the actual change in income was around £7000 up on the previous year.
So as we see it, we were not in fact overpaid because of the income disregard thing. We filled out a dispute form and after 4 months waiting they have written to say we will have to repay because we failed in the duties that are set out in their stupid guidelines i.e told them about the changes 2 months too late!!. Surely it is irrelevant if we 'failed in our duties' when we were not in fact overpaid anyway, and we were incorrectly advised at the time of the 'late' phone call??
I would be very grateful if anyone can tell me wether this sounds right, and if so - where do we go from here?
Thanks. |
| 6 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| TRT |
Posted - 22/10/2008 : 16:40:07
Why did they ever get rid of the child element of your PAYE tax code? It was so much more accurate and a lot easier. |
| missfroy2 |
Posted - 13/10/2008 : 13:34:59
Hi Sarah
You are right, I didn't explain it well at all (rushing with typing I'm afraid!)
What I should have said was that the disregard only applies when your current year income is ABOVE previous year income.
Generally awards are based on previous year income. The only reason you would phone and switch to current year estimate is generally because you had a fall in income.
So for example previous year is £20,000, you expect current year to be £10,000. Your new award would be issued with an estimated income. There is no need for a disregard because income has fallen.
However, if your income then rose in the current year to £19,000 - you would have an overpayment because the disregard does not kick in until your current year income rises above previous year.
So if you overestimate a fall in income you can have an overpayment.
of course if you were to estimate an income figure higher than previous year, the award would still be based on previous year, providing it was no more than previous year +25k.
What I was saying to the OP was that it is possible that if, for some reason, her award was based on a lower current year estimate, then she reported a subsequent rise in that estimate - she wouldn't be covered by the disregard.
If the award was based on previous year and she reported a rise of £7000 then the award shouldn't have been affected and it is likely the TCO have the overpayment wrong. |
| Sarah |
Posted - 13/10/2008 : 12:53:01
Hi MissFroy,
I wasn't aware that the disregard wouldn't/couldn't be used if a claimant had provided an anticipated income for the coming year. Can you clarify because I thought this information was on the renewal form in that your actual income for the previous year was automatically your anticipated income for the coming year? Thanks. |
| missfroy2 |
Posted - 11/10/2008 : 08:42:07
If the award notice you have looked at is after reporting the change, then it is likely to show an estimate either way.
What you need to do is take all of your 2006-2007 award notices and write down the income figures used on each one, and whether it says estimate or whether it is previous year 2005-2006.
You did in fact give an estimate when he changed jobs, but the question is what came before that award notice you mention. If earlier notices showed a lower estimated income, that is most likely the source of your overpayment.
MF2 |
| duchess |
Posted - 10/10/2008 : 19:51:44
Thanks for your reply missfroy2. I've just checked one of the award notices sent to us regarding that year and it does indeed say "This income is based on an estimate proviede by you". Don't they ask you for an estimate on your renewal form? Surely evryone estimates a figure based on the previous year's income if they're not anticipating a job change? Under what circumstances would they base your award purely on the previous income - hence when would this income disregard actually apply?
I've also realised that the award notice I'm looking at is dated about a month after I told them about these changes over the phone; it thanks us for telling them about job change, but no mention of the new income info for that year. God I wish I'd read and understood that these things were wrong before now!! |
| missfroy2 |
Posted - 10/10/2008 : 18:55:04
Whether the disregard applies will depend whether your award was based on previous year income (05-6) or an estimated 06-07.
If it was the latter then the disregard would not apply so any rise from that estimated income would be an overpayment.
You need to therefore check your award notices from April 2006 to see what it says in the income column.
Another easy way to check to see if it is an income problem is look at the latest finalised award notice for 2006-2007. See what income is used on it. If the disregard applied it should be based on your 2005-2006 income. If not it will show your actual 2006-2007 income.
If you are were on a current year estimate, then I highly doubt whether they will write off the overpayment if you delayed 3 months. If you were on a previous year income, then you were told correctly the income rise would not have changed your 2006-2007 award and therefore TCO have got the reason wrong.
Good luck.
MF2 |
