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stephie
Rank; Hector Tax Inspector
United Kingdom
9 Posts |
 Posted - 03/10/2008 : 23:15:21
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I'm sure you've heard it all before but... 
I've been in dispute with tax credits for... oh over 4 years now I think and have had demands for overpayments ranging from £1000 to £20,000 and everything in between. During that time they have never been able to adequately explain why I 'owed' this money (I am disputing that I owe anything) and a year ago reduced a 20k 'debt' to £6677k (without apology or explanation other than 'it was in error').
Constant harrassment went on for years (during which time they also managed to change my name, and invent a daughter a job and a disability that I don't have) and over the course of those years had a massive impact on my health. I'm a mental health patient (please don't confuse that with 'incapable of thinking'. I'm quite rational and intelligent. Most of the time anyway  ). This means the impact of the harrassment was even moreso than it may otherwise have been causing immense stress in both my personal life and my ability to work effectively. And now, after a year's silence since they confirmed that their 20k demand had been in error, they're back to demanding the 6.6k they say I still owe.
Its getting... tiring to say the least. I don't want to have to battle with them again. I am sure that there are grounds there to take legal action against them - sadly this is not something I could afford to fund so I need to know if anything is in place for me, as a member of joanne public to do so, and failing that wtf I do now other than go for yet another round of 'I really don't think I owe this, please prove it'.
Cheers
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jess
Da Purple one
United Kingdom
51 Posts |
Posted - 04/10/2008 : 11:02:00
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Hi Stephie, sorry to hear about your bad experiences, but rest assured we can all totally empathise here as most of us have had very similar experiences. Even for those who don't have a mental health problem before becoming entangled in tax credits, the experience has left many with significant mental health problems as a recent poll on the main page of our website www.taxcc.org has shown. Personally I've had major depressive episodes caused by the stress of financial hardship due to ongoing errors by the Tax Credit Office and the illness this has caused has made it difficult to maintain the fight against them. However, rest assured you are in good company here and there will be people along soon who will both be able to empathize and be able to give better constructive advice than myself.
If you dip a bit further into our forum and website you will discover than Tax Credit Casualties is presently trying to raise funds to be able to take legal action against TCO in what is called a "class action", ie on behalf of a number of people. The reason why we need to raise funds is that we need to have about £15000 in reserve in the event of not being successful and having to pay our adversaries legal costs. We have some top lawyers who are willing to act on our behalf free of charge, so confident are they of achieving the desired result.
I know it is frustrating for you as you have obviously reached the point where no-one can be expected to endure the stress and damaging effects on your health any longer, but please do take heart from the fact that we are here and will help and support you in your battle as much as possible, and even if all we can do is give you the opportunity to have a good moan and let out your frustration, that is fine and there will be many others who have done the same on this forum and will have felt a little better for having done so.
Some background info about me : I am TaxCC's third sector liasion officer, that means it is my job to raise awareness of TaxCC and the invaluable help it can provide to other victims through voluntary organisations such as Citizen's Advice. One of my big targets over the next few months will be to make contact with Mind and other mental health organisations so that perhaps through them we can reach people like yourself, and provide advice and support for people with both existing mental health conditions and to those people who have developed mental health problems as a result of their experiences with Tax Credits.
It would be helpful to know how you heard about us? did you do an internet search or did someone you know mention us to you or perhaps you have heard about us in the press - over the summer we had several significant features in national newspapers so our reputation is growing and people are beginning to take us seriously as a campaign group.
I wish you strength and courage to continue your battle against Tax Credits and would reiterate what I said earlier - if ever you feel so affected by your battle that you are despairing, come back to us here and seek comfort from those who know exactly what you are going through.
Jess
All Human Beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, not to attacks upon his honor and reputation. Everyone has the right to protection of the law against such interference or attacks
Articles 1 and 12 Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948.
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stephie
Rank; Hector Tax Inspector
United Kingdom
9 Posts |
Posted - 04/10/2008 : 11:49:13
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Hi Jess
Thanks for that. I hope awareness and support for the group continues to grow, the damage tax credits has done to innocent families over the years is horrendous.
I found you through a google search. |
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Legal action against HMRC?
