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Sterity
Rank; Hector Tax Inspector
1 Posts |
 Posted - 30/10/2009 : 11:28:04
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Hi
This issue of overpayment with the TCO has been going on now for many months. With the use of this site I have followed all the appeal steps and very grateful for all the info you have provided. My problem at the moment is:
I applied for the SAR 38 days ago to which the TCO had delivered to me approximately 1500 pages of A4 documents. The covering letter stated copies of phone conversations would be sent seperately but with 2 days to go on the 40 day time scale this looks unlikely to happen. Where do I stand then with the TCO not supplying me with the data I have requested.?
Secondly, going through the papers they sent there is a screen shot with hand written notes about a phone call my wife made to tell them she had started work. Please forgive me if this gets lengthy but really do need some advice on this, as I believe it's their mistake.
Applicant: Hi, I'm phoning to let you know that I have started a job.
TCO: Ok who are you working for
App: (Gives name and address)
TCO. And what is your salary ?
App: Well I'm not sure what it works out a year cos I'm only working part time as such and haven't worked it out.
TCO: Ok no problem,do you know your hourly rate?
App: Yes it's 10.23 an hour
TCO: And how many hours a week will you be working?
App: 27 hours one week then 29 the next. Alternating each week like that.
TCO: Ok thats £2.300 per annum. It will have little or no affect to your payments.
App: OK
Obviously this was worked out by the TCO operator widely incorrectly (and my wife has no recollection of him/her saying this to her on the phone but they are saying she said OK at the end of the call which makes it her mistake not theirs) So the TCO were given an hourly rate and amount of hours worked per week but chose to do all calculations based on a yearly salary of £2,300 a year. When the payments came we genuinely had no idea what the payments should have been and naturally assumed their calculations were correct given the info provided. This was concluded by the fact the operator saying it would have little or no affect on a change of payment.
When we returned the annual dec some months after, obviously my wife was in a position to write down her exact yearly earnings. The next thing we are being told to pay back nearly £4,000 in overpayments because we told them her salary was only £2,300 ! The £2,300 figure only ever came from the TCO's operators error and not a figure we ever offered to them.
Where do I stand in regards to getting them to accept that they made an error even after being told and given the correct info on the phone? Where do I stand on the fact that they are withholding the telephone conversations I requested in the SAR ?
Any help would be gratefully received as it's all taking an affect on my health now with the worry of finding the £4000 they are demanding.
Many thanks
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Edited by - Sterity on 30/10/2009 11:30:40 |
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samthe
Rank; Private Primate
187 Posts |
Posted - 30/10/2009 : 20:43:18
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1. The CD of calls will come - they are often late! Chase it if not with you in the next few days.
2. You should have had a new award notice after the change was reported to them. That will have included the £2300 for your wife's income. With it, there should have been a form asking you to check the figures etc. and let them know of any errors. If you checked, a little simple mental arithmetic should have shown you the figure was wildly out (28 x £10 = £280 per week, so £2300 is less than 10 weeks). They will be relying on this. If you did not get an award notice you need to query it but they always send 2 (one to you, one to your wife, posted in separate envelopes) so they are unlikely to accept a lost in the post explanation, even though this can of course sometimes happen.
3. This does not of course excuse their careless error, but unfortunately the system works in such a way that you are responsible for checking that they have not made such mistakes and telling them if they have.
4. If you do have to pay it back they cannot demand it all at once. They should quite readily accept payment over as much as 3 years if you give them some details of your finances. This assumes you are not still getting tax credits. If you are, they should collect the money by deduction from your payments - normally by reducing them by 25%. |
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Overpayment and appeal issues.
