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Alan the Geordie
Da Purple one
2787 Posts |
Posted - 25/11/2007 : 14:50:57
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<<looking for an elected representative it can trust to put things right.>>
Probably as much chance as finding a snowflake in Hell.
Geordie: Worbairn's hacky mucky.
English: The baby needs a wash.
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Ali M-W
Da Tech(y ones)
3296 Posts |
Posted - 25/11/2007 : 15:55:59
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Yeah, you have a point, Alan. Okay, looking for the least untrustworthy one, then!
Agent Smith: I hate this place, this zoo, this prison, this reality, whatever you want to call it.
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Ali M-W
Da Tech(y ones)
3296 Posts |
Posted - 27/11/2007 : 07:55:02
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Wow, there's me thinking that the Portsmouth News weren't going to bother with my letter to them, and suddenly it's featured as the 'talking point': Don't be caught by unjust overpayment demand
I'm not the best newspaper letter writer (I don't do concise), but if I can get a letter printed, you'd best believe it's not that difficult. Manna from heaven at the moment, this spectacular HMRC bodge-up, because ordinary people are getting sick to the back teeth of government departments' incompetence playing havoc with their lives.
I hope everyone will write to their local and national papers about this. If you can mention Tax Credit Casualities and our website http://www.taxcreditoverpayment.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk so much the better!
Good luck! This is OUR campaign - let's own it and fight it together!
And well done Village Posh for his excellent Peterborough Chronicle Article! PJ, expect a rush of calls from that area in the next few days...
Agent Smith: I hate this place, this zoo, this prison, this reality, whatever you want to call it.
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auntieh
Rank; Really should become a politician
United Kingdom
619 Posts |
Posted - 29/11/2007 : 20:49:40
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On 9 November we had 200 members - today the 29th we have 221! This seems amazing to me. Welcome to all of you. Sorry to hear that HMRC incompetence doesn't seem to be on the wane despite Government spin to the contrary. The more people we have on board the more chance we stand of somebody listening to us who actually has the power to change things, whilst at the same time keeping each other's spirits up whilst we fight our individual cases.
Aside from my TCO overpayemnt activities of the last eighteen months, since the beginning of this year I have been involved in a local campaign to persuade the Highways Agency to scrap a misguided and totally foolish scheme implemented at Junction 19 of the M25. This was touted as being designed to ease congestion on the M25 in that area and to reduce congestion on local roads. In fact, reducing two lanes to one on the slip road resulted in chaos, as local residents predicted, and many people's journeys to work became nightmares. The scheme had all the hallmarks of being worked out on the back of a fag packet by someone's two year old armed with a crayon. A concerted campaign was mounted by members of the public, local and county councillors, the local press and radio, and local MPs of all parties and this week we have heard that the Transport Minister has listened to us and ordered the scheme to be scrapped. Hooray! This proof that the concerted effort of many people united by a common cause can really make a difference has given me fresh determination to see this Tax credits thing through to the end.
Power to the people!! |
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Ali M-W
Da Tech(y ones)
3296 Posts |
Posted - 30/11/2007 : 07:07:26
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Well done, Auntie - it just shows it can be done...
Agent Smith: I hate this place, this zoo, this prison, this reality, whatever you want to call it.
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Ali M-W
Da Tech(y ones)
3296 Posts |
Posted - 15/12/2007 : 06:59:01
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This Monday might be a good time to get letters off to your local and national newspapers and get them published, or to offer them your stories. We need to keep this issue in the public eye. Thanks!
Machine god: WHAT IF YOU FAIL?
Neo: I won't
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Ali M-W
Da Tech(y ones)
3296 Posts |
Posted - 16/12/2007 : 08:25:53
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Could everyone who participates in this forum get writing to their local or national newspapers in the next few days, please? Come in from whatever angle you want - the misery this saga has caused you, the way your rights have been trampled on, the way your post has been sent to other claimants or theirs to you, how you've suffered from fraud, how you've been left to live on next to nothing, how you've been forced to repay money without proper explanation as you were told you couldn't appeal (when you could dispute its recovery, though they never told you that), how you're angry with 'Scrooge' Brown, how Christmas has brought you a massive overpayment bill, how you're scandalised that your personal data has been lost on top of all your tax credit problems, etc.? And look out for any similar articles in the press as they appear. You can then photocopy the articles you find and post copies to the Tax Credit Office and to your MP, Brown, Darling etc. We need to build on all the publicity opportunities we get, so that (ideally) every tax credit victim in the land knows they're not alone and we are here to help each other. There's a limit to what tens of activists can do, but no limit to what hundreds of thousands of citizens can do. Please, as the slogan goes - Just Do It! Thanks.
Machine god: WHAT IF YOU FAIL?
Neo: I won't
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Ali M-W
Da Tech(y ones)
3296 Posts |
Posted - 26/12/2007 : 15:24:27
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Please watch out for the usual 'end of the year' stories and openings for more publicity. This seems to be a peak time of year for people to receive tax credit overpayment demands, and our website and forum need to be well known about if people are going to find us and join with us to achieve proper reform of the tax credit system in 2008.
Oracle: What do all men with power want? More power.
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credit_my
Rank; Hector Tax Inspector
1 Posts |
 Posted - 29/01/2008 : 21:25:50
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quote:
Please watch out for the usual 'end of the year' stories and openings for more publicity. This seems to be a peak time of year for people to receive tax credit overpayment demands, and our website and forum need to be well known about if people are going to find us and join with us to achieve proper reform of the tax credit system in 2008.
exactly  |
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Ali M-W
Da Tech(y ones)
3296 Posts |
Posted - 31/01/2008 : 08:07:00
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Good news - the Liberal Democrats have published a report highlighting all the errors in the tax credit system and how thousands of people have been routinely overpaid year after year, and they plan a return to a fixed award, like the Family Credit which used to run so smoothly.
Hopefully now the Conservatives will follow suit with their plans for sorting out this horrendous mess.
The Tax Credit Casualties have a strong membership base now, and are ready for the next stage of the campaign - getting better known. The political climate is just right at the moment. Opposition Parties know Tax Credit reform is a no-brainer, and it will increasingly be in the news - as will our members.
Buried in other threads now is why we have a Co-ordinators' Forum. It's not to exclude members, but to be able to share ideas and progress without giving too much away in advance to any visitors we may have who have an interest in maintaining the system the way it is.
Anyone who wants to join in is welcome. Just build up your posts so that you can use the 'PM' and 'email' facility and contact one of the moderators to find out how.
If you think we've helped you get some measure of justice in your own dispute - why not join the campaign?
Oracle: What do all men with power want? More power.
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Ali M-W
Da Tech(y ones)
3296 Posts |
Posted - 01/02/2008 : 07:36:46
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You can contact me here to get involved: ali@taxcreditcasualties.org.uk
We need people to:
Link in with other local people/groups/Casualties sharing their area of interest (eg. how people with disabilities are treated within the system)
Write to their MPs and enter into constructive dialogue about the changes we expect to see
Organise and attend Regional Meetings. All the help you could ever need will be given!
Spot link stories in the Press, and write, highlighting what we are about. This is just an example - but I'm sure you can do better:
I’m one of up to nine million people facing punitive tax credit overpayment recovery in the UK, and I represent Tax Credits Casualties, a group campaigning for an urgent Amnesty on non-fault overpayments and reform of this dangerously-flawed system, for victims everywhere.
Our website’s many case-stories are the tip of an overwhelming iceberg, the heartache, stress and illness this situation causes largely going untold. Until recently, thousands of us spent our days and nights trying to work this out alone, leaving reform of the system to the altruism of public figures and chance.
Now, our group is empowering individuals to ‘come out’ as casualties and join together to demand an overpayment amnesty. More ethical than the current approach (with the Revenue as judge and jury), this allows money which would have been spent on recovery to be redirected to making the system fairer and safer.
We support a write-off of all non-fraudulent Tax Credit overpayments, as have organisations such as the Child Poverty Action Group, One Parent Families, Tax Reform Group, and Citizens Advice, as well as the Ombudsman. Please let other interested people, supporters and those directly affected, know so they can join us:
Website: www.taxcreditoverpayment.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk
Online amnesty petition: www.petitiononline.com/tco1/
Contact: Paula Dean, Campaign Co-ordinator, 41 Cottenham Road, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, S65 1LE. Tel: 01709 836004
Or your name, Regional Co-ordinator for the your city/county area, on your phone number
...And more. Please get in touch.
All that we are doing at the moment could be multiplied and made so much more effective with YOU actively involved!!
Morpheus: The Matrix is everywhere. It is…the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
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Ali M-W
Da Tech(y ones)
3296 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2008 : 08:17:12
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Okay, I have more jobs for willing hands!
We need:
1. MORE people to send MORE letters, to media and politicians. Why should we be blamed for a badly-thought out and administered system? What is really being done to help those saddled with overpayments? Why doesn’t anyone know what it actually costs to force people to pay back money, as opposed to drawing a line and starting again? Is it really cost-effective to hound innocent people? How can Jane Kennedy say she is having ‘consultations… to improve the customer experience of tax credits’ if she never goes near a ‘customer’ and refuses to talk to representatives from Tax Credit Casualties, the ONLY user-group dedicated to this issue, and now widely respected? Why does HMRC still write to claimants saying ‘we have decided…’ without any mention of the claimant being able to challenge and dispute this further? Isn’t this a Human Rights breach, negating all government claims that we do in fact have the ‘right to a fair trial’? What are Ministers doing to stop this?
Those keenest to see justice for all may also want to write beyond their own MP and Kennedy, Brown, Darling etc., and this can be done. MPs will only answer letters from their own constituents, due to Parliamentary protocol, except where a National organization is involved, and the issues affect their own constituents. So if you write as a TCC representative, and ask them to challenge the situation in the House, ask questions, highlight us to their affected constituents, and place a link from their website to ours – this is all within the realms of possibility.
Are your parents worried about the situation you find yourself in? Your brothers and sisters? Children? All of these can write to their own MPs asking them to act. All of these can sign our petition, spread the word, and write to MPs and the Press. A shared effort is more effective and spreads the workload. The aim is for MPs’ and the press mailbag to be FULL of letters about tax credits.
2. Someone with technical ability might like to turn the Steps (found by going to the Website www.taxcreditoverpayment.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk and clicking on the ‘Dispute’ buttons on the left) into a flow chart map for people to follow, with yes/no answers leading to necessary actions for that stage. Many would find that easier to follow
3. We need MORE people to contact lawyers. Whilst we have one excellent one in mind that we are currently in talks with, most lawyers recognize this for the challenge that it is, and haven’t the capacity to take it on pro bono, for the future glory. It’s because they will have to tie up someone for the foreseeable future, and whilst they see our cause as a just and winnable one, it’s not for the faint-hearted or small outfits. Yet why should HMRC and this government get away with Human Rights breaches just because no David fancies taking on Goliath? You can help by tracking down more pro bono lawyers, and spreading the word of these injustices. We can brief you on the issues looked at so far – just contact Sarah or Paula.
4. We need someone looking into the European Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. A Labour MP has told us ‘no can do’, but a second opinion wouldn’t go amiss.
5. We need someone looking into effects of fighting smaller bills in the Small Claims Court. How is this done?
6. We need someone to learn about and compile useful Freedom of Information questions. These can tell us a lot. Even unanswered, they can be useful, as helpful Opposition MPs can research these and provide the best answers they can find, and challenge the government with them. How can the government refute figures and statistics provided by other sources when they have none of their own to offer?
If we spread the work, and take this campaign wider, being ignored is not an option.
Morpheus: The Matrix is everywhere. It is…the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
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Resurgam
Da Purple one
United Kingdom
144 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2008 : 08:34:08
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| I'll do the flowchart .... |
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Alan the Geordie
Da Purple one
2787 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2008 : 11:55:20
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I can't think of anyone more suitable for flowcharts than an ex-sailor bloke!
(I'll do some more letters.)
Geordie: "Alreet, de ye fancy a Broon?"
English: "Hello, fancy coming for a drink?" |
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auntieh
Rank; Really should become a politician
United Kingdom
619 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2008 : 12:14:00
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HOT NEWS!!!!
On the main website under 'Letter of the Week', there are two draft letters for people to adapt and send to their MPs about the Public Accounts Committee report published this week. There is one version for overpayment victims and another for those who have suffered as a result of HMRC mistakes for example by having their payments stopped.
There is also a link to find out you MP's name if you don't know it.
Please take the time to fill one in and send it your MP, by letter or email. This is a good time to strike, in view of the media coverage of the report this week. It shouldn't take long, ten minutes at most.
DO IT NOW BEFORE YOU FORGET - YOU KNOW IT MAKES SENSE!!!
"You can dress a pig in a suit but you can't stop it grunting" |
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Resurgam
Da Purple one
United Kingdom
144 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2008 : 12:48:18
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quote:
I can't think of anyone more suitable for flowcharts than an ex-sailor bloke!
LOL - But Alan, I wasn't a sailor - I was a "Communications and Electronic Warfare Artificer" (I.Eng. FIEIE, MISM)!!
Please note that, in this context, artificer = "craftsman"
Sailors tie knots and make tea for Artificers. Sometimes, if they were lucky, we would let them carry our tools ..... and we always walked across the wet deck (floor to landlubbers) after the sailors had scrubbed it! 
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Alan the Geordie
Da Purple one
2787 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2008 : 12:51:42
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Aye, allreet, so you were an educated & posh sailor!
Geordie: "Alreet, de ye fancy a Broon?"
English: "Hello, fancy coming for a drink?" |
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Ali M-W
Da Tech(y ones)
3296 Posts |
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TCC Webmaster
Da Purple one
Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
129 Posts |
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Ali M-W
Da Tech(y ones)
3296 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2008 : 23:16:38
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lol, never was good with names.
Morpheus: The Matrix is everywhere. It is…the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
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Membership
Posted - 09/02/2008 : 20:01:16
LOL