Thanks so much for this, Iv only just read the reply as I can never locate my posts on here haha. Iv now started a complaints process and i will challenge them all the way. In the mean time they have now sent me 6 final awards all with different amounts. They are confusing me. I'm no longer upset by it, I'm trying to laugh at the stupidity of the process but it's very frustrating to be getting nowhere.

Thanks both how do I keep escalating please? I have written a letter of complaint, if I don't have a suitable reply or any reply then I will ask them to look at my complaint again, I believe this is tier 1 and tier 2 then I go to the adjudicator. It seems so stupid I have to do this process just to put a payment plan in place. Is there anybody who has dealt with payment plans and cross award debts?

Hi, I have a tax credits overpayment that I intend to dispute, I believe this overpayment should have been offset against notional entitlement. The advice I need please is what I should do about the debt while the appeal and dispute is taking place. I received a letter asking me to contact the repayment team to set up affordable repayments. I did this and went through expenditure etc and they agreed to request to put the debt on hold for 12 months due to financial hardship. Yesterday I discovered that the tco are deducting £22 pw by the cross debt method even though the repayment team agreed to put it on hold. I phoned them back and they said there is nothing they could do now as a box had been ticked by the tax office to automatically recover this way. I have since spent almost 3 frustrating hours on the phone trying to find out how I can reduce this weekly amount to something more affordable. I keep getting told that only head office can stop or reduce the weekly deduction but they will not let me speak to head office. I am struggling financially and cannot afford £22 pw. I am unable to contact head office. The tax credit helpline cannot help me without the go ahead from head office. I don't know what to do next? Does anyone have any knowledge of the system or can help me? The helpline said they have emailed head office but this can take 6 weeks for them to read the email. I don't understand why they sent me a letter asking me to set up a repayment plan with recovery if they were deducting the money already? I'm really stressed by it all and due to have a baby next month. I also have health issues and don't want to be worrying about money on top. Thank you.

Hi am I able to bump this up? I finally heard back today from tax credits saying I had to pay £9000 as I was found out by compliance and even though it was an error they consider it deliberate. I am not being accepted for offsetting . Is there anything I can do? It certainly wasn't deliberate as I informed every other department. Does anybody have knowledge of what I do next to dispute this? Thanks

Thank you they aren't taking any legal action because they know it was an error. They can see Iv informed every other relevant department apart from theirs. To be honest I think I'll take it to court if they don't accept the offsetting, I'm on tramadol for bad pain and it makes me so drowsy, it was just an oversight as I had so much to do with just moving that day, and so many benefits to inform all in different places, it's hard to remember to do everything especially when I wasn't well. I know it was an error but I think it's wrong to punish someone for an easy mistake. If I wanted to defraud the system then I wouldn't have declared my change of circumstance to every other department knowing that ctc would find out. I even informed child benefit which apparently is the same place but not the same department, it's so confusing.

I made a big mistake with my child tax credit, last April me and my partner moved into a new home together, previous to this I lived alone with my children. The very day we moved in we spent all day on the phone phoning the relevant organisations, There was council tax, ESA, dla, and income support in which we made a joint claim and closed down my ESA claim. However I made a big mistake and failed to contact child tax credits, I thought they were linked with child benefit, I guess at the time with just moving that day I was so worried about getting everything declared with income support that I didn't consider even phoning child tax as I had informed child benefit of my changes. Anyway now they have contacted me to say I owe around £8,000, I apologised and explained my error, They were very understanding but said I will have to pay the entire tax credits back since April, I would have been entitled to slightly more should I have claimed as a joint application. Is there anything I can do to avoid paying the whole amount back? It was a genuine error but it was my own fault. I have a lot of debts/bills and would struggle to pay it back. The CAB suggested I request to offset but would I actually be able to do this? Thank you and please don't judge me, I know iv been stupid

Hi sorry for the late reply iv been on the mobile as my laptop is not charged. My amount would have been a lot more than yours if they had decided I was guilty, by sounds of it she is trying to intimidate you a bit, I don't like that, it's not needed when you have admitted guilt. Everything iv read it seems they take people to court if they believe it's in the publics best interest, it costs them money, all they want is their money back, taking someone to court over that amount would not make sense, it's not like you are disputing it, I think they will settle out of court!! X

thanks, keep me updated as im still thinking of you. the lady told me that they wouldnt take my case to court anyway (if i did do something wrong) as the amount of overpayment would be less than the costs involved with court etc, i thought you might find this useful as your amount was pretty low

Hi hun i just thought id share my story with you. today i had my compliance interview, the second one in 3 years for having my boyfriend stay over. the lady sounded quite rude to me on the phone too but when i went to the office today she was lovely. she explained to me that when a call of fraud is received every case must be checked no matter how many times it happens. she said she was NOT fraud and was NOT investigating me. she told me that information is put into a computer and where no financial link is found the case is down graded to compliance. there is no set rule on how often a partner can stay over, however if he is spending more time at yours than his own place then it could be an overpayment, in your case he is most definitely spending the most of his time at his own place. If there is any doubt or financial links are found then it would be fraud investigating you. she asked me why i didnt want to live with my boyfriend and i told her because we argue, she accepted this and questioned it no further. Also i know someone said that when they come to your house they look around for evidence, when i had my first visit it was at my house and she didnt look around, i dont think they have the rights to go through your wardrobes unless it was a fraud investigation, im not 100% about this and hopefully somebody can clarify this for me.

Hi, i had my interview today and it went well, the lady said i was doing nothing wrong and my case would be closed i was only there 20 mins x

of course i will im just dreading what information they have on me as im not prepared im usually a nice person and get on with everyone but if they give me a hard time i wont be a happy bunny, ill let you know when i get back home x

It sounds awful, at least one of them treated you with respect. i dont see why they needed 2 people there, its not like you have robbed a bank or something. it sounds like they try and bully people to make them feel intimidated. do you feel any better now you have had the interview or are you still worried? i think the worst part is over with. x

Hi, how did it go? iv been thinking of you x

On my letter it asked for 6 months of bank records, do you know why this is? i went to my bank last week and ordered some but they told me it would take 10-14 working days so they would not be here in time anyway. can i print off a month and take them and take my ipad too so she can view earlier dates if she wishes or maybe give her my sign in details as im thinking she is in a position of trust. Also i dont know if to tell her about my illness or not, i suffer from mental health issues, severe depression, anxiety and see the psychiatrist team at my hospital, i have to take medication every day to treat my depression and anxiety, will this go against me? i dont want her thinking im unstable and confused but my issues are quite bad and im finding this very difficult. this week iv had to double my medication in fear iv broke the law

wow that's a lot of time isnt it!!