Desperate for help tax credits !

[teenyb]

Hi im new here and look for advice for my friend who has no access to internet.

 

Back History-:

She has 3 children, the eldest two by her ex partner of 12 years and a 21 month old baby by someone else.

 

Wednesday she finally was sent for a scan for a problem with her stomach she has been having for a year.

 

Friday morning

1). she received a letter from tax credits telling her they were amending her claim as they believed she was living with her babys father because she could not provide proof an address for him ( she provided the address she has for him )

 

2). Her childcare claimed was higher than the amount actually paid to child minder ( she says she has to speak to childminder as she might have made an error as she claims £120 and pays £120 etc)

 

3).That she had claimed an after school placement for her eldest child and the said company had confimed he has not attended in the past 12 months ! ( she says she has not claimed this on the last award for the last 12 months and that it is not on her tax credit notice )

Friday afternoon whilst at my house she had a telephone call from the Doctors to attend the surgery that afternoon, during the scan they have found a large tumour !!!

 

4). On saturday she went to bank to draw money to go food shopping, no tax credits had gone in,

She rang tax credits to be told her claim had been closed... No tax credits, no child tax credits..

 

A few months ago she got a letter from tax credits asking her to send them in some proof's of utility bill, childrens birth certs, mortgage, bank statements, ect..

 

She sent them off and after a couple of weeks had a telephone 'interview' with tax credits. They seemed very intrested in the father of her youngest child and questioned her at lenth about him and their current relationship, she answered there question honestly and didnt really think anything of it as she thought this was just routine.

 

During the telephone conversation it was brought to her attention that he had ( without her knowledge or consent) given her address to his last employer and had been registered at that address with the tax office. Friend told them during the phone call that she had no knowledge he had done that and did not consent to it, also no letters have ever gone to her address for him from anyone.

 

She became pregnant because of a Drunken one night with her youngest child and at the begining the childs father said when she had the baby he would provide financial support and wanted to be in the childs life and was for the first few months... after which he disappeared.

She heard rumours that he was messing about with drugs, and about six months later he turned up again to see child, then stopped turning up a few weeks later...

 

Begining of last year he turned up and promised things would be different, she told him he had to prove himself this time and clean up his act, he got a job started giving her £10 a week as his job was very low paid and turned up regular to see his child. A couple of months ago he lost his job and stopped giving her anything. he doesnt turn up as regularly for baby as he was as he says he cant afford it. They do get on well but mainly i think because my friend is kind hearted and a bit of a soft touch... my opinion !

 

The lad is a likeable one but unreliable he wants to do the right thing but always seems to have trouble keeping it up (my opinion). He rents a room at a friends of his as he is under 25.

 

I watched her physically colapse on Saturday, and i need advice to be able to guide her as she cant think stright, she should be thinking of her health firstly at this moment in time she has a hospital appointment tuesday afternoon and she said she wont go because food for her children comes before fuel she says she has now lost everything, her job as she has no money for childcare, her house as she cant pay her mortgage... Please someone i have no knowledge of tax credits, i have bought some electric and gas for her and bought her some shopping now what do i do ???

Thank you for taking time to read such a long post.

[MIKEY DABODEE]

Is she claiming any benefit for example Income Support, for herself?

Edited January 22, 2012 by MIKEY DABODEE

[teenyb]

Hi, Thank you for replying,

 

No she works, and until friday received Tax Credits, child Tax credits and childcare costs, but as far as i am aware she has always worked.

 

Thank you again

[MIKEY DABODEE]

hi Teenyb

its good she has friends like you

 

Tax Credits have made the decision she is living together with a partner, she needs to appeal this decision as soon as possible she has thirty days

 

.http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/index/information-and-services/money-tax-and-benefits/tax-credits-and-child-benefits/tax-credits/if-things-go-wrong-with-your-tax-credits/tax-credits-complaints-appeals-penalties-checks/appealing-against-a-tax-credit-decision.htm

 

The problem she has is that he is registered at her address, CIS the central computer will hold this information because he declared her address to his employer.

She has given tax credits an other address for him can she gather proof to back this up, a letter from his friend, does he have anything registered here, dentist doctor etc.

She could try ringing them up again to see if she can get something sorted.

 

I know she is not well at the moment but if she makes the call while you are there, goes through security they may speak to you.

[teenyb]

Hi, Thank you,

 

Tax credits have not only decided he is her partner, but that she lives with him. They have decided also that she lived with him since the baby was born two years ago. And she has to sit and wait for the overpayment to turn up.

 

We do not know if he has anything registered to his address she says she has not asked him.

 

Tax credits asked her for an address for him so she provided that and when she sent all her proofs off they requested proof of his address , he had given here a letter from the friend where he lives confirming that he lived there, how long ect,

He does not have a bank account, or any credit , pay as you go phone i would say this is probably because he seems to be in and out of work.

 

I suspect he's a bit of a fantasizer to be honest, and up till now my friend did not care one way or the other as she said ' its not her problem' How wrong can a girl be !

He said that there must be a mistake, that he has not given her address ( his boss must be psychic then ! ) So who knows if he has done it previously !

 

Her immediate problem is that she should be in work tomorrow and cant go as she cant take the children to the child minder as she has no way to pay for it.

She has no money at all because she used everything she had over Christmas and three children to feed.

 

Any ideas welcome because i am stuck.

 

Thanks

[MIKEY DABODEE]

if he doesnt work all the time does he claim JSA, if he does what address does he give for this.

she is going have to phone the tax credits to see if anything further can be done, I know on benefits you can ask for a revision of the decision, before you appeal, the decision could be looked at again,

she is entitled to apply for a crisis loan, you dont have to be on benefits for this,

also she has a lot on her mind with the hospital appointment, could she take some time off work. Her mind will not be on the job anyway

[teenyb]

She does not have a clue if he claims benefits or not, she has never mithered him for money, but just in case i think hes a bit cagey.

But on the other hand i suppose if he asked her about her finances she would not tell him.

 

As far as work goes i told her to take time off but she tells me that she is only allowed so many sick days off a year and i think she said 16 and due to the problem in her stomach, she has exceeded those and was given a warning at work. The Fact we now know its a tumour does not make matter.

Ironic really... she works for government !

 

Thanks for looking.

[MIKEY DABODEE]

the reason why I asked about his JSA claim, if he has one now or has made one in the past , he may have given them her address for that, but if he has given his correct address then that will help her prove to HMRC he doesnt live with her. Just a thought.

 

Sick days is a bug bear, we have eight then it is a warning

[teenyb]

Hi if he had given her address for benefits i would have thought at some point something would have come through the post, maybe im wrong.

She would never have known that he had given that address if they had tax credits not told her, Does she have a right to know if he has used her address for anything else ?

Or would she just have to wait for next shock ?

 

At the moment she has just two questions 1) who will look after my kids if something happens to me 2 how will i look after my kids in the coming months ?

and im afraid i dont know how to answer either !

[MIKEY DABODEE]

The last people then to update CIS then for him was HMRC this was done when he gave his employer the wrong address, being your friends address, if he has ceased work in the meantime and claimed benefit then he has given a NFA address. This means he may have used the Jobcentre as his address...

 

If he had used his correct address to claim then that would be the one CIS held. So in a nutshell he is registered at her address, for Nirs and Tax,

If he has no bank account etc it doesnt look good if he doesnt have at anything at all to prove his correct address

How did his employer pay his wages?

 

I dont know who she can ask to check if anything else is registered at her address though she does not get any mail for him so maybe there is no one else..

 

The only thing she can do is try to appeal, see CAB or Welfare Rights they may be able to help with it.

 

Its a sad situation but she is ill, so could she get in touch with her union to help with the problem with time off work. They should support her

[teenyb]

Hi All,

 

I have today managed to get her an emergency appointment with our local welfare rights advisory service, so hopefully they will be able to act on her behalf or at least guide her in the right direction.

 

I will update when i can as i have found that so frustrating myself when trying to find guides of what she should do on other threads.

 

Thanks.

[teenyb]

Hi All,

 

As promised i said i would update the thread with the outcome of this situation...

 

I managed to get her an appointment with my local welfare rights advisory centre, one phone call by the advisor and the lady at tax credits did a complete U turn, she asked her to provide two pieces of information, which were faxed through to her the next day, and immediately claim re opened, tax credits reinstated. Many thanks for the advice x

[jadeybags]

That's good news. And I hope it's a sign of things to come & her surgery will be all hunky dory too. x

[teenyb]

Thanks Jadey !