If I Can Beat Them - So Can You!

by Debbie Faulkner.

Oh my goodness, where do I start with my story??? At the beginning I suppose would be best but it's a bit of a haul.

In 2001 I returned to work part time, my husband has a rare illness that prevents him from working and as we were struggling financially (he is considered not ill enough for disability payments) I felt it best that I become the breadwinner even though I too have a condition that prevents me from working full time. Everything was fine, filled out the Working Tax Credit papers and started to receive the payments. In 2003 I increased my hours from 16 to 30 a week, I informed the TC's and then DISASTER!. They stopped my benefit because someone at their end put in an incorrect date, and because I wasn't 'entitled' to WTC I was forced to pay full rent and council tax which put a terrible strain on the already stretched finances. Six months later after a lot of arguments with TC staff I finally started to get my payments again including a lump sum which, I was told when I queried it was for 'backpayments', any way, things seemed to be okay for a while and then in March 2005 I received another lump sum, no letter to inform me what it was for so I queried it. I was told that 'it appears you may have been paid twice' and I was also told 'to put the money to one side for a few weeks until we sort it out'. The money was put in my bank and left for some time. I then phoned the TC office as I hadn't heard from them and was told that the payment was actually correct and the guy who had told me otherwise was wrong, just to make sure of that I also spoke to a supervisor who confirmed that the money was right. I spent it paying off outstanding bills that we had been unable to afford to pay when we went without our benefit.

In September 2005 I had a letter arrive from the TC's telling me that I was to repay £4707.73 that had been overpaid by mistake. I phoned the office and was told that there had been two payments made to me and that as I hadn't queried the payment I was to repay within one week I explained that I had indeed queried it but they would not listen to me. I started a dispute stating that I had queried the payment and had been told by a supervisor that the money was correct. I requested a copy of my complete file from them and a few weeks later received reams and reams of meaningless sheets of paper that I then had to spend hours and hours trawling through trying to find the most important sections relating to my case and dispute, some papers which should have been there were not and despite my phoning and requesting them again I have never yet received them, nor have I received the transcriptions of telephone calls to them.

The TC's then sent a letter stating that they were going to start legal proceedings against me for recovery of the money. In December 2005 I received a letter telling me that they had written the overpayment off due to it being 'official error'. I relaxed and thought that was the end of it.

HA! how stupid could I have been??, In January 2006 we received a summons to appear in court. From January 2006 to August of this year we made no fewer than FIVE appearances in front of judges at our local county court, the first time we appeared but the TC rep didn't so we asked for the case to be thrown out, that was refused and no reason was given, the second time we went the TC rep had the certificates showing how much we owed but the judge wanted them to prove it with more paperwork than they had provided. The third time the same thing happened after the TC's had asked for an adjournment to give them more time to find the paperwork requested, the fourth time was another farce as they still didn't have their papers in order, we asked again for the case to be dismissed and I was told by the judge that if I insisted on that then the decision would be made against me. I was unable to show the judge the letter confirming the payments as being written off as it had been mislaid during house improvements (council house I hasten to add).

Sheer desperation pushed me to write to dear Mr Brown the Prime Minister whose lacky wrote back informing me how 'happy' Mr Brown was that I felt I could write to him regarding my problems and that my letter had been sent on to the Treasury for their comments. I contacted the court and asked for an adjournment until I had a response from the Treasury but the adjournment was refused.

So for a fifth and final time we trudged wearily into court and having had a longer hearing this time and the judge admitting that he believed all that we had said he STILL found against us and said that as he was not a tax specialist and that it was not within his 'jurisdiction' to find against the TC's therefore he found against us and ordered that we repay £4807.73, he also stated that as I hadn't 'wasted it on an exotic holiday or new car' I was duty bound to repay. I was so shocked and distressed that I stood up and told him EXACTLY where he and the TC rep could shove the payments!!

The minute I got home from the court hearing I wrote another letter to Mr Brown telling him what had happened and I also managed to get an appointment with my local M.P. Joan Ryan. Ms Ryan wrote to the treasury for me but did say that had I gone to her 'a year or so ago, we might have had more going for us' which didn't sound too inspiring or comforting.

During all these ups and downs I had been in contact with Alison and Paula of the Tax Credit Casualties and they were of enormous comfort and help, they gave me invaluable advice and constant support, in fact I don't think that I would have been able to cope with all of the goings on if it hadn't have been for them, my family as good as they are can only listen to TC troubles for so long before suffering deep depressions!!

Friday of this week will be etched on my memory for eternity as I finally received a letter from none other than Jane Kennedy of the Treasury who informs me that the overpayments have been written off as they were caused by 'system failure' and also because according to the COP26 (which I kept quoting from but they and the judge disregarded it) they failed to meet their responsibilities.

I cannot for one minute understand why, when I first put in a dispute they did not do a complete investigation into the case then rather than take me to court five unnecessary times and put me and my family through sheer hell and constant stress. I really do not know how any of the idiots that make up the TC recovery teams can sleep soundly at night when they know how much suffering they are causing to people like me. I am now going to write to them insisting that the County Court Judgment against me is quashed immediately, a full apology is also going to be demanded as is a consolatory payment that would go some way to easing the stress that we have endured over the past few years all because someone pressed the wrong button at their end!!

It now makes me wonder what other mistakes they may have made over the years, could they have paid me too little or recovered money needlessly without my knowledge?? who knows?? I most certainly don't!!. One thing that I do know is that if my financial status were better and I didn't have to claim Tax Credits then I most certainly wouldn't bother. Unfortunately like millions of others I cannot afford to do without the extra money I get from them.

I hope that this tale of woe and jubilation will give someone else hope that there can be success after all, even if it ages you by a hundred years fighting for it. Don't let the B******S win especially if you KNOW that YOU are right and they are WRONG.

DON'T GIVE UP, KEEP FIGHTING, because if I can beat them then so CAN YOU!

www.TaxCC.org