Tax credit overpayment

[emalou90]

Okay first of all, i wont go into it majorly but my ex-oh had all the benefits paid into his account (he was a very controlling horrible person) so i had only amelias maintenance to spend on bills, not her.

HMRC sent me a letter saying i owe them around £300 from the time i was claiming with my ex.

Im aware it was a joint claim and everything but surely i can explain to them that i had nothing to do with the money? ever?
I dont have £300 to pay back.

 

[vhal_x]

I don't know if they will take it into account. If it's £300 total, then hopefully they will chase your ex for half of it, but I'm sure any money they take from you won't be a lump sum, it will be say £10 every week, or month, or whatever. You can usually make an agreement with them. I was overpaid £50 last year, and I agreed paid it back £10 a month (so they paid me £10 a month less in Tax Credits for 5 months) xx

 

[Pearls18]

Normally with tax credits, assuming you are still getting them, they will just reduce your reward over the year so you effectively gradually pay it off by getting slightly less money a month rather than you physically giving them money back. In terms of joint claim and stuff I don't know, someone posted something not that long ago and I believe it was agreed the overpayment should be shared, but not sure officially.

 

[emalou90]

thanks ladies
xx