Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

Pursuit of tax credit overpayments turns nasty as debt collectors hound the poorest

Exclusive : Campaigners say families living below the breadline are being harassed by phone and text message for money they do not have
EMILY DUGAN Author Biography Thursday 29 May 2014

Hundreds of thousands of Britain’s poorest people are being targeted by private debt collectors hired by the Government after their tax credits were overpaid because of errors made by HMRC.

A joint investigation by The Independent and the campaign group False Economy has uncovered the Coalition’s increasingly forceful methods of pursuing more than 4.7 million cases of overpaid tax credits, which amount to debts of £1.6bn.

The hardline stance follows pledges by Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary, to bring down the benefits bill.

The debt collectors hired by HMRC phone the people they are targeting on their mobiles, send them text messages and write to them at home. Some of those targeted say they feel harassed and frightened. In at least 80 tax credit cases, assets have been seized directly.

In total, HMRC made 215,144 referrals to debt collection agencies in 2013-14 to “secure direct recovery of overpaid personal tax credits”, according to data obtained through Freedom of Information requests.

In many cases the overpayment is thanks to an HMRC error in calculation. The families involved are already living on very low incomes, making it impossible to pay back the accumulated sums.

Most of the working families affected are among Britain’s poorest. More than half a million of the families involved have a taxable household income of less than £20,000. Of these, 118,000 earned less than £5,000.

False Economy researcher Chaminda Jayanetti said: “Tax credit overpayments are the big scandal that no one is talking about. Millions of people are hit by a system that persecutes people with trumped-up demands for money they don’t have, creating heavy debts where none existed, effectively indenturing them while private debt collectors circle like sharks.”

Tax credits are calculated according to estimated earnings. If people earn more than they expected to, then they may only realise they have been overpaid at the end of the tax year. HMRC is usually given all the necessary information about earnings but does not always notice overestimates until the end of the year.

Dame Anne Begg, chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee, said: “I’m very worried about the use of debt collectors because very often that means the debt has been sold on and the tactics they use to collect the debt are not tactics a government should use.

“Obviously it’s taxpayers’ money and if there’s been an overpayment then there should be efforts to recover it. But in recovering that money we shouldn’t be plunging people into poverty and it’s that sensitivity the HMRC needs to exercise.

“That’s why the Labour government put in quite a big buffer that meant your circumstances had to change a great deal for your award to change at the end of the year.”

HMRC has hired at least 12 private debt collectors to pursue tax credits, according to the FoI request. They are: Advantis Credit; Akinika Debt Recovery; Apex Credit Management; Bluestone Credit Management; CCSCollect; Sigma Red; Credit Solutions; Direct Legal & Collections; Drydensfairfax solicitors; Equita; Fredrickson International and Rossendales.

Working and child tax credits were brought in by the Labour government in 2003 to top-up low-income families. Overpayment was a major issue when they were first introduced but was brought down to a low of 1.2 million cases in 2007. Since then, however, the number and cost of overpayments has gone up every year.

Tax credits are based on a family’s estimated income for the coming year. Under the Labour government, households were allowed to earn an extra £25,000 before they had to pay money back. But in 2010 this buffer was gradually reduced to £5,000 by the Coalition, meaning thousands of families faced being chased for overpayment debts.

In the same year, the Government announced that it would start using professional debt collectors to collect unpaid taxes. It was assumed this would be for wealthy tax avoiders, but there is evidence that they are also using them to target those on minimal incomes.

Underpayment is also a problem, with more than £1bn owed to 1.5 million families in the tax year to 2012.

Citizens Advice is expected to report today that the number of people asking for advice on tax credit debts has increased dramatically in recent years. The Government will release its latest figures on tax credit overpayment today.

The Government plans to replace the tax credits and benefit system with universal credit, but the welfare reform has been beset with delays and major computer problems.

An HMRC spokesman said: “The use of DCAs is an established cost effective part of our normal debt collection operations. All that these agencies do is issue letters, issue SMS text messages and make phone calls to HMRC customers. The debt collection agencies we use adhere to highest customer service standards in line with the Office of Fair Trading’s code of practice and our own customer charter.”

He added: “Over and underpayments have always been a consequence of the tax credits system as HMRC calculates awards based on the current information it holds.

“Many overpayments result from people failing to tell us about a change of circumstances as soon as possible, so customers should tell us of any changes straight away.”

sticks - i wasn't talking about unemployment, as that is a by-product of whether the real economy is growing or shrinking

however, with regard to unfairly constructed zero-hour contracts, i think we're all pretty much in agreement ..... properly constructed and administered, and i have given good examples in the past, they can and often are good news for all parties


max - exactly so, but unfortunately there is a perception that is forever puffed up and bandied around by assorted interested parties, that the scheme is aimed at the far-too-well-off, because the ceiling is £600k (a preposterous level it must be agreed)

http://news.sky.com/story/1271871/uk-economic-growth-at-11-year-high-cbi-survey

UK Economic Growth At 11-Year High: CBI Survey

A survey of more than 700 UK firms has indicated the strongest rate of growth since data was first collected more than a decade ago.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said its poll of 726 companies showed May growth expansion at its best since 2003.

The findings come as a second lobby group, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), upped its 2014 growth forecast by a tenth.

The BCC said it now expects growth this year at 3.1% instead of an earlier estimate of 2.8%

Trouble is its not showing up in pay packets hence the Tories doing so badly in the latest elections.

The problem with Tax Credits where IDS as comitted a crimminal act certainly wont help.

Trouble is its not showing up in pay packets

quite so, and unfortunately (for the tories i guess, but really everyone) this is bound to lag just as employment stays high for a while when the economy is heading south

WOW breaking news THIS IS BIG VERY BIG................

Jayne L ‏@JayneLinney 4minutes ago.

JUDGE ORDERS DWP TO DISCLOSE UNIVERSAL CREDIT DOCUMENTS

More to follow.

JUDGE ORDERS DWP TO DISCLOSE UNIVERSAL CREDIT DOCUMENTS

Documents set to reveal full extent of chaos in flagship scheme
Could provide ‘smoking gun’ showing IDS misled parliament
Tribunal slams “sharp contrast” between DWP spin and reality
Final release of documents could depend on outcome of DWP appeal



A judge has ordered the DWP to disclose potentially damning documents relating to the botched Universal Credit programme. The papers could provide a ‘smoking gun’which proves conclusively that Iain Duncan Smith and the DWP misled parliamentwith their ridiculously optimistic assessments of progress on the programme.

The documents were requested by campaigners, including journalist Tony Collins (@tonyrcollins), under the Freedom of Information Act in March and April last year. The DWP has fought tooth and nail to keep them secret – even sending the director of the programme to court to argue against disclosure.

The documents include:

Project Assessment Review – periodic high level review of large project
Issues Register – details of problems and failures
High Level Milestone Schedule – sequence of activities and timings
The tribunal upheld a decision not to release the project’s Risk Register, a comprehensive assessment of potential risks ranked by likelihood and severity.

Scrapbook has blogged before (here and here) on Iain Duncan Smith’s attempts to disguise his failure. If the documents are published they will be inevitably set against the chronology of statements emanating from the department, a theme picked up by the tribunal:

We are struck by the sharp contrast [of critical independent reports] with the unfailing confidence and optimism of a series of press releases by the DWP or ministerial statements as to the progress of [Universal Credit] during the relevant period. The press release of 1st. November, 2011 quoting the Secretary of State as saying that UCP was “on track and on time for implementing from 2013” and a DWP spokesperson in 2012, refuting criticism from the Shadow Secretary of State -

“ Liam Byrne is quite simply wrong. Universal Credit is on track and on budget. To suggest anything else is incorrect.”

are simply examples of the summary of press releases

Scrapbook understands the department could yet appeal to a so-called ‘Upper Tribunal’.

www.politicalscrpbook.net

http://iainduncansmith.com/2014/03/judge-orders-dwp-disclose-universal-credit-documents/

They can still withhold the documents.

Why what do they have to hide???????????????????????

The only way they can get out of this one now is through an appeal to the 'Upper Tribunal'

Cant see it granted though.

IDS chickens are coming home to roost.

Dont forget Hays £28 billion written off by IDS, that could have been used to get the deficit down.

There are exemptions to the FOI act such as government policy.

IDS is doing a good job of changing the benefit system.

i confess i have never followed this Universal Credit thingy, but even sight unseen, it was always obvious to anyone that changing the entrenched and arguably bloated benefit system was bound to be problematic in the extreme

whether or not the attempted changes have been handled as well as can reasonably be expected is no doubt open to debate, but for sure, any party who took on this gargantuan task was bound to be pilloried endlessly by the opposition - it's just too easy a target

Hays no chance, his (IDS) only way out now is to appeal to the Upper Tribunal .

Hes got no chance given his track record.

Cynic even Osbourne and Francis Maude have said Id Smith is thick and making a real balls up of Universal Credit.

It wont work I can tell you that now. Its too big.

Hes already trashed one computer system and the new one is defunked already, target after target missed.

gf
There is no evidence of Maude or Osborne having those of noons of IDS. There have been IT problems, but they are hardly as anything to do with IDS. Your cost estimates also appear to be wrong. You should stop reading those left wing comics.

Tony Blair is hiding behind Government protocols to keep the notes between himself and George Bush secret, the former Prime Minister John Major suggested this morning.

Sir John warned that the decision not to allow the Chilcot Inquiry to publish the full correspondence between the two leaders in the run-up to the Iraq War would would allow conspiracy theories to 'fester'.

He said it was a 'pity' that only the 'gist' of the notes and conversations would be published - and urged Mr Blair to publicly call for the details to be published in full.

Sir John said only Mr Blair and the last Labour Government could overrule the civil service rules stopping the notes from being published.

He said: 'I think it is a pity the papers are going to be withheld for several reasons. Firstly, they will leave suspicions unresolved and those suspicions will fester and maybe worsen.

'And secondly, in many ways I think withholding them is going to be very embarrassing for Mr Blair, not least of course because he brought in the Freedom of Information Act into law when he was in government. But that is the decision that has been reached, effectively by the Cabinet Office.'

He added: 'I suppose the previous Labour government could approach them and say "we’d like to over-rule this, we think it better if they release those papers", but the Government can’t do that.

'Let me make that point - the Government cannot do that, Mr Blair could. The previous Labour Government could – and maybe in their own interests they could think about that because, otherwise as I say, this will fester and I don’t think anybody wishes to see that.'

Sir John's intervention, on BBC Radio 4 this morning, will pile pressure on Mr Blair to publicly ask for the notes to be published.

It comes after the Iraq inquiry was condemned as a whitewash over the deal to keep the notes secret.

Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood has vetoed the release of the letters and phone calls in the run-up to the 2003 conflict, officials revealed.

In them, Mr Blair is said to have promised the US President: 'You know, George, whatever you decide to do, I'm with you.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2642888/Breakthrough-Iraq-War-Inquiry-Blairs-official-reaches-deal-hand-letters-former-PM-George-Bush.html#ixzz33D26bZB7
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