I am under the impression that they cannot insist you pay it all at once, and, for instance, if you received £20 per week, they cannot takemore than that back, so if you owe £500 which iwas overpaid at £20 per week then you would have at least 25 weeks to pay it back in. Personally I would show them your outgoings, and tell them what you CAN afford - even if it's £5 a week.

Catastrophica is right though, it makes a mockery of the whole thing - one month you might get an extra £50 which you have been relying on, but the next month not only do they not give you that, they demand you pay THEM!!

MP is a good idea, and speaking to a higher officer who has some dicretion to agree a repayment schedule which suits you.

Shel

Hi There,
This has happened to my friend, complain to the adjudicator, ask the Child Tax Office for a leaflet on how to complain, my friend found there was so much backlog of complaints against the Child Tax Credit, that she found the fastest way to get this sorted out was to get intouch with her local MP, you can find out who they are, by going to your Council Office, the MP will put your complaint through to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

Hi

I, too, have had a huge bill from the Tax Credits Office because my claim ended when I split from my husband.

Apparently, they can do this, but they will also allow you to make repayments gradually. The system is based on the previous year's income and, when your income fluctuates, as ours did, it makes a complete mockery of the whole idea (which is to help families with children)!

But don't despair - ring them, talk to them and they should help you sort it out.

Cat

i recently had a letter for the child tax credits telling me that i had to pay back over £500 and this is dating back to a single claim that i had in 2003-2004, are they right to claim this money back from me 3 years later, and if they are not what can I do about it.
thank you for anyone who can help.