The post you are reporting:
Thank You DT1.
Tax credits helped my brother when he needed them on a low paid job. He wanted to work and that was why he took the job; after about four or five months, he was laid off and the Job Centre where he then was (in Hythe near Southampton), told him he wouldn't get Job Seekers Allowance but working tax credits instead. He didn't know any different as he had recently returned from South Africa, so relied on the Job Centre giving him the correct information.
After about 7 months he was told he had to pay back all the money he had received in those WTCs - around £1800 or thereabouts. They wouldn't pay him any JSA money at all for some reason best known to themselves, so he was in deep poo-poo as he had literally no money.
He has now moved to Hythe (next to Folkestone) and is working for SAGA; he's renting a flat, but the job is still a low-paid one and only just covers the rent and he still can't get any WTCs until the £1800 has been paid back - but how can he pay it back when he is literally on the bones of his arse ?
No one is willing to help him and everyone has said "not my problem".
I wrote to Charlie (Elphicke) who took it up with HMRC and they said they won't deal with him because he doesn't have a written form to say my brother would like him to help and they won't send my brother such a form.
I have written on my brother's behalf many times, but it is literally like talking to a brick wall, they simply write back but with no information - they are either very dense indeed, or purposefully unhelpful, no one can be that dense and keep a job (can they ?), so I suspect it's the latter.
Like the saying goes "every month I'm in the s**t, the only difference is the depth".
Roger
