Archive

The new tax credits have been dogged by delays, which has left many families facing financial hardship. But there is a system of emergency payments. Neil Bateman outlines how to claim.

Delays in receiving the new tax credits from the Inland Revenue (IR) have caused real difficulty for many people - particularly those on low incomes with children.

There are several reasons for the delays: complexity inherent in means-testing, more people claiming than had been anticipated (more than 4.2 million), people not supplying all the information needed, slower than expected computer systems and problems with some banks not accepting payments.

Fortunately, things have improved, but benefit payment delays are still not uncommon - particularly where detailed rules of assessment can mean that a minor hiccup in the processing chain can leave a customer destitute.

Such has been the scale of problems that the Inland Revenue (IR) now has a system for making emergency payments to people who are waiting to receive tax credits. Indeed, by the end of May (the latest figures the IR provided) it had made about 200,000 such payments.

The law doesn’t lay down a clear deadline for the IR to process tax credit claims or for when they should make payment (as is the case with other benefits) but in very serious cases of delay, it may be possible to take legal action to force them to pay up. One hopes that the IR’s emergency payments system will prevent people having to go to such lengths.

If people are waiting for tax credits to come through, they should contact their local IR enquiry office which is listed in the telephone directory. The IR may also make home visits if people can’t get to an office although they prefer that people come into the office. Claimants will need to have copies of correspondence with the IR about their claim including either an award notice or a letter of acknowledgement, evidence of their identity and address, national insurance number and some evidence of why they need a payment such as an unpaid bill (in many cases this will be self-evident). The IR can then make a payment on the day.

The feedback from welfare rights advisers is that the emergency payments system does work and it quickly pays people without them having to resort to unsatisfactory means such as social fund crisis loans or moneylenders.

The lack of legal rights to emergency tax credit payments needs addressing, but the fact that the system is working, shows that when public opinion is roused by official failure, things get moving.

Neil Bateman is a welfare rights specialist