[Kizzy]

Just when you think they can't get any lower....

'Thousands of struggling families who have been overpaid tax credits in error could face demands for repayment from private debt collectors.

Louise Haigh, the Labour MP for Sheffield Heeley, has discovered figures in the House of Commons Library showing that 600,000 people received £700m additional tax credits in error in 2013-14. Although this is less than in previous years, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) appointed a private sector contractor last November to chase debts that the tax authority has previously struggled to recoup through its own inspectors.

David Gauke, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, told Ms Haigh this summer that HMRC seeks to “recover all overpayments of tax credits no matter how they have arisen, as they do with all debts”. This means that debt collectors can ultimately go after claimants who have been overpaid through no fault of their own. '

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...-a6716391.html