Belfast mum describes months of hell after tax credit's wrongly stopped

A Belfast mum says she was put through hell after her Child Tax Credit's were wrongly stopped for over two months. 

Hundreds of single parents had their tax credits slashed due to errors made by HMRC and outside contractor Concentrix.

Belfast Citizens Advice Bureau says the American firm has wrongly identified a number of single parents as living with partners, leading to their weekly benefits being stopped or reduced.

Service Manager, Pat Colton, said:

"We have been dealing with clients who have been accused of being in a relationship when they are clearly not.

“There is case law which states that HMRC has to prove the client is in a relationship - yet HMRC continues to flaunt the law. Putting single parents in

particular under great stress and financial hardship.”

Nicola Crawford has two children aged 10 and 4 years old, her youngest son lives with a number of illnesses, including cerebral palsy.

The family returned from Manchester Hospital where Corey was receiving treatment to discover that their tax credit's had stopped.

The mother-of-two said she provided a year's worth of evidence that she was living alone, including gas and electric bills, however it was over two months before her tax credit's were re-instated. 

As a result of the action, Nicola says her housing benefit has also been stopped leading to fears her home may be under threat.

She described it as the "worst experience" of her life:

Nicola is now undergoing a Mandatory Reconsideration of her case but there is no time limit on how long this will take or if it will be successful.