I received a letter today saying £194.00 has been paid into my Jobseekers post- office account. I cannot get through to the OR as their line is out of order today and the tax office said I need to contact them as they don't know who the money belongs to.
The Dept for Work and Pensions I cannot get through to and they have already paid this money into my post office account. I wish it was mine but I fear it is not.
I intend to contact the OR on Thur if I can get through but in all honesty I believe the £194.00 tax refund belongs to the OR. I went B in early November 2008 and am not discharged. Any help greatfully received. Thank you very much.
Chances are because the tax refund was from last tax year and you were BR for part of the tax year then the OR will want it. Having said that there have been some cases where the OR cannot be bothered to complete the additional paperwork for a one-off payment so with a bit of luck.....
Email, call or send a letter to the OR and see what he says.
Hello I have just sent an email to the OR giving both the Department of Work and Pensions address and phone details as well as the Tax Office address and details.
The tax refund is for £194.00 and I have said to the OR under no circumstances will I touch this money and the OR can have this money from my job seekers post-office account at any time they desire.
I wish it was mine as I am dead broke I am six months into my b and am not discharged officially until early November 2009.
Will see what happens but if it belongs to the OR then it's back to beans and toast again.
No response to email to OR thus far. As I can never get through to the OR by phone I will give it a week to hear back and if no news will just have to get a photocopy of the letter from the library copier and write to the OR by post. As the money has already gone into my post office account I want to draw out the cash as quickly as possible and take it to the High Court in London to give it to them as I won't be able to sleep at night with all this hanging over me.
having informed the OR that the funds are avalable to them "at any time" then you'd best keep to that. Or is there nobody you could trust to pass it to for safe keeping so that you are not tempted.
Taking the funds to high court seems a little extreme. Personally for that amount I would probably not have mentioned it. Yes I know technically it belongs to the OR but I would bet the administration your disclosure has generated will have a cost greater than the tax refund.
Hello John As always many thanks for your reply. There is no one I can pass the money to for safe keeping and I would be too scared to touch it broke as I am. I hope the OR will take pity on me and let me keep it as it is only £196.00.
There are 3 creditors : First Direct Bank/Nat West Bank and Barclaycard. If the OR says no then the 3 creditors will get about £66.00 each. I suppose the OR will have to take it as to let me keep it may set a precedent for others. The Tax Office manager told me today I had to inform the OR about this tax refund. I hope they (OR) come back to me soon. As the monies cannot be removed from my post office account by the tax office once they (monies) have gone in (they said), then I will have no choice but to take the cash payment to the Court which will cost me £3.00 in bus fares too. John ... I will let you know what happens.
Correction only £194.00. No wonder the creditors don't like to give early discharge as there is always a chance some money may come their way ... little as it is.
another point. If the OR does claim the money then ask if he can debit the account directly. They have considerable powers to this end. If he says no and still wants the money then deduct the £3 from the £194. It should not cost you to be honest.
John thank you for your excellent advice as it will cost me £3.00 in bus fares to the Court and of course £3.00 back home again, it is unfair that I should have to pay £6.00 out of my job seekers. Surely the OR would be ok for me to deduct the bus fares. Again I will have to ask his permission on this if he insists on the cash payment only taken to the Court.
Hello John In light of all the clear guidelines above from the OR's Office I am puzzled as to why this money was paid into my job seeker's account. Having received no response to my email to the OR and cannot reach them by phone it seems now I have to buy envelope and stamp go to the library and pay to photocopy the letter from the Dept Work and Pensions and send this all off by post to the OR's office.
This tax refund has opened a whole can of worms it seems by putting money into my account when HMRC knew I was bankrupt and the money did not belong to me.
to be frank I would still be of a mind not to write or go to the OR's office.
You have sent an email I believe, which should be sufficient and they cost you nothing.
RESEND the email every day if necessary but I wouldn't go to any expense. I would also set the message for you to receive a receipt confirmation when it read. If you get no response in 28 days save all the sent messages, and all the read receipts then spend it!!!
Thanks ever so John. I will give them a further week as I sent the same e-mail to 2 different people listed on my past [OR letter] so maybe one of them has posted me a letter.
I will in my next email to them [set the message for you to receive a receipt confirmation when it is read].
HelloTax Refund ... is this mine or the OR's
Posted - 06 May 2009 : 11:43:13
