Tax Credits

[phleb]

I phones them last Monday to ask them to pay me four weekly instead of weekly. I asked the adviser when it should take affect, and he said immediately. Well, today i havent been paid at all. I get paid every tuesday. I would have thought when her said immediately, this would mean next payment date.

I rang them and waiting 31 mins till someone spoke to me. She spoke to me like i was scum, she said i won't get paid till 1st dec if i want the change to take affect. I told her the other adviser said it would happen immediatly, she said he wouldnt have know, as the system calculates everything.

Well after another phone call/bill of 31 mins, i am sat here with no answers, and no money. She said she would change it back to weekly, but it wont happen till 48 hours and i would have to call back then.

Does this seem fair to you? What is one supposed to do if they dont get paid?

[ummmm]

If you want to paid monthly you'd have to wait 4 weeks from your last payment.

[Retrochic]

If they pay you in arrears then how can you expect them to pay you up front for a whole month? You give them the date you want to change and they pay you a month later -this should have been explained to you . When you work you have to work a full month before you get paid if you get paid monthly.

[fiction-factory]

I think the best you can expect in this situation is to get it 2 weeks later- then on average it works out right.

[bednobs]

you have just misunderstood phleb. The change from weekly to 4 weekly did take effect immediately - and you will get paid in 4 week time in arrears

[phleb]

I have only had one weekly payment, so i thought they would give me the rest of the month in one go the following week. They didn't explain this, this is why i am so upset. If it was explained, i would have stayed as i was.

[Buenchico]

As I read it, you got exactly what you said you wanted!

Since you can't expect to be paid in advance, any request to switch to payments on a 4-weekly basis is bound to leave you with a four week gap between the last payment you've received and the next (far bigger) one.

So, if you last received a payment on Tuesday of last week, your next one should be four weeks later, which would be 1st December. That's exactly what I'd expect to happen with an 'immediate' change because the computer had been told to leave that four-week gap.

[fiction-factory]

I think there are few jobs where you would get paid in advance - it's common to be at the end of the month. Maybe you are bettter off on weekly payments. Was there a particular reason you wanted it 4 weekly because I can't see any advantages of note

[-SharonA-]

So what you wanted, was 4 weeks pay in advance??

[fiction-factory]

Crossed posts. i assume then you were hoping to get it up front to boost your cashflow over the next few weeks

[EDDIE51]

You got what you asked for. Tax credit is paid either 1 week or 4 weeks in arrears, you can't get it in advance.

[ummmm]

I understand your distress. Very worrying with 3 little ones to look after.

[Islay]

The way tax credits work is 3 weeks in arrears and 1 week in advance.

[EDDIE51]

phleb , if you really have no money for food then go to your local CAB, they will give you a letter to take to the nearest food bank who will give you enough food to keep you going until you get the payment sorted.
I had to do this when my pension credit was stopped due to an administration error. The food bank people were very helpful, kind and understanding. They gave me more than enough food to last until I got the mistake sorted out.