Welfare family 'in dire straits' (From Gazette & Herald)

Welfare family 'in dire straits'

A FAMILY of four from North Yorkshire said it was in dire straits after waiting for four months to be paid essential cash by the Government following a series of tax credit errors.

Parents-of-two Karen and Craig Holmes, of Lime Tree Avenue, Malton, say they have been left in a desperate situation by the Inland Revenue after a series of computer faults meant their working families and child tax credits - to the sum of £2,200 - have not been paid.

The couple claim the Inland Revenue has:

Deleted their four-year-old daughter Jade and 11-month-old son Cameron from the computer system FOUR times

Stopped their tax credits completely for more than 16 weeks

Sent out 16 different award notices, all with different personal details

Stated that the couple had a combined annual salary of £23,000 when in fact neither was now working

Claimed that they did not meet the residency criteria because they did not live, work in or originate from the UK.

Mrs Holmes, 27, said: "It's just got ridiculous. My husband isn't working now, he had an accident at work where he hurt three fingers, breaking two of them and, under mutual agreement with his bosses, decided not to go back. He's having to claim Job Seeker's Allowance, but we won't get that through until the child tax credit is sorted. I've no idea what we're going to do until then."

The problems began in March when Mrs Holmes notified the Inland Revenue that she had come off Job Seeker's Allowance and gained employment as a legal secretary in Malton.

"I've rung the helpline so many times. The funniest thing is that they've sent me a complaints pack and even that doesn't ring through," said Mrs Holmes. She said the various different complaints numbers did not work.

An Inland Revenue spokesman said he could not comment on individual cases, but anyone experiencing problems with the tax credit system should phone the helpline on 0845 3003900.

Updated: 10:49 Monday, June 21, 2004