had a conversation with a colleague yesterday that intrigued me re additional payments.

according to him claimants:
who have been overpaid in-year are being told via the helpline that additional overpayments are no longer available?

They are then being advised to go to local tax office who might help?

on approaching local office, clients being told if not on Income Support they cannot get help at all?

The local office are assisting clients complete an "appeal" form which is forwarded to Preston?

Preston write back with a "secret" number for clients to call to discuss their situation with an advisor?

Unfortunately there is nothing about tax credits which would allow me to believe that any of the above is untrue but can anyone tell me more.

Lee

I wonder if the help line person meant to say that "top up payments" no longer exist (which is correct), but does not realise that additional payments do? The new approach you describe sits uneasily with the IR Guidance (COP 26). The Guidance is clearly under the impression that addional payments do exist.

I have just phoned the helpline. I was told that additional payments system is in place and has not been removed.

Left hand and right hand?

following my earlier post my colleague obtained some additional info. I have pasted his email me below. Names have been removed to protect the innocent

"Looked at the rightsnet posting and had a conversation with our person at the revenue.

says that this is the system- phone operators at helpline cannot authorise additional payments, the new name for top-ups. They should be taking details to pass on to the uncontactable team and maybe trying to work out whether it’s a non starter ( gave the e.g of recovery from someone getting only the Family Element couldn't be experiencing hardship) and advising callers that these details will be passed to the specialist team who will contact the caller at a later date- no idea of timescale.

confirmed your local IR office would simply be doing the same, which was my experience yesterday. had not heard of the IS situation where someone in receipt of IS could get an additional payment authorised by the local IR as the lady I saw in Cochrane Street told me.

I told him that in all 4 cases over past few days that Helpline had not taken details to pass on but had told caller and me that they could not take details but would send out Cop26 'to fill in'. So if Helpline can and should take details to pass on then a visit to local IR is a waste of time.

told me all of this was in 'the Additional TC Payments guidance' issued to operators, couldn't send to me but said it is the same as guidelines in Cop 26. No new guidance being followed"