Tax credit helpline ‘disaster’
The government’s tax credits system has come under fire once again after new figures show half those trying to contact the helpline are not getting through.
Earlier this month the parliamentary ombudsman said flaws in the system – in particular the volume of overpayments – were causing distress to families receiving the credits.
She recommended that overpayments caused by official error more than two years ago be written off to prevent further distress, prompting the Liberal Democrats to call for a complete overhaul of the system.
This call has been strengthened today by figures showing that of the nearly 100 million calls made to the government’s tax credit helpline, 52 million got an engaged tone or gave up after waiting to speak to an advisor.
In 2003-04, as many as 117,000 calls a day failed or were abandoned, although this situation improved remarkably last year when only one in ten calls were failing.
However, Lib Dem work and pensions spokesman David Laws said in the first three months of this year the situation has worsened again – and he described the system as a “disaster”.
“So many calls going unanswered undermines the Revenue’s attempt to resist the ombudsman’s call to write off overpayments arising from official error,” he said.
“These figures also highlight the frustration that so many families must be feeling in having to deal with such a rollercoaster of assessments, reassessments, overpayments, and disputes over Revenue errors.
“The Revenue is clearly struggling to cope with a system of such complexity and an IT and telephony system that is proving very hard to manage. They are now resorting to ‘streamlining’ disputes rather than looking at the merits of the case to reduce the backlog.”
However, the Treasury defended its record, saying that about 90 per cent of calls are dealt with, with the “vast majority” of calls since August 2003 answered within seconds.
A spokesman added: “We are not aware of claimants trying to inform HMRC [HM Revenue & Customs] about overpayments but being unable to. Nor are we aware of any case where this was raised as an issue in appeal.
“However, we deal with all overpayments on a case by case basis and would of course take into account any problems experienced in contacting HMRC when dealing with each claimant.”
