Clients have had a large reduction in earnings due to a coc. They have a 3 month old baby and their only income is SMP, CB and £14 TC.

I've phoned TCO to give an estimate of their income to end of April but been told that although the computer will amend the amount this will only result in 'potential payments' and won't authorise payments as it's so near the end of the tax year!!

Apparently I can ring next week to see if the computer has decided there are potential payments. I then have to throw myself on a human being's mercy to see if my clients can be paid or if they have to wait until April.

I realise there might be a change to their estimated income which might result in an overpayment but this seems ridiculous.

Don't you just love the vagaries and inconsistencies of HMRC?

Sue - did you speak to someone on the intermediaries' helpline? I'd phone back and speak to someone else as they'll surely give you a different answer. I've had clients in this situation loads of times, and as long as you promise to phone up as soon as the client's income changes again then they're usually OK.

I've been noticing a lot of new voices on the intermediairies' helpline recently though...

Yes I did and yes it did seem a new voice.

I'll leave it couple of days and ring back.

I've had this problem too - client reports reduced income, TCO say you can't have your extra money until the end of the tax year. I assumed that appealing wouldn't work, it's not that the amount has been calculated incorrectly, just that TCO won't pay it, so the decision about amounts is not incorrect. The decision the client is unhappy with is the time of payment, and that is not appealable.

We have ended up going through the complaints procedure on this one because it took so long for TCO to accept that they should revise the award. When they did so, they still only gave the client the benefit of her increased entitlement from the date they took action, and told her she couldn't have the benefit of the underpayment from earlier in the tax year until finalisation.

Anyone got any other tips to get round this? Can the delay be challenged in any other way than complaining?