Tax refund to Agen

Like so many of you on here I received a message from Brooksdale informing me of a Tax Refund they had received for me from HMRC. I made contact with a HMRC who confirmed they had forwarded the funds to Brooksdale. I had never heard of them. HMRC told me they had received a signed authorisation for from me, I asked for a copy and found that my signature had been forged, it looked nothing like my signature and even misspelt. HMRC told me there was nothing they could do and I had to report it to Action Fraud which I did, only to be told that this is not a reportable crime. So the criminals win, take our money and HMRC are aware of this scam and just hand over our money willingly?! Clearly crime does pay. I am absolutely staggered at the response I have received, the lack of help and incredulous that they are not prepared to do anything about it!

Hi @Polly57 - I've just seen your comment on here about Brooksdale telling you that you wouldn't have got your money back had it not been for them claiming it. What they've told you is both accurate AND inaccurate in that if checking your own income tax returns isn't something you do routinely, then you wouldn't have had it if they hadn't done it on your behalf. BUT (and this is a big "but") you absolutely CAN get your own returns without an external agent doing it for you and taking a huge chunk as their "payment", because 48% is quite extortionate isn't it? I've had an HMRC letter today saying a cheque has been sent to Brooksdale. I'd gone down that same route of using TheClaimsGuys for PPI returns and I vaguely remember getting a text message to give Brooksdale permission to check if I had an HMRC return due to me, but it didn't say what their cut was - I didn't even know they were going to do it more than onece (more fool me)! So when I get my next refund with their huge chunk taken off it I'm going to do to see what I can to get this "agreement" cancelled. Also, with the exception of this current one, the money I've claimed back myself has been a much larger amount than the one claimed back from Brooksdale. And yes I know companies like that keep people in jobs and stuff, but it's a refund on MY income tax, not theirs, so it should all be coming to me, as yours should be to you and the same for anyone else's they're claiming back. They certainly know how to charge, don't they?

I am in same boat with brooksdale got a letter from hmrc saying they were sending check to them then day after got a letter from hmcr saying I owe them money this was for tax year 2019/2020 tried all day to get through to hmrc can anybody help ?

Hi veron Megson,

You will need to keep trying to contact our helpline or write to us to discuss this further

Income Tax: general enquiries

Thank you

Amazingly Brooksdale were down as my agent.. most strange as I am an agent!!!

I have received a p800 letter from HMRC saying I’m due a tax refund which they are sending to brooksdale ltd who I’ve never heard of. But I’ve been on benefits since 2018 so how can I be owed a tax refund? Is this company legit?

[Display name amended - Admin]

Hi,

If you contact our Income Tax team we can provide further information regarding this.

Income Tax: general enquiries

Thank you.

I think Watchdog need to be contacted to be made aware of this situation, there are enough of us out there that have had this happen and it doesn’t look like they are doing anything to stop it!

I to have been stung by brooksdale s I also have a crime reference number from action fraud but according to brooksdale they were unable to cash in my cheque properly because they didn't have my correct d.o.b I have phoned hmrc but they are still saying they can't re issues my cheque to me I'm at a loss now of what I can actually do

H iJulie Kemp, 
If Brooksdale are having issues with the cheque they would need to contact us by telephone or in writing.
Income Tax: general enquiries
Thank you. 
 

Hello. Like all of you on this Forum I have received a message from Brooksdale by email - out of the blue in July 2023 telling me that I may be due an extra refund (5 figure!) of on top of the PPI payout I received in 2018. I have had no prior notification from HMRC and so I thought it was scam - until I found this HMRC forum this week which really shocked me. After reading all the comments I am staggered by all this and at the inadequate communication from the HMRC and their complete lack of help to the public apart from short one liners from their Admin Dept. HMRC need to give out proper advice and a statement explaining this whole matter. Why is there a 3rd party involved in HMRC payments? Surely you would just send the payment straight to the individual. The crazy 48% fee !? There must be a fiddle going on? A consumer investigative helpline definitely needs to be informed or a media outlet. I have not contacted Brooksdale or HMRC yet. Hopefully I can get some good advice from the Forum or the HMRC first.

Hello, received a cheque from Waltonbridge Ltd, with same massive fee 48%, never signed any PPI claim documents, also sure if there are any signatures on any mistic contracts, all are fakes and I need a help, few years ago I simply gave my account details to HMRC and received my tax rebate claim within 5 days.

Nicholas close alcester b496db can you please tell me when I will get my tax refund it as been near it two.weeks thankyou

Name removed admin .

This year I researched PPI tax refund online, but decided not to go ahead. I didn't sign up with anyone, complete any forms, or give anyone authority to proceed on my behalf. Then I started getting text messages and emails from Brooksdale saying they had an HMRC refund for me. As I hadn't applied I ignored completely, but they persisted. In the end I researched the name and found this forum. Logged onto my HMRC account, which I'd switched to email notifications only, and found they'd paid out for tax years 2021 and 2022 to Brooksdale. Took me ages to get through on the phone, mostly it kept dropping. But when I finally did get through I was told there was nothing they could do, they'd had the completed form from Brooksdale and paid out. They sent me copied of the form. The signature at the end looks to be a condensed scanned in copy of my signature, I have never seen the forms before . They said to raise a case with Action Fraud which I did in May and ring back with the reference. I did this and actionfraud site said could take a few months. I gave the reference and HMRC said can do nothing till a decision is made. I said the forms didn't seem to be completed fully anyway so I don't think the refund is due, they said not to worry about that they'd simply take it back next year. BUT I HAVEN'T HAD ANY MONEY. Nothing has happened since, I've logged onto actionfraud it still says waiting review. I've logged on the HMRC and it's still showing the monies were paid out. Where do I go from here. My worry is as the forms weren't fully completed, HMRC will claw it back next year and my family will be down the money they paid out to Brooksdale. Please advise.

I find it appalling that HMRC are fully aware that the so called agents like Brooksdale can get away with this. Their responses on here are feeble. These scammers trick people and HMRC know it. By now they should have been verifying with taxpayers whether they have knowingly appointed an agent, not just paying out. In my case Brooksdale have either forged my signature or lifted what possibly is my signature from an online enquiry form and dropped it onto a claim form either way - fraud. Come on HMRC do something about this enough people complaining!

Hi guys so have been on to HMRC sent email to them at the beginning but of September still waiting for a reply brooksdale are now ignoring me no surprises there what I don’t get admin saying go into general enquiries on HMRC and when you do there is nothing on there about tax refunds going elsewhere it’s all bs so now my next plan of action is the courts

Hi Steve Spofforth,

For a repayment to have been issued to the 3rd party, HMRC will have received documentation authorising the repayment to be sent to them. If you have any queries regarding a claim made on your behalf you will need to contact our Income Tax department so that we can confirm what we have received.

Income Tax: general enquiries

Thank you.

I have received a letter from the HMRC saying that they owe me money and they have sent a cheque to carrwood LTD for me what should I do to get my money

Hi Prayingmantis Malin,

If you have not received it after 10 working days then you will need to contact us to review.

Contact HMRC

Thank you.
 

Hi Karen Gibbons
You have done the correct thing reporting to action fraud.
To check on the progress you will need to contact HMRC to review your record.
Income Tax: general enquiries