PPI claims firm has taken control of my neighbour’s tax affairs

theguardian.com:

In December, my neighbour was notified by HM Revenue and Customs that she was entitled to a rebate of £324 for the tax year 2020/2021, and that a cheque was being sent to a firm called Calculate My PPI, a claims company she used several years ago. Calculate My PPI denies receiving the cheque and HMRC is saying that it can’t, or won’t, do anything to help. She can’t even ascertain whether the cheque has been cashed or not. She had initially approached the claims firm to see if she was entitled to compensation for mis-sold PPI, since she struggles to use a computer. It now appears the company has, unbeknownst to her, retained a control over her tax affairs. There must be many others who have used third-party PPI claims firms, potentially in the same boat.CHY, Bristol

In January, I warned about online firms that offer to reclaim overpaid tax on behalf of customers for an enormous fee, and trap them in an ongoing contract.

Some customers who made a PPI claim through a third party have found their signature and national insurance number transposed on to a deed, so that a company can cash in on any pending tax refunds.

It seems unlikely this happened in your neighbour’s case since the deadline for applying for PPI compensation was August 2019, a year before Calculate My PPI (CMPPI) was set up by a 34-year-old, self-described teacher in Slough.

Its website declares that those who have made a successful claim for mis-sold PPI in the last four years could be due rebates worth thousands from HMRC. This is potentially true, because many claimants were not liable for the tax automatically deducted from compensation payments, and are therefore entitled to reclaim it.

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