Concentrix miserably failed managing tax credit claims in damning report
A report from the National Audit Office suggests that nearly 35,000 people had their tax credit payments wrongly stopped due to serious issues handling claims by the US contractor firm Concentrix who was hired by the HMRC to find and stop fraudulent tax credit claims.
The report also stated that many people who had payments stopped had failed to reach Concentrix to discuss the problem due to mishandling and inability to manage large volumes of claims and calls.
By mid-December, the HMRC had paid out over £85,000 in compensation for worry and distress to claimants due to mishandling by Concentrix.
A Concentrix spokesperson said:
“We welcomed the opportunity to engage with the National Audit Office in its inquiry. This was a hugely complex contract and program, and as the report highlights, some issues emerged at the outset which laid the foundations for the challenges experienced throughout, particularly last year.
“We look forward to discussing the report with the Public Accounts Committee to ensure all lessons can be learned.”
Senior figures from HMRC and Concentrix will be called before MPs later this month to explain the failures.
A Concentrix spokesman said
“This was a hugely complex contract and programme, and as the report highlights, some issues emerged at the outset which laid the foundations for the challenges experienced throughout, particularly last year.”
The company was paid over £30m during the agreement but told the NAO it had made an overall loss of over £20m.
An HMRC spokesman said:
“We apologise to all those who did not receive the standard of service that they should have.”