Victims of tax scandal to get ‘pitiful’ £14 compensation

TAX credit claimants who suffered as the result of a botched outsourcing plan have been paid just £14 each in compensation.

Concentrix adjusted or terminated around 108,000 cases of claimants’ tax credits — nearly a third of which were overturned at appeal.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) ended its deal with the contractor after a series of problems came to light.

Records released in Parliament showed HMRC had paid a total of £18,035 to 1,271 people.

Shadow policing minister Louise Haigh said the amount was “pitiful and insulting”.

She added: “Concentrix walked off the job with £32m of taxpayers’ money in their pockets.

“Yet now we learn that the average amount people can expect in compensation is less than £15. That’s a pitiful amount and it is simply insulting to the victims.

“The company caused real damage to people’s lives and was proven to be wrong in 87% of cases that went to appeal.

“I can’t think of many cases where such terrible failure has been rewarded so well and in such stark contrast to the treatment of the victims.

“The Concentrix and Carillion scandals have shown that too often the bosses walk off with a pay-out while we pay for their mistakes, and the victims are left struggling.

“Tory privatisation of our public services has been a disaster, and it’s about time ministers started learning the lessons.”

Last year Concentrix opened a £14m office at the old Maysfield Leisure Centre in Belfast.