Same name Same mistake Same old story for 22 years

Fury as HMRC identity blunder leads to decades of tax trouble

Additional reporting by Jane Barrie Darren O’Neill was shocked to find that he had a namesake – with the same national insurance number.

A blunder by the taxman meant he was being confused with another Darren O’Neill living in Lincolnshire.

But a staggering 22 years down the line, he was no nearer to resolving his identity crisis and called me in.

Darren, 42, said: “I can’t take much more of this. I am weary trying to explain to the Revenue that I’m being confused with another Darren O’Neill.

“We have the same name but different middle names. He lives in Lincolnshire and I live in West Lothian. I’m at the end of my tether.”

Darren, a former surveyor, first spotted the problem m when he finished an apprenticeship in 1995.

He said: “I began looking for work and tried to claim Jobseeker’s Al lowance while I was doing that.

“But I was told I couldn’t claim because I was working.

“This was ridiculous because I wasn’t working – I was looking for work.

“I spoke to the tax off ice about it, they admitted their error and I breathed a sigh of relief.

“This other Darren had an identical reference number. So they issued me with a temporary number supposedly for a year while they sorted things out.”

When he started working again, Darren, of Bo’ness, was told to revert to the original number.

But it wasn’t long before the issue reared its head again.

He said: “I recall moving jobs a couple of times and my employers telling me my NI number was wrong.

“But each time I approached HMRC, they apologised, assured me they had solved things and I just kept paying into the system.”

But he was stunned to receive a letter in 2010 issuing him with a new tax code and claiming he worked f o r the NHS in Lincolnshire.Li He said: “I then got a P800 claiming I’d underpaidunderpai tax on my salary ofmoreofmore thathan £30,000. “I couldn’t believe it. I wish I had an income like that.” He got a fright when, two years later, they wrote to say they would collect the underpayment through his tax code. universal credit in November, following a shoulder op, the DWP insisted he was in work. Darren said: “I’ve been to my MP and Citizens Advice but I’m getting nowhere. I’m fed up filling in forms. Please help.” I got on to HMRC, who are on the case to resolve the issue. A spokesman said: “We don’t discuss indiv idual cases but, where a National Insurance record is not up to date, we do all we can to help customers identify any missing credits.” I’ve also asked them t o compens a t e Dar ren for h is years of stress and hassle.