Another problem I had was a couple of years ago, although this wasnt Tax Credits people's fault, just feel like a rant.
I took in a mate of my lads, and had to claim for him as well. The parent who had custody was more than willing to hand over responsibility, but not Child Benefit rights. I therefore had to make enquiries via CAB, and ended up contesting the parent's right to CB, filling in several forms. This took quite a while. Until I had CB, I wasn't allowed to claim tax credits.
By the time we got sorted we were in debt. I think we got backdated to the date we qualified for CB, about 3 weeks. Was a heck of a struggle in the mean time. Nothing forthcoming from the other parent either.
Meanwhile the parent who had had custody was spending her sons money on herself, presumably.
Rant over!
