51. LETTER
TO
THE
COMMISSIONER
FROM
RT
HON
JACQUI
SMITH
MP, 22 JUNE
2009
You ask for an explanation as to why amounts for
event charges varied month by month when I made my claims for
my Virgin Media package. This is because the package comprises
a basic package and then additional charges for events such as
films. I do not have copies of the itemised bills for these months.
You ask about the duplication of the 25 April 2008
bill for the two subsequent months. I had thought that providing
a recurring copy of an invoice for a typical month would be acceptable.
However, the Fees Office contacted me by letter on 11 November
to say that they needed month by month invoices so any further
claims were made against individual invoices. No adjustment was
asked for and I am afraid I took the request for "receiving
the relevant documents in the near future" to refer to subsequent
claims not those covering duplicated months. In hindsight, this
led to claims in these two months that may not have exactly matched
the actual expenditure. It is, of course, not clear as to whether
it resulted in a lower or higher claim than would otherwise have
been submitted.
What is clear is that any potential over-claim was
repaid when I made my £400 payment to the Fees Office on
28 March 2009.
I hope that you find this explanation helpful.
22 June 2009
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