By Sarah Toyne BBC News Online personal finance reporter

People can be compensated through the Revenue's scheme

People who run up phone bills or bank charges because of delays in tax credit payments could get compensation.

The government has told BBC News Online that claims can be made within the Inland Revenue's standard complaints procedure.

But a separate scheme to compensate people who have suffered because of tax credit delays has been ruled out.

The Inland Revenue scheme is for people who have suffered worry, distress and incurred "reasonable costs" because of Revenue mistakes - but the payments are not automatic.

The Revenue told BBC News Online: "Each case will turn on its own facts but the most important thing is to ensure that families get the service that they're entitled to expect.

"Where they haven't, we'll look - in the round - at what needs to be done to put things right."

Bank fees

One big concern is bank charges caused by the delays.

In one case, Rebekah Mayne, from Northern Ireland said she had incurred �300 of bank charges, because the money didn't arrive in time.

Ms Mayne, who says she was able to return to work because of the old-style tax credit, now says she may never recover from the "nightmare".

"I was absolutely delighted and immediately started planning for jobs, and got into the job market again.

"But I just still think it is a disaster the way that the new credit has been administered."

She has been unable to contact the helpline centre to check when the payments will be made.

"I'm stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea," she says.

"I have to pay my childcare so I can work."

Compensation claims

The scheme could offer a chance for people who have suffered financial loss, such as bank charges, or possibly extra telephone costs, or the costs of postage, the Revenue says.

Three grounds for compensation Claiming back costs Compensation for worry and distress Further mistakes in dealing with your complaint

But the Revenue has not defined what would be classed as "reasonable costs".

It is also uncertain if anyone who applied after 31 January - the original deadline - will get compensation.

But, as well as covering costs, the Revenue can also offer compensation for worry and distress if it can be proved that mistakes and delays have caused a "great deal of inconvenience or irritation".

In addition, it could pay out if it handled a complaint badly or took an unreasonable time to deal with it.

Payments tend to range between �25 and �500 in these two categories.

Complaints procedure

Last year the Revenue paid out �2.57m to customers because of its mistakes.

People who feel they have lost out must first complain to the Revenue which will then decide to compensate, or reject the claim.

Complaints procedure 1. Tax Office 2. Local Director Adjudicators' Office Parliamentary Ombudsman

If customers do not agree with the outcome, or do not feel the compensation reflects the claim, they can then go to the Adjudicator's Office.

The office is effectively the Revenue's ombudsman.

It settled 39% of complaints wholly or partly in favour of the taxpayer last year, but it cannot deal with queries until after the complaint has progressed through the Revenue.

Bank compensation

One of the biggest problems for people on low incomes is that they may have incurred hefty bank charges because direct debits have bounced or they have gone overdrawn.

In this case, some banks are agreeing to refund charges.

Abbey National, which has set up a dedicated helpline to handle tax credit queries, told BBC News Online that it would reverse fees in cases where it wasn't the customer's fault that their payment had been delayed.

"We will look after our affected customers," a spokesman said.

Smile, an online bank, also said it would be "sympathetic" to people who had paid penalties as a result of late payments.

Under the Banking Code, which governs bank attitudes to customers', banks must deal with customers who are in financial difficulties "sympathetically and positively".

Code of Practice 1 can be found on the Inland Revenue website, under the site index.