benefits & winning money

thanks for info so far, she starting to think the worse of going to prison, they stop her benefits altogether ... so can you guarantee it will be alright to tell her shes being silly and it's not as bad as she thinks? obviously she will get the full story when shes speaks to them again

I think that you need to help prepare your Mum for what may happen next; she has committed benefit fraud and she's not being silly being concerned about the outcome of the investigation and the consequences of it. It's likely that your Mum will be invited to attend an interview at the DWP; this may be called a "compliance" interview or an "interview under caution" if they believe an offence may have been committed. It's also possible that her benefits will reduce significantly in order to recover any monies she received but was not entitled to. Receiving such a large amount of money would be classed as a "significant change" for most of us, and in claiming benefits one has a duty to report any and all significant changes, whether it is believed they'll affect entitlement to benefits or not.

You may also be asked about the money you held in your account for your Mum as it is possible this could be interpreted as trying to hide the money. If you live 100 miles away how did you plan to help your Mum manage this money? I think it's highly likely you'd be asked about this. You say that you have never claimed benefits, but whilst your Mum's money was in your accounts it is legally classed as your money, so presumably you would have declared this as yours during this period?

You say that "the social have investigated her". How has she become aware of this? Has she received a letter or been asked to attend an appointment?

I also agree that your Mum should respond to any request to contact the DWP as soon as possible so that the process of further investigation and outcome can be started.

calleyw wrote: »

Also they may treat her as still having the money.

As the DWP have a formula they use to see how long it should last. And spending £19K in 12 months is not allowed.

You mum needs to be honest and truthful with them. And get on to the family members she helped. And explain she needs the money back asap.

Yours

Calley

To be fair £19k in a year is a feasible amount to be spent in a year when you look at what they class as the average yearly wage and normal outgoings of a working person.

It appears that it's a compliance case from the telephone call?

Basically they will pass on what your mother has stated to a DM who will now decide what period the benefits need to be stopped for and if they are happy with the excuse given for the hiding of and expenditure of said win.

They may also ask for bank statements and confirmation of who and where the money went before passing it to a DM to speed up the process, if this has not already been done.