interview with compliance officer

mimi29_2

Can anyone please help!! I have today received a letter from dwp stating that i need to attend a interview with a compliance officer. My situation is i have been claiming i/s c/t & h/b benefits for roughly 2 months as i split with my ex partner. the letter states that they want to see my bank statement, does anyone know why this would be? and are the compliance officers really fraud investigators? (as i have read on some sites) As i feel i have not done anything wrong and this is worrying me.

kei_2

I suppose a compliance officer could be looked at as a fraud investigator, in that they need to make sure people are claiming within the laws of the land.

When they ask for bank statements this usually points too undeclared income.

If you've not done anything wrong, which includes filling out the forms incorrectly, then i would not get too hyped up about it.

healy

They are not fraud officers. Most of the time they are just rountine checks to see if your details are in order and you are claiming the correct benefits.

mimi29_2

thanks gus, its just a very worrying letter and it made me feel like i had done somthing wrong even though i havent!! and when you look online there are all of these horror stories about them being fraud investigators and how they interrigate people when they go in for the interview.

mimi29_2

sorry last message was meant to say thanks guys!!

kt33uk

I have received one of these letters today too. Mine says they 'need to see you to discuss a query that has arisen concerning your claim'. God knows what it could be but they are coming to visit me on 6 November.

The letter does say that they will need proof of identification such as

Passport - don't have one
Driving licence - don't have one
Utility bills - these are not in my name
Rent agreement - god knows where this is
Bank Statement - don't get them

Why do they need proof of who I am when they are visiting my house.

Krystaltips

Hi guys, I had one of these visits at the beginning of the year and it really wasn't anything to worry about. The lady that came round to me was lovely. She only needed to see bank statements for ID and address purposes. She was just going over my details and my claim, making sure everything was up to date and she also said they come as an opportunity for people to come clean if there have been changes to their circumstances that haven't yet been disclosed rather than having a fraud investigator come straight in...

The letter is worded in a worrying way but as long as nothing has changed I'm sure everything will be fine.

Krystaltips

Incidentally, a couple of years ago someone maliciously accused me of benefit fraud and on that occaision an officer turned up with no warning whatsoever... I think that's more worrying!