I am FUMING

pampam

I receive the middle rate of DLA and my granddaughter aged 21 receives Carers Allowance for caring for me. She does a wonderful job and I don't know what I would do without her.

Last year I had a friend come over to stay with me for a holiday. She catered for my needs so my granddaughter got a well earned break.

She decided to do a bit of casual work to earn some extra money for Christmas. Over 4 weeks she worked a total of 55 hours earning a total of £295.

About 4 months later she received a letter from the DSS saying she had committed fraud. We contacted them and explained that she had not given it a thought and had not intentionally tried to defraud. We offered to pay back the whole amount. This was ignored and she was taken before a panel. The outcome of this is that she repays the money (no problem with that). She has been officially cautioned and that caution will stay on her record forever.

This was a genuine oversight on our part and whilst I fully agree that she should repay the extra money she claimed I do not think this "offence" should be on her records forever. She is not a criminal she is a lovely girl who restores your faith in the youngsters of today.

When you think of the thousands of pounds the MP's have claimed over years and what do they get??

A smacked wrist and a huge payoff!! Where is the justice??

kassandra

That's disgusting!! Is there any kind of appeal/ombudsman you can take it to? When you originally offered to repay the amount was that verbally or in writing?

I'm so shocked that this has happened when there are people purposely defrauding the system for years and when/if they get caught they get a slapped wrist!

Mips

That is absolutely outragous and for such a young girl

I know someone seriously defrauding, who got caught... got their money stopped for a few months and told to repay all the overpayment.

Not a slap on the wrist or fcuck all :mad:

c0113tt3

does your grand daughter get any other benefits?

i ask, as you only mention carers allowance, and under carers allowance she is allowed to earn upto £95 per week without effecting carers allowance payments, although it should have been declared to them in the first place.

Also i noticed you stated that a friend cared for you instead, so your grand daughter should have declared that she was no longer caring for you, and would have not been enetitled to carers allowance for that period.

its a failure to disclose change of circs and this is written in the paperwork that you must inform. although this appears an innocent mistake, unfortunatly there is not a lot you can do about it.

If you still feel aggrieved by it, you could try below, but this is down to a failure to inform of coc.

http://www.ombudsman.org.uk/contact_us/index.html

redz

c0113tt3 wrote: »

does your grand daughter get any other benefits?

IS as well according to another post on here.

She is not a criminal

Yes she is.

She would of been informed of her legal requirement to declare earnings when she made her claim. "Not giving it a thought" or a "genuine oversight" is not an acceptable excuse. Would you defend a drunk driver who caused a fatal accident if their excuse was that they hadn't given it a thought how much they had had to drink before getting behind the wheel?

Hopefully she has learned a lesson from this and doesn't re-offend as the next time she could possibly receive a custodial sentence.

zappster1966

I am unable to contribute to this thread today because of continued abuse directed against MSE Benefit & Tax Credit Board regulars, DWP & other public sector employees

pampam

redz wrote: »

IS as well according to another post on here.



Yes she is.

She would of been informed of her legal requirement to declare earnings when she made her claim. "Not giving it a thought" or a "genuine oversight" is not an acceptable excuse. Would you defend a drunk driver who caused a fatal accident if their excuse was that they hadn't given it a thought how much they had had to drink before getting behind the wheel?

Hopefully she has learned a lesson from this and doesn't re-offend as the next time she could possibly receive a custodial sentence.

I don't think drunk driving and caring for someone come under the same catagorary!!

Of course she has "learned her lesson" as for "reoffending" I will refrain from commenting on that!

pampam

c0113tt3 wrote: »

does your grand daughter get any other benefits?

i ask, as you only mention carers allowance, and under carers allowance she is allowed to earn upto £95 per week without effecting carers allowance payments, although it should have been declared to them in the first place.

Also i noticed you stated that a friend cared for you instead, so your grand daughter should have declared that she was no longer caring for you, and would have not been enetitled to carers allowance for that period.

its a failure to disclose change of circs and this is written in the paperwork that you must inform. although this appears an innocent mistake, unfortunatly there is not a lot you can do about it.

If you still feel aggrieved by it, you could try below, but this is down to a failure to inform of coc.

http://www.ombudsman.org.uk/contact_us/index.html

Thank you for your constructive reply.
She does a part time 12 hours a week college course and recieves £30 per week ALG payment.
Thanks
pam

dmg24

pampam wrote: »

I don't think drunk driving and caring for someone come under the same catagorary!!

Of course she has "learned her lesson" as for "reoffending" I will refrain from commenting on that!

Whilst there are different degrees of any crime, the unfortunate fact is that what she did was unlawful. Whilst it may exclude her from certain jobs in the future, many employers will allow her to explain the circumstances and still give her a chance.

I doubt that you are going to want to hear this, but is she drives, she does need to notify her insurers of this. It could potentially invalidate her cover.

dmg24

zappster1966 wrote: »

I am unable to contribute to this thread today because of continued abuse directed against MSE Benefit & Tax Credit Board regulars, DWP & other public sector employees

I love you. :T

AnxiousMum

dmg24 wrote: »

Whilst there are different degrees of any crime, the unfortunate fact is that what she did was unlawful. Whilst it may exclude her from certain jobs in the future, many employers will allow her to explain the circumstances and still give her a chance.

I doubt that you are going to want to hear this, but is she drives, she does need to notify her insurers of this. It could potentially invalidate her cover.

If the 'caution' is for fraud, well, an aquaintance has just lost her mobility car due to a fraud conviction - as she is now unable to get car insurance for five years due to the conviction. I guess they figure if you will defaud the benefits agencies, you would have no problem defrauding an insurance claim either.