how to report a fraud

looby75

dro wrote:

Perhaps the OP's critics could suggest a suitable length of time that the friend's neighbour should be allowed to claim a council house and extra benefits that she's technically not entitled to. 6 weeks? 2 months? 6 months?

it's obviously not as straightforward as that is it. OP has already said that the person who is considering reporting the "fraud" is personally involved and out for revenge. But if you are looking for a time frame I would probably have thought about 12 weeks would be ample time for someone to at least start to move into the house etc.

shelly

wazza wrote:

trouble is friend's neighbour's wife was the cause of my friend's marriage breakup. this person does nothing but gossip and cause problems around the area so naturally my friend is seeking revenge.

No-one will cause a marriage to break down if there aren't problems there already. Your friend needs to move on. Reporting this woman might make him feel better for a while but not for long.

furby-2003

im sorry this all sounds a bit bitter and twisted to me

dro

looby75 wrote:

it's obviously not as straightforward as that is it. OP has already said that the person who is considering reporting the "fraud" is personally involved and out for revenge. But if you are looking for a time frame I would probably have thought about 12 weeks would be ample time for someone to at least start to move into the house etc.

I'm not suggesting that it is straightforward. Perhaps the friend is looking to report the neighbour for all the wrong reasons but I think the neighbour is unnecessarily depriving someone else who may need help more than her.

Obviously none of us are privy to the full circumstances so perhaps she should be reported so the decision can be made by someone who knows the full story.

MyUserNamesTaken

Hold on, how did she get a council house so quickly? Normally, even when you have kids, you go on the waiting list and get stuck in bed and breakfast or temporary accommodation. Your other choice is to rent privately. However, you never normally get given a council property straight away! Something smells fishy.

looby75

dro wrote:

Obviously none of us are privy to the full circumstances so perhaps she should be reported so the decision can be made by someone who knows the full story.

I do see your point, but I personally still think it's a bit premature to be reporting her. If everyone went round reporting everything they thought was a bit suspect after just 4 weeks the council and benefits people wouldn't be able to get anything else done other than investigate possible fraud.

I'm sure that if this person wasn't as personally involved in the situation it probably would have taken them longer than a month to even realise this woman and her family hadn't moved in yet.

mazza_2

joannemc3 wrote:

your friend needs to get a life and stop interfering , what business is it of his/hers anyway ??????????? your friend is obviously a jealous person

Actually isn't it all our business? Its our tax money that is being used to fund the benefits system and if it is being abused it is us who are meeting the cost.

I know that Benefit can be claimed on two homes for a period of time and it could be that this woman and her partner have informed the authorities of their change in circumstance. But if they haven't its fraud.

At the end of the day I guess its up to the friend and his conscience whether he decides to report these people or not.

furby-2003

myusernamestaken - it is possible to get a council house quite quickly depending on where you live. both my brother and i never went into sheltered housing or anything like that. we were offered our 2 bed houses after our children where born.it was fairly straightforward

dro

looby75 wrote:

I do see your point, but I personally still think it's a bit premature to be reporting her. If everyone went round reporting everything they thought was a bit suspect after just 4 weeks the council and benefits people wouldn't be able to get anything else done other than investigate possible fraud.

Perhaps I'm naive but I find it hard to beleive that would be the case (our current chancellor is not shy about employing extra civil servants)

looby75 wrote:

I'm sure that if this person wasn't as personally involved in the situation it probably would have taken them longer than a month to even realise this woman and her family hadn't moved in yet.

I think you underestimate how nosy people are (after all, even we are sat here discussing someone elses business). I just think, based on the limited facts that the OP has provided, that the neighbour is being selfish. She is keeping on a council house that she doesn't need because it will be convenient for her to move back to if it doesn't work out with her partner instead of thinking about others that may be in a worse situation than her.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

mazza wrote:

Actually isn't it all our business? Its our tax money that is being used to fund the benefits system and if it is being abused it is us who are meeting the cost.

I know that Benefit can be claimed on two homes for a period of time and it could be that this woman and her partner have informed the authorities of their change in circumstance. But if they haven't its fraud.

At the end of the day I guess its up to the friend and his conscience whether he decides to report these people or not.

No I don't believe it is anyone's business. Quite frankly, I would safely say 99% of people are being fraudulent, either it be benefit fraud of some description (including tax credits), or people are commiting fraud where tax paying is concerned, ie not declaring second incomes ect..

Tax evading is just as criminal as someone holding onto a council house when they ain't living there.

I've known people to be wrongly accused of fraud because of interference from outsiders.